Bottle feeding baby goats

[roseyred]

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

It's okay when I was little I got a little black goat named Sarah and I anuck her into the house and into my room and my Jack Russell have her a heart attack and she died right infront of me /:

 

[Mitchellsmommy]

That's horrible! My Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix thinks he IS a goat. haha. and now that the babies are gone, he's sad. Mitchell bloated up like a balloon, we tried oil and massage etc. then rushed to vet ER ...poor thing was SCREAMING and looking at me like HELP ME MOMMY.I kept trying to soothe him and help him release the bloating. he stopped breathing/passed out nothing. I did mouth to mouth and cpr or my version of it and he came back. I was crying...Thank you God!!!!! but then he went down again and died in my arms but I couldn't get him back. I kept blowing in his mouth and filling his lungs but I think the bloat compressed his and stopped his little heart. I ran into the vethosp with him dangling like a doll But I was so hysterical I was yelling for them to give him air and use the paddles and put in a tube to drain out everything! Yeah. I was out of my mind with loss.
THEN days later my Buddy started up. first he had trouble pooping. then his belly felt hard. he didn't bloat like mitchell. but when he went to bed he started crying and flipping over. omg I was like noooooooooo not again! we took him right away. I still had to keep working on him but not cpr. he stayed conscious. ... he started dripping diarrhea all over my lap. I kept trying to help him push it out i didnt care. he passed out a few times but not like mitchell. when we got there the vet was still on the way. but he made it through and she gave him sub q and pain meds. she said temp was good, rumen was good, but the diarrhea was liquid (like mitchell's was) . we left him with her overnight because she said that was best for him. unfortunately he died during the night, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. It is so hard. It is traumatic. poor poor little angels.

 

[craftymomma]

Help I just got a 3 week old mini goat how much cows milk should I feed and how often? I've been researching and getting scared because so many people say the babies died.

 

[CountyLine]

Help me please.

Yesterday I brought home a 10 day old pygmy buckling to bottle feed. Right away he was very skittish and was not interested in his bottle at ALL. I have been getting him to drink but it requires me using a finger to get his mouth open and basically forcing the nipple in his mouth, he will suckle for about 6-8 seconds and not want anymore.. The research I did before bringing the little dude home had me thinking he would run up to me and just drink his milk several times a day.. ect.. Being overly worried I wasn't ready to handle this guy I called the woman I got him from and asked if I could being him back to his mother for a couple more weeks... Tried that and his mother wanted absolutely nothing to do with him and acted like she wanted to kill him. Now that he is back home with me I would REALLY REALLY like to know exactly what I should be feeding this little guy.
I have had him on Unimilk for 2 days now and am realizing there is a lot of people who are advising against this. UniMilk or No UniMilk???

I went to the store and got a gallon of Horizon Organic Vitamin D WHOLE MILK (Ultra-Pasteurized) is this the type of "Whole Cows Milk" others in this thread are feeding their babies?

Should I Stick with the UniMilk or go with the Cows milk?

Do I follow the exact measurements for the Uni?

Stressing out a bit..

 

[lacy111693]

I know it's a bit late, but no UniMilk. Use cow's milk!! And be careful with pygmies and other small breeds! The feeding recommendations are NOT the same as a normal sized goat. Most people over feed. It is better to give too little than too much. My 5 week old Nigerian dwarf is drinking 3.5 oz 3 x day. Working our way up to 4 oz and plenty of hay. He's perfectly content and we have had no bloating or scours problems.

 

[cassie]

Plain old whole cow's milk from the store is fine. If you want to get fancy you can use a formula concocted for mini goats and Boers because they produce a higher butterfat milk than most dairy goats. You take a gallon jug of milk and pour off about a quart. Add to the jug one cup of buttermilk and a can of evaporated milk. Shake up the jug and then pour some of the milk you poured off back into the jug to fill it up. As for replacer, some kids do fine on it but a lot of them don't. Some kids scour on it and worse, some kids will bloat and die. If they are going to bloat they will do so without warning and there is no way to predict it. If they are going to bloat they will usually do so about a half hour or so after being fed and a dose of Gas X will usually take care of it.

 

[earlpaz1]

I have a friend who is a retired vet and he suggested to wait until 6months or so then have them surgically neutered. they need to have their urinary tract to develop or they will have urinary problems later in life. good luck with shasta

 

[cassie]

Six months is a long time to wait. By then they are old enough to breed and they are very well developed, if you get my drift. By then there is a very large blood supply to the scrotum and testicles and bleeding after castration can be significant. Plus, castration is a lot harder on them than it would have been earlier.




there

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I do agree that earlier castration is better. When young, the urethral process is still attached, but goats generally don't have issues with this when compared to those left intact until the urethral process frees itself from the glans p.enis. What I think is more important is correct feeding when it comes to blockages and stone formation in male goats (This includes the feeding of treats!)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We band all our boys at around 8 weeks. We have banded fully mature bucks with success. It doesn't really matter the age. I do agree the diet is the main contributing factor for stones, as I have never experienced them in my boys.