Bottle babies

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22lilchickens

22lilchickens

Chirping
5 Years
Oct 3, 2014
166
7
61
Virginia
Ok so I have been wanting to bottle raise a kid sinc I got my first goat and then she had Babies and I enjoyed spending hours with them. Then I was looking threw Craigslist, and a dairy breeder on there had Nubian and alpines that were gonna have babies and could be picked up this week as bottle Babies or could wait till April. Now I don't want no negative comments about how it's cruel to take babies away from there moms. Most people do This to keep diease from the babies and some do it to future head bucks so they are extremely friendly. And I never take a kid from the mom if it's the only one it has. So I've read books, but I would like to know from differnt people what are the best ways they found to raise a a baby kid, like feeding schudlues, what the best to feed them(I think I'm going to stay away from milk replacer) and anything else.
 
I have 1 doe everything she has twins I have to bottle feed 1 of them I keep them together with the mom n just feed them ever few hours I use milk replacer after the first day the first day I milk her n feed the kid colostrum I use a baby bottle to feed them just make the hole a lil bigger if u have any question just ask n I'll try to answer
 
22lilchickens said:
Ok so I have been wanting to bottle raise a kid sinc I got my first goat and then she had Babies and I enjoyed spending hours with them. Then I was looking threw Craigslist, and a dairy breeder on there had Nubian and alpines that were gonna have babies and could be picked up this week as bottle Babies or could wait till April. Now I don't want no negative comments about how it's cruel to take babies away from there moms. Most people do This to keep diease from the babies and some do it to future head bucks so they are extremely friendly. And I never take a kid from the mom if it's the only one it has. So I've read books, but I would like to know from differnt people what are the best ways they found to raise a a baby kid, like feeding schudlues, what the best to feed them(I think I'm going to stay away from milk replacer) and anything else.
Click to expand...

This article will help you calculate how much to feed a goat kid. It also explains why bottle feeding a buck is actually a terrible idea. And I agree. I have a buck whose breeder bottle fed him. NEVER AGAIN will I get a bottle fed buck.

Also, this one has helpful information.
 
Oh this is disheartening. My babies I'm getting Saturday at 3 weeks are both buck brothers. I planned on getting more later but now I'm worried they will be mean little Nigerians.
1f615.png
I'm hoping they bond with my great pyrenees some and not just the family
 
Larkspur88 said:
Oh this is disheartening. My babies I'm getting Saturday at 3 weeks are both buck brothers. I planned on getting more later but now I'm worried they will be mean little Nigerians.
1f615.png
I'm hoping they bond with my great pyrenees some and not just the family
Click to expand...

Are your little NDs going to be for breeding, or for pets? If just pets, you will want to wether them. I don't know if you've smelled a buck before, but they can peel paint. It isn't just the musky natural smell, but they also urinate all over their faces and legs (they turn their head to spray a good faceful on themselves.
 
Larkspur88 said:
Pets! I want to neuter them. I had a buck before and he was not too bad but he was also skittish. Not a bottle baby
Click to expand...

If you wether them then bottle feeding will cause no issues. Does and wethers make for wonderful animals when bottle raised. Its just that bottle bucks often see humans as objects of their affection too. They also fail to respect your personal space more than a dam raised buck. At least if a buck is dam raised, he knows he is a goat and to only direct his affections to other goats. My bottle baby buck has since learned to respect my space, though, and sometimes he slips up.

Dam raised kids are often friendly. All mine are dam raised unless there is an issue. But they are handled everyday. I'd rather they have access to their dam's constant milk supply. Plus no measuring or heating milk, washing bottles, strict schedules, etc. with my dam raised ones :D
 
Awesome! How old is too old to disbud them? Mine will be 3 weeks old to the day when I pick them up. I read they need it done by 10 days but wondering if it's too late
 
Larkspur88 said:
Awesome! How old is too old to disbud them? Mine will be 3 weeks old to the day when I pick them up. I read they need it done by 10 days but wondering if it's too late
Click to expand...

Probably too late already. Most bucklings are born with horn buds you can already feel...meaning they need to go. I give all my boys a couple of days after birth before doing it, but no longer. When you can palpate horn buds, it is time to burn. Girls take longer to develop, so they get a pass for a week or two until I can feel them.

If you can get access to a burner that can fit over their enlarged horn buds, it might be do-able. But if their very large, or have broken through the skin, it might not work well. And there will be a risk of scurs. Said bottle buck of mine has awful scurs since his breeder waited far too long to disbud him.
 

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