How to entice a new bottle kid to eat?

[themrslove]

Hi! I recently brought home a 4 week old kid. He was previously being dam raised and is just not quite getting the hint about the bottle! He absolutely will NOT take it on his own. We have tried regular baby bottle nipples (with larger holes - this is what our other buckling prefers), pritchard nipples, and lambs nipples.

The only strategy I have to keep barely enough nourishment in him is to hook him under arm, put him in a headlock, pry his little mouth open and shove the nipple in! And even then he won't really suckle. He has been home for almost 2 days and we can't get him to consume more than 4-5 ounces of milk at a time! We normally only feed bottle kids 3 times a day, but I have been offering him milk 5-6 times a day. He still doesn't seem to be eating more than about a few ounces of milk each time totaling probably 12-18 ounces each day. I swear, he acts like I am trying to drown him!

We are feeding whole cows milk with a bit of Kayo syrup added and he seems to like the taste...but just not the process of eating! He almost acts like he isn't hungry. He doesn't look too thin and I know he nibbles on hay and alfalfa pellets during the day between meals, but our other little buckling that is only two weeks older than him is eating about 10-12 ounces a feeding (and more if we would let him!), 3 times a day!

He is really healthy looking, wonderful color to his eyelids so I don't think he is wormy...super active and curious so I don't think it is a sickness thing. I just think it is a stubborn thing!

I am just worried that this little guy isn't getting enough. Oh! And he is a Nigerian Dwarf. What can I do to make him eat?!

 

[poorboys]

dont know about nd's but it has taken up to 3 days to get a baby to switch over, unless there is something else wrong with him, he will eventually get hungry and suckle, I've had to wrestle with this too, and you just got to keep patience with it. make sure he is'nt dyhdrating.

 

[Roll farms]

1) You can try putting it in a bowl and see if he'll hoover it up on his own. This can be messy and frustrating...

2) Stop trying so often (I know....but the more you 'pester' him, the more he will freak out). Let it go overnight and in the morning, sit near him. See if he will 'bump' under you like he's looking for the udder. Try putting the nipple down under you so that he's having to 'nurse' from under your body, like he would his dam.

3) Keep trying 3 or 4 times a day and hope that he eventually "gets it".

I really, really try not to buy anything that's been on the dam longer than a week or so for this very reason...I had a kid I had to force feed for 5 weeks (bought her at 3 wks old, had to wean her early). She NEVER 'got it'...She was the worst one I've ever tried to change over.

Good luck, patience will hopefully pay off.

 

[themrslove]

Hahaha thanks, Roll.
I tried the bowl last night but he just dipped his face in it for a second, looked back up at me like, sneezed, and promptly ran away. Then his piglet of a brother (whom has already had his bottle) decided it was his.

Ugh, I wanted so badly to wait until he was weaned to bring him home because I figured this would be a problem since he was dam raised for 4 weeks. BUT! Hubby had an unexpected trip for work that landed him like 10 miles away from the farm he was at. So I decided it would be worth the hassle of getting him to eat to save the $300+ it was going to cost to have him shipped.

All in all, I know he isn't in a dire situation...it just frustrates me when the little ones don't eat! His "brother" had been dam raise for 3 weeks and he successfully made the transition on the second feeding. So this little one just needs to take notice!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I also agree on letting him get really hungry. I bottled twins that had been on the doe for 3 weeks. It was a pain for a few days, but then it clicked and they were great. I had to tuck their heads/necks under my arm (tuck them into my armpit) and use that same hand to hold under their chins, then use my free hand to hold the bottle. Once they got hungry and realized there was milk in the bottle, it got easier and easier until they just got it one day.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I would try getting him on a good quality goat high-protein grain, he might not ever take the bottle, I don't have tons of experience with bottle babies, try to avoid it as much as possible, but on occasion I have tried to get a triplet off the mom and on the bottle and all I have to say is good luck.

I have a recipee for bottle babies that has Higher calories in it, this might help if he isn't drinking a lot.

Make sure you warm the bottle to body tempurature, check with therm. HOld the bottle low. Like Roll said, they need to feel like they are under a shelf. feels more like mom.

recipee for high calorie goat milk

Take a gallon of whole milk(minus 3cups)
add:
1 cup of buttermilk
1 can condensed milk(not evaporated)
optional( add up to 1 cup of honey)

Can also add some vanilla yogurt(not light) to each warmed bottle.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

2) Stop trying so often (I know....but the more you 'pester' him, the more he will freak out). Let it go overnight and in the morning, sit near him. See if he will 'bump' under you like he's looking for the udder. Try putting the nipple down under you so that he's having to 'nurse' from under your body, like he would his dam.

This option has worked really well for us, as well. I sit in a chair (like a lawn chair) and hold the bottle between my legs near my knees. The kid will naturally go towards a dark area (think udder) and will bump you. It may take a couple of days, but the kid will eventually learn to look/feel for the nipple with his mouth. The hungrier he gets, the harder he will try.

 

[chandasue]

Try putting the nipple down under you so that he's having to 'nurse' from under your body, like he would his dam.

I haven't had to convert any dam raised babies yet. But I end up doing this with all our babies after fighting with them initially. I get tired of it and I just hold the bottles between my legs. They almost always come within a few minutes looking for my "udder". LOL

 

[Greendecember]

*hugs* It will happen!
I lucked out. My second bottle baby just wasn't getting enough milk from Mom and he was HUNGRY. I only had to open his mouth for the first day 3 days later he just had to see the bottle.

I use cheap walmart baby bottles with the hole opened up and cut into an X.

Be sure to read the thread "3 day old bottle kid with diarrhea" it is about kid milk replacer. Save your self a lot of trouble!

 

[themrslove]

*hugs* It will happen!

Thank you! I needed a hug! The little dork just doesn't want to eat. This morning I got him to eat 2 ounces without a massive struggle. But once he got enough in his tummy that he didn't feel *hungry* anymore he decided he wanted nothing more to do with the bottle! I swear...this is my little anorexic kid. Maybe he just wants to watch his figure.

I gave him a mixed bowl of pelleted food and alfalfa pellets last night and this morning they were almost gone, so...he is eating! Just, reluctently.

To me it almost seems like he is eating just barely enough out of despiration to make the hunger pangs go away, but stops before he is full so he can wait on "mama" to come back to feed him.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Hopefully I can spend some one on one time with him tonight and he will come seek out my "udder" LOL.