2 week old goat question

[Sunshine Chick 1]

I got a 2 week old dwarf nigrian for Mother's day. She is bottle fed. I did purchase bottles and the milk. The person my daughter got her from said to feed her with the bottle for the next 4 weeks-3 times a day. (breakfast, lunch and dinner) I have had her for lunch and dinner. Each time she has only taken about an ounce. I have to put the nipple in her mouth to get her to start drinking. She will drink out of a bowl of water. What should she be drinking right now? How much out of the bottle? I have two goats already, but they are older and were older when I got them. Thank you.

 

[calgal98]

Your baby was probably not trained to the bottle when you got her. Some folks don't bother to tell you. You will have to offer the bottle more often as she needs more milk than that. She will begin to drink when she settles down and gets hungry. They like it quite warm...about 101*. Keep at it. A two week old really needs the milk. Try every couple of hours until she gets the hang of it. Just prepare a smaller amount. IF she doesn't start drinking try to give it to her in a bowl (last resort) . I've had some really resistant babies when they are used to mom. If she was just pulled off mom it may take a while. V.

 

[Bird Brain]

No experience but I have read that bowl is definatley last resort. Has to do with the way the milk would have gone down if they were drinking from a nipple since they arent, it is more likley to rot in their tummy, or something like that

 

[Haviris]

She should be eating no less then 3 times a day, and 4 would be better if you can do it. And she will need to be on the bottle for 3-4 months.

How much they eat at each feeding varies by the goat, she will probably take more as time goes, I generally let them eat as much as they want at each feeding. I also have a 2 week old, she is currently being fed about 5 times a day, and she doesn't eat alot per feeding, she is slowly increasing it and eating probably 3 oz at a time right now.

Was your baby already on the bottle? When they are fed by mom they generally take several sips through out the day, not eating alot at a time, but eating often. My advise would be to start out offering the bottle every 3 hours and slowly push the time back. My girl was trained to the bottle at birth, but wasn't officially pulled from mom until a week old. And I started out offering the bottle every 3 hours, and have now pushed it back to every 4 hours (I don't feed through the night). 1 oz 3 times a day is not enough!

And you know we need pics!!

 

[Sunshine Chick 1]

Sorry, but I don't know how to upload pictures on here. Another lesson for this girl. I was able to get her to eat just over an oz. this morning. Then she was pulling back everytime I went to open her mouth. I bought a regular baby bottle. I don't have to make the nipple bigger, do I? She sqirts me sometimes so I know it is coming out.

I don't think she ever got the bottle before us trying. Reason is I have to open her mouth before putting the nipple in and her to start drinking. Any suggestions would greatly appreciated. I bought a "raising goats" book and it only said in there that some goats are raised by bottles and other by their mothers. Well I am a blond but I already knew that one.

Thank you and Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there.

 

[Dorothy1324]

I am also new to goats and recently had to get my two bucklings bottle feeding as there mom died and after trying and trying to get them bottle feeding i got some good advice from a experienced goat owner of using a prichard teat it is a nipple that screws on to a soda bottle it is a red nipple with yellow coller you should be able to find them at your local feed store if not Jeffers has them you can order. I had no luck with the baby bottle

 

[bantamman13]

We got our first goats about 4 months and had some the same problem with one of ours, the one thing we did do was enlarge the opening on the nipple of the baby bottles which seemed to help. Also one of our goats was raised on the milk replacer the powered kind the other one never liked it and we gave her whole milk. We were lucky the lady we bought ours from has been a wealth of info. Good luck

 

[Sunshine Chick 1]

Do you think it is cause the baby bottle nipples are smaller? I have a female and her kid who is 6 months old. We got them when the momma was 1.5 years and the little guy was 4 months. We took them because he was still nursing and it was her second kidding so if we breed her then she would be experienced more than us.

I did see those nipples at my feed store when I went to pick up the dry milk. So I should go on Monday when my feed store is open and buy one of those nipples and put it on a water bottle?

 

[Dorothy1324]

yes i am sure a water bottle would work we use a pepsi bottle that we bought just for this because we don't drink Soda good luck

 

[dkluzier]

I don't have experience with bottle feeding yet did research on it just in case I would have needed. Hold the bottle like it is the mother's teat, same level, so that the kid can nurse in a natural position, not upside down with their head tilted back, etc. Hope that isn't confusing.