When to take kids from Mom to bottle feed.

[marxxx]

As the title states, how long after birth is it ok to take the kids? We used to raise deer, and the babies HAD to be taken at about 24 hours. Enough time to get the colustrum but any longer and they would never take the bottle.
I have been told that goats can be taken most anytime and put on the bottle. We are interested in some that 5-15 days old, is it still ok for them to be put on the bottle?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

 

[Roll farms]

Any kid that's seriously nursed off mom will be somewhere in the range of 'difficult to impossible' to transition to a bottle.

Some of course are easier than others, but I much, much, MUCH prefer to pull the kid at birth and start them on a bottle rather than let them nurse.

The longer they nurse, the harder it is.

 

[Ariel301]

I agree, if you are going to bottle feed, take them from mom as soon as they are born. I suggest not even letting her see that there was a kid, to reduce stress on her, as she will mourn for her lost kids if she had time to bond with them. You can milk the colostrum from the doe to put in the bottles.

 

[Chirpy]

Yup, anything over a few days on momma and you will be in for a HUGE challenge getting them to switch to a bottle. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

If you seriously want some of those babies have the people that own them now see if they can switch them to a bottle... before you buy them and bring them home. If they can get them to make the switch then go for it... if they can't.... walk away.

As Roll farms stated almost all bottle fed kids are pulled at birth; the momma is milked and the colostrum given to the kids in a bottle. The only time goat people wait to take a baby is if they intended to leave the kids with the momma and there were problems and they had to switch to bottle feeding.

 

[Our7Wonders]

I've had success getting them to take a bottle after being on mama. It wasn't by choice, mom rejected them at 10 days old after they were disbudded. They are buckling twins. One of which took the bottle right away. The other was a bit of a challenge at first. He would scream every time the bottle came near him. I'd pry his little mouth open, shove in the nipple and squeeze the plastic bottle to try to get a little in him before he's spit it back out again. By the third day he decided he'd rather eat than fight me on it and it's been easy ever since.

I'm also bottle feeding a little lamb that was started on the bottle at day 2 - she didn't take much coaxing at all, she was pretty hungry.

The buckling I bought was already on the bottle when we got him but he was pulled at day 4 and started on a bottle at the dairy. They pull all their babies at 3-4 days.

I'm pretty new to goats and this is my first season with babies, but all the bottle babies we have seemed to have transitioned fairly well.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I'm going to go against the grain here. I bought a 15 day old doeling that nursed off her mother exclusively until she came here. She was the easiest to get to transition to a bottle than any I have bottle raised.

 

[ksalvagno]

I think it will depend on the kid. This year I have had quite a few people want bottle babies so I have ended up pulling kids from mom. They ranged from easy to hard to transition over to the bottle.

 

[freemotion]

If the breeder wants to sell you a kid that has been on its mama, make sure that THEY get the kid established on the bottle for several days before you take it home. And go over there and watch them feed it on say, Monday, and again on Friday, so you will know for sure that it is well established. It will attack the bottle if it is well established.

I bought a five week old once and was told I could simply bottle feed her.....in my inexperience I believed it, and it was a nightmare. I was never able to get her on the bottle. Worked out fine in the end, but I strongly urge you NOT to buy a baby right off the teat and try to get it on the bottle yourself. Too risky. Too stressful. Baby goats should be fun and make you smile, not cry.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I switched a pair of kids to a bottle after 3 weeks on mom...it was rough for a few days but they picked it up after that. I didn't choose to do it that way, and I wouldn't exactly do it again. But heck, one kid I have now was bottled from day 1 and she was a total MORON when I switched nipples after a few days. She is fine now, but I seriously hated her for a few days.

 

[marxxx]

Thanks for all the input everyone! I think I may go with some that were pulled day one and are well established on the bottle.

Thanks again!

Mark