Bottle Baby Goat

Jen4

Songster
11 Years
Sep 7, 2008
3,947
3
211
Munfordville, KY
I got my 1st goat today. Shes 1 day old... the person I got her from doesnt have time to take care of her & the momma got doesnt have enough milk for her & the other one she gave birth too. Any advise you have to share with me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. He brought me a bottle & Pet evaporated milk for Bella.

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Has she been started on the bottle? If she is taking it. that is half the battle. Did he let her nurse off the mom at all? Hopefully yes, so she got colostrum, if not go back and milk her for it now, not too late. I have not idea why he gave you evaporated milk? But, with one baby, whole milk from the store is going to be your best option, some people mix some evap. milk into it, but I have always just used plain cows milk. Not as good as mom's but better then replacer.
You will want to get another goat if you don't already have some, they do not do well by themselves. She will become very bonded to you and if you ever plan on leaving her outside on her own, you will have a screaming goat!
 
dutchhollow Wrote:
Has she been started on the bottle? If she is taking it. that is half the battle. Did he let her nurse off the mom at all? Hopefully yes, so she got colostrum, if not go back and milk her for it now, not too late. I have not idea why he gave you evaporated milk? But, with one baby, whole milk from the store is going to be your best option, some people mix some evap. milk into it, but I have always just used plain cows milk. Not as good as mom's but better then replacer.
You will want to get another goat if you don't already have some, they do not do well by themselves. She will become very bonded to you and if you ever plan on leaving her outside on her own, you will have a screaming goat!

Thank You. I'll go get some whole milk for her. I do think she drunk off the momma alittle, but I'll ask him to make sure. I do not have anymore goats, shes the first ever, I just got her this morning, shes in the house with us of course my DD16 has been holding & feeding her from the bottle.​
 
Ive raised several bottle babies and fed them whole cows milk also. Ive heard milk replacer gives them scours and they can die pretty quickly. I fed mine about 5 times a day to start, then gradually increasing the amount in the bottle and decreasing the frequency.
 
She is a cutie! Please get her colostrum. I think the minimum is the first three days after being born so she stays healthy. I agree with whole cows milk. The milk replacers just don't work well for goat kids.
I have raised a bunch of bottle babies this spring. They were bucklings from a large goat dairy. Most of them grew in leaps and bounds while some ended up sickly. A few of those died. The best we could figure was that the sickly ones didn't get enough colostrum.
Best of luck with her! They are so much fun to watch as they grow. I love the jumps and spins. And the first day that the babies learn that they can run. Zoom! They run everywhere they go the first time they realize they have a gas pedal...lol
 
There is a homemade milk formula that is super awesome which uses whole milk, evaporaed milk, and I can't remember the other but I found it online and on a goat forum... just do a google search for homemade kid formula and it should pop up in there. Definately feed small amounts frequently ( about every 4 hours) if they start to scour immediately get some scour halt for piglets or pepto for humans in her. They can dehydrate and you can lose them quickly. The absolute best thing is to find some goat milk....I have used canned goat milk from the grocery but it is horribly expensive. Don't let her eat and eat they can bloat !!!! She needs a cd&t vaccination at 30 days old especially if the mother was not vaccinated in the last month of pregnancy this is EXTREMELY important!!! Watch the membranes in her mouth and if they start to turn from reddish to pale pale pink this is a sign of worms and also coccidiosis....also diarrhea that the medicine cannot control can be coccidiosis and it is VERY common in bottle babies. That's most of the things that spring to mind right now....good luck to you and you will soon find a bottle baby goat is very similar to a human toddler lol lol !!! Just wait you have loads and loads of fun things to come with this new adventure!!

ok I found it : 1 gallon whole milk
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 gallon buttermilk

optional: 1 whisked egg

combine ingredients and store - make sure when warming not to scorch or get too warm for baby


the buttermilk provides the probiotics and natural "gut" microbes that the baby has not developed yet fyi
 
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Thank you both so much... I've got lots to learn. I just dont want to do anything wrong & something happen to her. She doesnt eat alot, she drinks 1 - 1.5 oz here & there, but I guess shes gettin enough because I've noticed this mornin she is stronger with standin & walkin. Shes asleep right now. Her poo this mornin was alittle loose.
 
They'll only drink about 1-2 oz the first few days, and should be fed about 4x day. After a few days she should start getting about 3 oz and after the first week or so you can trim the feedings to 3x day. Just like any baby, she'll be very tired and sleep a lot the first few days.

FWIW, if you switch to cows milk completely she might get scours (diarreah). The quick change can upset her rumen so if you've already done that, just be prepared. If she gets scours, withold all milk and just feed her electrolyes or they sell a product called scour halt at most feed stores. When her poop returns to normal (which at this stage should be a black, tar consistancy) you can give her milk again.

I, too, wouldn't mess with any type of milk mixture. Whole cow's milk from the store is just fine assuming you can't get any raw goat's milk to feed her. Don't buy goat milk from the store for her, it's been pasturized and altered to fit guidlines and regulations, so it's basically either raw milk straight from a goat or whole cow's milk from the store. Either is fine.

Find out if her mother was given a CD&T vaccination about 4-6 weeks prior to kidding. If so, your doeling will need a shot about 8 weeks old followed by a booster about 28 days later. If not, you might want to give her the vaccination at around 4 weeks old and again in 28 days. You can buy CD&T from most feed stores or on-line and you give her 2cc's worth - that's the standard dose for all goats regardless of age, weight or breed.

I'd also suggest taking a look over at BYH. Most people there are really friendly and helpful - but you can always post questions here too!

ETA - when she's 3 weeks old you'll want to start her on a coccidia treatment. There are several types you can follow, but the one I do is give DiMethox 12.5% orally at a rate of 1cc / 5# day 1, then 1cc / 10# days 2-5. Repeat again at 6 weeks and a third round at 9 weeks old.

There many, many, MANY different ways to raise a goat. Everyone thinks their opinion is right and how you should do it - you will just need to read all you can and decide what you think will work best for you and your goat.

You may want to consider getting her a friend that's her age, too - preferably another doe or a buckling that you'll need to wether around 8-12 wks old. Goats are herd animals and really do best when they have a friend with them 24/7. She'll be fine and cute inside for now, but being a boer it'll get really old having a 100+ lb goat jumping on you, your bed and the furniture!

Have fun - goats really are a fun animal and I really enjoy all mine.
 
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We bought a 2 week old & very under-weight lamb from an auction a couple weeks ago. He's doing very well, but I have to agree getting them to eat is half the battle (in his case he was so under-weight I had to bring his feed up really slowly).

We use commercial milk replacer and I haven't had any trouble at all, actually it's put weight on him very quickly.

Good luck!
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