Goat=1 Owner=0 She forcefully rejected her bottle.

[heatherlynnky]

I tell you I am about to change Miss Holly's name. Holly sounds like a sweet little doeling right. Yea she isn't. The day before she ate her bottle well. She seemed to enjoy it. Yesterday she ate pretty well in the morning only. Then she got loose in the garden. Now all she wants is the garden and weeds and hay and is refusing the bottle all together. Oh and try to catch her to try to feed her. There are some sore muscles and a rump today. She was kicking up her heals and running like a little speed demon last night. ( should never have let my youngest son name her Hot Wheels Holly, she is living up to it) So let her out this morning and she goes straight to the hay. I try to bottle feed her and she actually butted me, then darts through my legs and off to the hay again. Then off to browse. She eats almost non stop which is probably why she doesn't want the stupid bottle but she is only 5 weeks now.

I am going to weigh her again today. If she is gaining then I may stop pushing this bottle thing. Seems like she is ready to wean me off the bottle feeding. Onery goat.

So if she doesn't much care for grain what all should I give her to make sure she is balanced. She has TONs of forage. She gets a choice of the horse hay and a flake of pure alfalfa. I was giving her goat pellets but she really has almost no interest. She will eat a little bit of sweet feed but I only give her a small handful of that. She never finishes it. I gave her apple yesterday. She really enjoyed the apple. Not sure what all from the garden or the kitchen I can supplement feed wise with. I would assume most fruits would be ok?

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Sounds like you do have your hands full. There was someone else on here a bit back that had a goat start refusing the bottle young. If she is eating lots of hay, has minerals available , and drinks water then I guess she might be alright. I'd give it another another go though since she could use the milk for a few more weeks. Was she being dam raised and switched over to bottle?

 

[marlowmanor]

I got our first 2 goats as 5 week olds straight off the dam because their mom got really sick and they had to be pulled from her. I tried the bottle for a little while and had minimal success. I gave it up after about a week though. The kids were eating and drinking on their own and were healthy so I quit pushing it. Both of them are now almost a year old and look great and are in great health. So IMO if she is eating browse, acting healthy, and drinking water on her own I wouldn't worry too much about the bottle.

 

[ksalvagno]

You could try giving her calf manna or mixing calf manna in with her feed.

 

[heatherlynnky]

She gave in after lunchtime and drank 15 ounces. Nutty little girl got tired of eating in the heat so she finally decided to come under shade and call for a bottle.

 

[mama24]

LOL. How old is she? Is it just me, or are little girl goats way way more full of attitude and energy than the boys?

 

[heatherlynnky]

My first little girl died after a week but my second one is so full of energy and attitude at times she scares me a bit. She runs around like a speed demon kicking up her heels. She is nuts I swear. I probably worry too much over her. She sorta plans on calling the shots. She rejects the bottle if I come before she is ready. Not that she isn't hungry but she wants to nibble on stuff and re explore everything real fast before eating. So she gets let out in the morning. I wait 2 hours and then i go feed her and she is taking it fine now. I cannot hold her in any way or she refuses to eat though. I do get to cuddle afterwards once she is fat and happy. She will sit beside me so I can pat her belly and she belches at me. Goat love is a bit slobbery and rude at times.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover=)]

LOL. How old is she? Is it just me, or are little girl goats way way more full of attitude and energy than the boys?

Yes...Yes....YES!!

Our little girl (okay shes 4 months old, so big girl) is full of PEP. Her brother stays in the shadows only coming if you have treats, but NOOOO she'll SCREAM for treats, and if you say, open up he coop (they share housing with chickens my dads gonna buld them a thing) she'll push you AGAIN and AGAIN no matter how many times you put her away, but she HAS to explore... ornery goats! Shes sweet, but still

If she has minerals, water, browse and all that good stuff, she sounds like shes fine but I'd still offer her a bottle if she'll take it.

 

[heatherlynnky]

Oh I still offer. We are working out a pattern. Well I am working out her pattern. She is not changing anything for my sake trust me. She knows what she wants and it not shy about demanding it. Despite getting my way sorta I think I still am at 0 with her. All she knows is she is going to get what she wants and she is smart enough to get it.

Mine is only 5 weeks now. I still think she is older. She started off 24 lbs and we are just shy of 30 now. She is a Saneen/boer mix. Her sides were a little sunken in before. Not anymore. I think I may have to watch this girl when she is older cause she is going to get fat if she can possibly manage it.

I ended up playing with her for over an hour( yes even in this heat). I stink at being another goat let me tell you and man am I sore. I will be glad glad glad when this pink eye is fully cleared up and I can go pick up her buddies. She only drank 24 ounces of bottle today. I really think she is just self weaning. She still wants it but just not as much as I think she should have because she is too busy eating everything else under the sun. I never thought I would worry if I had enough honeysuckle growing on the fence but its sorta in danger now. Its her favorite thing ever. She sorta snorts like a pig while impatiently waiting to be let out to go browse. She is gaining which is amazing to me because all she wants to do is play and run. It gets semi cooler in the day and she plays till its dark out. So morning and night I play and in the heat of the afternoon I rub on muscle cream.