Bottle Feeding Goats

[farmercoop]

Will Hopefully be getting two one month old anglo nubian goat kids in April this year, Will have to bottle feed them obvisouly and just wondered if anyone can give me some help. thanks Joe

[farmerdrea]

If the kids are already on the bottle, you'll have an easy job of feeding them. At that age, we're usually feeding 3x/day, about 400ml per feed, and then by 2 months old, working up to about 750ml per feed, but only twice a day.

I would suggest reading David Mackenzie's Goat Husbandry for his thoughts on milk feeding, as I think agree with him that many people tend to overfeed milk instead of providing plenty of rough feed to develop the rumen of a young ruminant. I have friends who feed 1 liter per feed, which isn't exactly what nature intended! Small feeds more often are better and reduces the chances of over-eating ills that can happen with huge milk feeds (scouring is a common occurence).

From 2 months old, we keep feeding around the 750ml mark for another month, and then slowly reduce that amount till they are 4 months old, and then just one feed for the 5th month, and then stopping feeding between the 5th and 6th month. We replace feeding time with feeding very small amounts of rolled barley and muesli, about a cup per goat. They are happy with this after just a couple of days, and stop calling out at feeding times. But bear in mind they will be extremely needy when the milk feeding stops.

We also provide plenty of hay and straw for eating, along with their grazing, from when they are just a couple of weeks old. The bottle fed kids take longer to eat rough feed than kids left on mum, who are nibbling at hard feeds from 2-3 days old, compared with bottle fed kids, which don't start till their 2nd week. However, we've found, quite by accident, that when we sit with the kids outside, and handle the kinds of things they shold be sampling, they will also pick the things up in their mouths to have a taste. The earlier they get their rumen going, they more efficient feed converters they will be when they are adults.

Are your kids-to-be going to be milkers? If so, I'd also include lucerne/alfalfa in their hardfeed mix as they are being weaned, for extra calcium for their growing bones. However, if they are bucks/wethers, I'd avoid lucerne altogether, as it can lead to urinary calculi in males.

Have fun with your new goat-y kids!

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[ina]

Plenty of good advice - but most people would stop feeding milk sooner... As long as they've started eating nicely, you can wean them at 8-10 weeks! Depends on how much time (and money) you want to spend on them, really.

[farmerdrea]

Even here in NZ, where lambs seem to be disposable (as in eaten while young!), people don't usually wean them till 12 weeks. If you want a good dairy goat, the nutrition that comes from extended milk feeding is highly recommended. In a natural situation (dam-reared kids), the kids won't wean till 7-8 months or older.

Andrea
NZ

[ina]

True - the longer, the better, especially for a female dairy goat.

[ainslie]

I bought billys kids last year to use as outcrosses for my dairy does. I trained them to drink their milk out of a pail (or bowl) instead of a bottle, it's a lot easier and it's a quicker more effective cleanup. They did well and their growth kept up with billys of the same age that were born on-farm and still nursing on their dams.

[ainslie]

How are you doing with your new kids?

[farmercoop]

havnt got the kids yet, should be may day weekend, have joined the local goat club so im still progressing aswell

[FEEBZ1]

Hi, i have 16 week old pygmy goat kids which i have bottle fed since they were two weeks old. i adore them, they are now very tame and affectionate, but it was very time consuming in the beggining. I had to feed them five times a day as they didnt drink very much at each feed only a couple of ounces each time. the books all suggested that was not enough, so i took to feeding them little and often, which eventually paid off. Initially they developed goat scour, which i now believe was just because of the change in their surroundings and diet, I thougfht they were going to die, as a cmplete novice, and ended up with calling the vets out. i had a lot of telephone support from a local goat sanctuary who i called almost every day, but now they both strong and healthy and bouncing around. One is a lot bigger than theother, although he stqarted out as the frail one, but they are both different in character. i still give them a litre a day each, well one has one and a half the other just a a half if im lucky. i will continue to feed them till the powdered milk finishes, as they still call out in the morning for some warm milk and a cuddle. I check on them all through the day and lock them away safly in the stable at night. Let me know how you get on.
Fiona