mama goat rejected babies

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Milking a goat just prolongs the dry off period. Best to let her dry down right away and be done with it. Humans that don't nurse do it all the time, and they don't get mastitis because of it.

I personally find it easier to bottle feed kids than it is to constantly having to hog tie a goat multiple times a day so the kids can nurse.

Kid goats will get very sick if fed improperly. When nursing the kid keeps the bag mostly dry and they can't consume much at each feeding. Now you take a goat and restrain it a couple times a day and suddenly you don't know how much they are consuming which can cause scours and death.

Best to pull the kids for their own well being. Whether to milk the goat is a whole nother issue.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Now I'm not trying to be argumental and I am asking a serious valid question. How do you know the stress on the goat isn't like human stress? We all in a sense are wired the same. I have a doe who has been clinically confirmed by a vet to have severe anxiety and she self mutilates by pulling her own fur out. Was born that way and had nothing bad ever happen to her. Was even dam raised. People go there the same thing. It's also proven that goats are very sensitive to many stressful situations like being put under. All I'm saying is if she rejected them, it could be she is just a careless mother or maybe she being ill knew she couldn't and wouldn't care for her offspring. So her being unknowingly sick and making her nurse, isn't helping. I myself think that everything happens for a logical reason and animals and Mother Nature are not ein tune than us. Seems to me to just be a better option to bottle feed, even if it does cost more. That's just something to expect when you breed and she seems like she was prepared. But like you said, each to their own.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I dont really have anything else to add but about the costing more thing, i dont know if its true or not but i heard milk replacers can kill kids and calves and it's better to use real milk like whole fat cows milk? So if that's the case, that might cost less than replacer?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I always raise my kids on milk replacer, not a dead one yet. Milk replacer doesn't kill, it's ignorance of its use, and not buying a good quality one and following direction. Most goat milk replacers are made from powdered goat milk now and are more correct to the species than cows milk.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I always raise my kids on milk replacer, not a dead one yet. Milk replacer doesn't kill, it's ignorance of its use, and not buying a good quality one and following direction. Most goat milk replacers are made from powdered goat milk now and are more correct to the species than cows milk.

That's good to know, thanks

I admit I don't really know much but when I was looking into goats I found a lot of stuff, possibly here but mostly other forums, that had said to never feed replacer because they die or get scours or something? Or maybe it was that replacer had something in it?? I don't know. But good to know they won't die

 

[cassie]

Some kids do fine on replacer. Some don't. It's that simple.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If you don't mix it properly and feed correct amounts they can get scours or bloat, but they can on milk too, if amounts aren't measured correctly and any increases are made slowly.

I personally find it easier to keep and store milk replacer than gallons and gallons of milk. They can eat a lot once they get going. If I'm feeding 2 regular sized goats 12-16 ounces 2-3 Times a day a gallon of milk last a day or two. They need milk for a minimum of 8 weeks, that's a lot of milk as well as being more expensive in the long run than my milk replacer.

Milk replacer requires reading directions and following them. People don't follow directions and than they blame the replacer. Also you need to purchase one made for the species you are feeding and buy a good one. Why would a company make a product that kills animals, there's no sense to that.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Some kids do fine on replacer.  Some don't. It's that simple.  

That makes sense.

If you don't mix it properly and feed correct amounts they can get scours or bloat, but they can on milk too, if amounts aren't measured correctly and any increases are made slowly.

I personally find it easier to keep and store milk replacer than gallons and gallons of milk. They can eat a lot once they get going. If I'm feeding 2 regular sized goats 12-16 ounces 2-3 Times a day a gallon of milk last a day or two. They need milk for a minimum of 8 weeks, that's a lot of milk as well as being more expensive in the long run than my milk replacer.

Milk replacer requires reading directions and following them. People don't follow directions and than they blame the replacer. Also you need to purchase one made for the species you are feeding and buy a good one. Why would a company make a product that kills animals, there's no sense to that.

I never thought of it like that before but everything you said makes a lot of sense, thanks. And thanks again for explaining it because I just kind of saw some things that said to never ever feed replacer and I didn't really think it made sense but some of their reasoning did and I was paranoid so I just thought "alright I guess I'll just buy milk" and yeah dumb but coulda fooled me aha never got goats though but now I know for when I do. They shouldn't be putting that info out there if it's not true though? I think I remembered some of what it had said - diarrhea I think was a concern?

I'm a little OCD with following directions to a T so that shouldn't be a problem for me

But yeah, it doesn't make sense they would keep making something that kills, ESPECIALLY since surely whoever is in charge of pets/agricultural business would surely find out and shut them down? Or owners would sue them? And then they'd issue a recall or discontinue the product or do research and make adjustments to the new product, etc. Like surely if that was true we would hear about it from the news or somewhere other than a goat forum? Maybe the thread was old though and replacers have changed since then?

I think you had to be sure the replacer didn't have this one thing in it but i forget what it was. It might have been minerals not the replacer that had to be a certain type. But the posts about them dying were definitely about replacer

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

People used to feed calf milk replacer to goats and they didn't do well on them. The newer ones are good and made for goats or a separate type for lambs.

Goats have sensitive digestive systems and feeding them incorrectly at any age will kill them pretty quick.

People like to complain when things go wrong, and to find someone or something to blame, they don't announce when something is working the way it's supposed to.

 

[ShrekDawg]

People used to feed calf milk replacer to goats and they didn't do well on them. The newer ones are good and made for goats or a separate type for lambs.

Goats have sensitive digestive systems and feeding them incorrectly at any age will kill them pretty quick.

People like to complain when things go wrong, and to find someone or something to blame, they don't announce when something is working the way it's supposed to.

That makes a lot more sense, thanks