Feeding Kids

[cjhubbs]

Hi Everyone,
So I was enjoying the nice 70 deg. weather and watching the goats yesterday when I yet again went through the list of kidding supplies I had on hand and thought of the cute little goat kids to come. The good thing is that I think I have everything I can possibly get for an emergency during labor, the bad thing is that I realized I have almost no idea what I am going to do after my goat has her kids. I plan on bringing the kids to the vet and having their horns dis-budded, I was wondering at what ages this should be done? I also was wondering what I should be feeding the kids for the first month in tandem with them being fed by mom? Lastly, I was wondering if you all had any suggestions for articles or books to read on the topic of weaning kids? The only thing I know about weaning is that if they are being fed by mom it is best to wait until the kids are at least 8 weeks old before they are taken off of her. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[20kidsonhill]

we do not disbud, but from my understanding for best results you disbud when you can just start feeling the buds of the horns, this is earlier for boys than girls. I think boys is around 5 days and girls 7 to 10 days.

Kids need to beable to reach the fresh water source, and then hay/pasture are the first things and may be the only things you need to provide if you choose not to use grain, then at 3 or 4 weeks if you are using grain you can build them a small creep feed area and start providing a little goat grain. They normally don't start eating much of this until 5 or 6 weeks old.

Yes, it is normal to wean around 8 weeks up to 10 or even 12 weeks of age.

We have a separate pen/field for the weaned kids and put them in there at weaning age. The biggest thing about this is they are very good at getting out and back to mom, so the pen needs to be very well built and no gaps and high enough so they wont jump out of it.

 

[jhammett]

Hello I am new to this forum. Ihave been on the chicken side for awhile. We decided to add Goats recently and I have bought 2 kids they are 7 days old today and are being bottle fed. . I am not sure how much to feed them all my research brings up these charts that make no sense to me. I am currently feeding 12oz 4 x a day. they are in a barn stall with 2- 250 watt heat lamps. Never done this before need to make sure i am doing it right they are active and seem healthy but always seem hungry.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!

 

[sprocket]

Hello I am new to this forum. Ihave been on the chicken side for awhile. We decided to add Goats recently and I have bought 2 kids they are 7 days old today and are being bottle fed. . I am not sure how much to feed them all my research brings up these charts that make no sense to me. I am currently feeding 12oz 4 x a day. they are in a barn stall with 2- 250 watt heat lamps. Never done this before need to make sure i am doing it right they are active and seem healthy but always seem hungry.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!

That seems about right for week olds. Don't be tempted to overfeed liquids as you'll end up with scouring kids or worse. Do you have any hay out for them right now? It's best to get them started on solid feeds earlier as opposed to later. I might put out a tiny bit of grain as well (ie. a handfull) for them to start picking at as well. They'll probably ignore it for the first couple days until they figure it out.

At about two weeks old, I'd increase the amount of milk you feed to ~ 16oz, and cut back the feedings to 3x per day. What're the nighttime temperatures in your region right now? I usually give my kids the heat lamp 24h/day for the first week or so, then cut it back to nights only, and then remove it altogether by about 2-3 weeks. (Note that I live in a relatively mild climate - if it's very cold when you are, you might want to leave it on for longer.)

 

[jhammett]

Hello I am new to this forum. Ihave been on the chicken side for awhile. We decided to add Goats recently and I have bought 2 kids they are 7 days old today and are being bottle fed. . I am not sure how much to feed them all my research brings up these charts that make no sense to me. I am currently feeding 12oz 4 x a day. they are in a barn stall with 2- 250 watt heat lamps. Never done this before need to make sure i am doing it right they are active and seem healthy but always seem hungry.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!

That seems about right for week olds. Don't be tempted to overfeed liquids as you'll end up with scouring kids or worse. Do you have any hay out for them right now? It's best to get them started on solid feeds earlier as opposed to later. I might put out a tiny bit of grain as well (ie. a handfull) for them to start picking at as well. They'll probably ignore it for the first couple days until they figure it out.

At about two weeks old, I'd increase the amount of milk you feed to ~ 16oz, and cut back the feedings to 3x per day. What're the nighttime temperatures in your region right now? I usually give my kids the heat lamp 24h/day for the first week or so, then cut it back to nights only, and then remove it altogether by about 2-3 weeks. (Note that I live in a relatively mild climate - if it's very cold when you are, you might want to leave it on for longer.)

I am in kansas so weather is funny. It was down to 28 last night so i put them in my insulated garage with their lights. I moved them back to the barn this morning when temp topped 40. It will be in high 30's to mid 40's fpr the next week then will increase from there. The stall is covered with hay and I have Green Alfalfa in a wall hanging feeder for them to see the sniff at it a bit.

 

[cjhubbs]

Sounds like you are doing everything quite well! Thank you all for the help on feeding kids and weaning, I think my questions have been cleared up!

 

[sawfish99]

cjhubbs - we disbud at about 3-4 days old for does. Bucks we prefer to do on day 2 unless unusually weak. You can probably look in an ADGA directory and find another owner nearby to disbud for a lot less than a vet will charge. We don't start to introduce grain until about 6 weeks if they are nursing.