Wait! How much milk!!!

[chicks & ducks]

Hi All.

I've been a goat owner for 6 days now... Read as much as I can but still obviously have a lot to learn.

When we picked up our 1 week old boys the ladies who owned them(who owned a milking farm full of happy goats) said that they were feeding the boys 1 pint 3 times a day with a pinch of baking soda in each bottle to prevent bloat. So...that's what we did!

Now stools got loose pretty quick but we put that down to 1. stress of moving and 2. change in formula.

1 goat is going back to 'normal' slowly but this morning the 2nd goat wouldn't eat. Now yesterday I was mixing up the manna pro formula we were using and according to the bag we were giving WAY too much milk, but they were always starving for it! Confused, and wanting to do right by my babies, I called the 1800 number. The man was very helpful but said that we were feeding them way too much milk and that they should be introduced to calf manna pellets.
SO..... Last night we gave slightly less milk and put in the pellets and big bucket of water.

Fast forward to this morning.....
One of the goats would not eat! The pellets looked untouched and the water had a very thin layer of ice on it((note to self-despite being in the warm-get a heater for goat water)
He was moving slower than normal and when he got into his 'Watch out, I'm gonna pee' stance nothing happened. He even repositioned himself (feet further back!) and still nothing.
Now after a bit of playing and running around(mostly on my part! But hey, it's fun!) he'd worked up a little appetite. By the time I'd left he'd nearly finished the bottle but still no bathroom activity.
I put in warm water for them and let them be for now, they seemed ok...

What's happening? Any ideas? How do you all feed your babies? Despite being interested in tasting EVERYTHING else((including zippers and shoe laces) they had no interest in the food what-so-ever.

So confused.
Help.

 

[Our7Wonders]

I know the consensus here is milk replacer shouldn't be used. And Manna Pro was recently specifically mentioned as one that causes problems. Here's a link to a thread from just a few days ago. Within it are several other links that you might want to check out:

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8840



I can't offer too much info as I'm brand new to bottle feeding myself - my first bottle baby came home on Monday. Per the majority of advice on this board I chose to go with store bought whole cow's milk.

Check out those posts linked and you'll get a good feel for the recommendations.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I have been very happy with Land O' Lakes Kid replacer, and sometimes I do use just whole cows milk, but I find it more expensive, so if I have 2 or 3 kids I get a bag of replacer.

Kids take some time to start eating grain, it takes practice, and most kids will start munching on it at 3 to 4 weeks of age, but just a little.

I wouldn't put baking soda in their bottles on a regular basis, only if you feel they need it, which may be now, but once you get them back on tracked I would not keep adding it.

Manna pro seems to be having problems and their has been more than one complaint on here about it causing problems with the kids.


I would take back the manna pro to the store, either get land O" lakes or put them on whole Vit D milk.

If they seem constipated you can add some corn syrup(2 teaspons or so) to the next couple of bottles, mineral oil will also help.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I always use replacer and have for years with no issues. I think the key is finding a good quality replacer and mix it according to directions. Milk in the store is WAY more expensive than the replacer for us, as well.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Right now my 2, 4-week-olds are downing 2 gallons pf whole milk every 3 days. I'm investing About $17 in milk per week. It's convienvent and easy (no mixing) and we've had good luck with it.

The last milk replacer I used was Purina and that was 2 years ago. The buckling WOULD NOT gain weight no matter how much milk replacer he got. These 2 are going like weeds.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

I did milk replacer last year, both Land o' Lakes brand and Dumor's.... Dumor's had bugs in it! NASTY! and the Land o' Lakes brand I couldn't find in my area(needed to drive over 2 hrs away in order to find it).
Personally, I do not agree with feeding one species of animal's milk to another species of animal... but I know many on here who feed cow's milk to kids without any problems. Like I said it is just my personal preference. So, this year I will be milking the does that let me milk them, and feeding their milk to the babies that require bottle feeding. IMO, they will have the best stack of antibodies possible going into them from one of the dams' supply, than they would from cow's milk or milk replacer.