Bottle feeding baby goats

[dixiegal62]

The best replacer milk I ever used was a gallon of whole milk with about 2 cups poured out, then add one can of evaperated milk and one cup of whole fat buttermilk. I've raised goats for years on this .

 

[shadowpaints]

we have always fed our bottle babies whole cows milk from the store after they get the colostrum that we milk from the dam. they do fine on it, we lost so many when we started out because we fed the milk replacer, that we decided cows milk was best!

bottle babies are so much fun, and so stinkin cute too!

 

[elevan]

Whole cows milk is a perfectly acceptable feeding choice for goat kids.


Here is a great article by Roll Farms on the sister site Backyard Herds:

So you bought a baby goat...now what?

 

[Goat lady]

I had a doeling born about 2 weeks ago and she is hopefully drinking a little from the nanny goat and is starting to nibble on feed. We feed her at 6:20 am,4:00 pm,and 8:00 pm. She drinks from 1-2 1/2 oz.

 

[Six Chickies]

I wonder if whole milk with yogurt and cream would be a good recipe for an alpine kid?

 

[Stacykins]

I wonder if whole milk with yogurt and cream would be a good recipe for an alpine kid?

You don't need to add anything to the whole cow's milk. You can feed it as is. Some people do ad stuff, and this is the recipe they use:
1 gallon whole milk (homogenized)
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup buttermilk
Take the gallon of milk, and pour out about 1/3 and set it aside
Pour in the 1 can of evaporated milk and the 1 cup of buttermilk into the gallon then pour to the remaining milk that you set aside until you reach the top. Mix gently each time before making up a bottle.

But like I said, the whole milk works well on its own.

 

[cassie]

I wonder if whole milk with yogurt and cream would be a good recipe for an alpine kid?

No. Goat milk has about the same butterfat content as cow milk. Adding cream will probably give the kid the scours. The yogurt wouldn't hurt but it isn't necessary. The formula Stacykins mentioned works great. It is my understanding that it was originally formulated by a breeder of either mini goats or Boers. Minis and Boers tend to have a richer milk than dairy goats so it satnds to reason that their kids would do better on a more concentrated milk. Most kids do very well on it. That said, plain old cow milk from the store works fine. I raised a lot of kids on it.

 

[Mitchellsmommy]

I just got my very first goats recently, and within a week and a half of bringing them home, They were both dead. My opinion is that #1-I used powdered replacer. #2-I fed too much, too infrequently.
The research I have done has led me to believe that it is indeed better to give them smaller portions per feeding, and do it more frequently. For example, instead of 12oz replacer, twice daily...Do like 6oz 4 times a day. I have been reading that cows milk (whole cow's milk) is much better than giving them powdered replacers.
The availability of baking soda helps to regulate rumen ph
fresh hay and browsing matter is very important to have, as they nibble at an early age.
Learn from my mistakes! They are NOT hardy animals. They are very fragile. The slightest thing can prove fatal.
Talk to people who have raised and bred them SUCCESSFULLY for years and ears...Knowledge is power!

R.I.P. Buddy and Mitchell

 

[Mitchellsmommy]

I have been told by both owners and a vet that they shouldn't have the grain/pellets. They need the milk (not replacer) and fresh browse and fresh hay. Not alfalfa for bucks/wethers because it causes calci-something, sorry not sure the word- urinary trouble. baking soda available to balance ph if they need it.

 

[Mitchellsmommy]

we lost our baby boys one after the other and now we will never feed replacer again. so devastating. also won't overfeed...just a bit at a time, but more often. hard lesson learned!