Feeding bottle babies! HELP!!!!!

[jenna_nicole1994]

I recently bought 3 boer does off the mother. 2 of them are a week old and I am going to go get the 3rd one Monday. I can't get them to take a bottle! I know they have to be hungry and I do not want to lose them. I need help on how to get them to take a bottle asap! They haven't ate in 24 hours!! Any suggestions would be great!

 

[Mamaboid]

I recently bought 3 boer does off the mother. 2 of them are a week old and I am going to go get the 3rd one Monday. I can't get them to take a bottle! I know they have to be hungry and I do not want to lose them. I need help on how to get them to take a bottle asap! They haven't ate in 24 hours!! Any suggestions would be great!

Make sure the kids are warm enough, they won't eat if they are cold.

warm the milk.

Sit or stand over them and make them go under for it like they would under their mother. Hold the bottle down and take your other hand and place the nipple in their mouth....you need about 4 hands to do this, but it can be done.

Make sure the nipple is working, and they are getting enough for it to be rewarding to suck....just make sure they are not getting too much so they don't aspirate.

Smear some milk on the outside of the nipple, so they get the taste immediately when they touch it.

That is all I can think of right now...keep us posted.

ETA: PM Roll Farms, she raises all her babies on the bottle and can probably tell you all the tricks there are.

 

[heathen]

Put them on your lap hold them one at a time take the bottle put it in there mouth and and squez the bottle or niple soflty so they can taste the milk and hold the nipple in there mouth. They will pull back and fight because they dont understand what you are doing. You are some crazy creature shoving stuff in their mouths. They wont eat a lot at first maybe a fourth a cup but soon as they realise what you are doing they will meet you with waging tails and gladly take the bottle. You may also try difrent types of niples. I am partial to black lambing niples as they are long and easier to put in the mouth. I have other people that swear the little red ones are the best because they are so small. I seen white nipples that look almost like human nipples I have never used them and dont know anything about them. I bought a packet of them to try but dont have any bottle babies myself at this time. ( and hopefully wont this year) What kind of milk are you using? If you dont have access to goats milk then the kid saver goat milk replacer is alot easier for them to take and easier on there tummies than calfmaker in my experience. I have never had a kid scour on the kid saver. I have however on the calfmaker. The following link is a good resource she has lots of good info on her website. But like everything else goat its almost all opinion and everyone has one http://fiascofarm.com/goats/feeding.htm#bottle

 

[Roll farms]

We recently brought home to 1wk old+ kids. Both fought the bottle at first.
By the 2nd day, one would grudgingly drink....the other still fought, but I'd hold her in a headlock and carefully squeeze milk into her mouth, making sure she'd swallow.

Fast forward one week....One STILL won't drink from a bottle. The other runs to us like she's been a bottle baby all along.

Some kids are just harder to start on a bottle than others. Some plain WON'T take a bottle willingly.

Mamaboid has pretty much told you the 'tricks'...it's just a matter of getting them to take it....or not.

I would use Vitamin D whole milk from the store (not formula), at least until they're switched over....formula smells / tastes funny to them. Vitamin D will be strange, too...but closer to 'real' than formula.

Don't risk pneumonia by forcing milk in their lungs. Don't bother them every 30 minutes trying to force the issue....you'll freak them out worse.
Make sure they have a bucket / bowl of warm water in w/ them so they can drink, they'll get dehydrated otherwise.

If they'll drink water from a bowl, you may be able to get them to drink milk from a bowl, but wait until you've seen them drink water before you leave a bowl of milk in w/ them....it's a waste if they won't mess w/ it.

If you just plain CAN'T get them to take a bottle easily, you'll have to give them only the best feed / hay to help make up for it.

Is there a medical reason they're being taken from the mom? If not, it may be best if they go back to her...or leave the other one on her.

I don't sell any kids until I'm sure they're taking the bottle....it's too scary and frustrating for the new buyer when they discover the kid won't take it. I chose to take a risk on the 2 older kids last week, knowing it would be tough.

Good luck....

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I live near sheepman supply and they sell a pelleted feed for bottle babies (different for sheep and for goats) that provides all of the nutrients they would normally get in mother's milk. It is actually a lot cheaper than milk replacer. You may look into purchasing some of that if you can not get the little one to take a bottle.

 

[chubbydog811]

Put them on your lap hold them one at a time take the bottle put it in there mouth and and squez the bottle or niple soflty so they can taste the milk and hold the nipple in there mouth. They will pull back and fight because they dont understand what you are doing. You are some crazy creature shoving stuff in their mouths. They wont eat a lot at first maybe a fourth a cup but soon as they realise what you are doing they will meet you with waging tails and gladly take the bottle.

This...I usually put the back of their head up against my shoulder/armpit area as well for when they pull back (again with the fact that you need at least 4 hands to get them going)...I wrap my arm around them - hand around and under their head (like you are restraining to give meds.) and pointer finger and thumb on either side of their mouth to pry their mouth open, back of their head against my shoulder, stomach on my lap.
I noticed the boers took a lot longer to pick up the bottle than the dairys and other breeds. I had one that I fought with EVERY single feeding until she was weaned. Her sister picked it up in about 2 weeks.

good luck!