bottle feeding baby goats

[goats rule 101]

Hi I've been looking for a breed of goat to get and I finally found one, fainters. I found a breeder near me and she gave me the option to either bottle feed them or wait until weaning. I really want to bottle feed but was wondering if this is a good idea. I wouldn't be able to feed them between 6:00 am and 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. for school reasons. I live in minnesota and would be getting them in January. I would have to put heat lamps on them or something since I do not have a heated barn. I am in 4-h and really want them to be friendly. These would also be my first goats but I have taken care of my neighbors goats (profile picture) for 2 weeks time. Any opinions on what I should do?

 

[TOP KNOT]

Hi I've been looking for a breed of goat to get and I finally found one, fainters. I found a breeder near me and she gave me the option to either bottle feed them or wait until weaning. I really want to bottle feed but was wondering if this is a good idea. I am 12 yers old and could feed them before school, around 6:00 a.m. and after which is usually 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. I live in minnesota and would be getting them in January. I would have to put heat lamps on them or something since I do not have a heated barn. I am in 4-h and really want them to be friendly. These would also be my first goats but I have taken care of my neighbors goats (profile picture) for 2 weeks time. Any opinions on what I should do?

It would be best for the kid to be with her mother until weaning. She should be fed more often than than you will be able. If you want to imprint on her, go to visit and spend time with her while she is with her mother. She will grow up more healthy this way. I raised goats for 4-H growing up. Good luck and have fun!

 

[goats rule 101]

Ok thanks I think I will do that! I'm not exactly fit to be a mama goat!

 

[TOP KNOT]

Ok thanks I think I will do that! I'm not exactly fit to be a mama goat!

It can be a lot of work! When I was 16 I had 5 milk goats. I had a ''goat friend'' who was in her 70's at the time. At 9 p.m. one evening the forest preserve ranger/outdoor education man came to our door!! He had 2 deer fawns!! The mother had got hit by a car and killed. He said to me ''I understand that you have milk goats'' He left those fawns with me and I milked the goats and bottle fed them! I had to get up at 2 a.m. to fed them. They would make a muffled mmee sound until I gave them their bottle. I had them for 3 days until the hooved animal humane society came to pick them up. You have to have a license to keep deer. They thanked me for caring for them and off they went. It was such an opportunity to have the chance to experience that!! So having goats has its perks! Have so much fun with your goat!!

 

[chooks4life]

Wish you all the best with your goats. Goats are often quite easily tamed, and if you spend the time with them they will likely come to trust you.

I also think it's best to let them wean off their mothers first. What didn't go in while they were infants, you can't put in later; no amount of care later on makes up for a deprived infancy. Formula fed babies typically have greater troubles in later life and often don't make it to the same standards of health as mother-reared babies, though I must say the recent formulas are really closing that gap. I've bottle reared various goat and sheep orphans and they sure can make great pets.

Another issue to consider is that if they bond to you as a mother, they will likely scream for either a good part or even all of the day when separated from you --- even all night too. Some will accept being left alone, others will not, even with company.

About heater lamps, well, being in Australia I don't have any real experience with extremely low temperatures, but I'd think if they don't have these lamps on now, and the adults of their flock don't either, or they aren't reliant on a heated barn, then there is no need. If you leave them till weaning or whatever age you want to pick them up, maybe some jackets would be sufficient. Goats and sheep fit quite well into vests and cardigans, etc. But obviously if you do that you'd need to make sure they're not able to be eaten by them. A cosy shelter with bales of hay to snuggle between should do the job, but of course I don't know what it's like there.


All the best.

 

[goats rule 101]

It can be a lot of work! When I was 16 I had 5 milk goats. I had a ''goat friend'' who was in her 70's at the time. At 9 p.m. one evening the forest preserve ranger/outdoor education man came to our door!! He had 2 deer fawns!! The mother had got hit by a car and killed. He said to me ''I understand that you have milk goats'' He left those fawns with me and I milked the goats and bottle fed them! I had to get up at 2 a.m. to fed them. They would make a muffled mmee sound until I gave them their bottle. I had them for 3 days until the hooved animal humane society came to pick them up. You have to have a license to keep deer. They thanked me for caring for them and off they went. It was such an opportunity to have the chance to experience that!! So having goats has its perks! Have so much fun with your goat!!

Wow that would be a really cool experience!

 

[goats rule 101]

Thank you both for all you had to add. I'm so excited to get my goats!

 

[chooks4life]

You're welcome and best wishes with your goats. They're quite entertaining.

I have lived on a deer farm, where they were left wild until rounded up to be sold for slaughter, and I must say they were some of the most dangerous 'livestock' I've ever encountered. The more tame they were, the more dangerous they were. There was a bottle fed red deer stag and like most stags reared by hand he quickly became extremely dangerous. Some people manage to make their deer tame, but while I like them I'm not sure I'd farm them offhand! Even the fallow stags would come charging from over a kilometer away to come and attack if they saw you in the paddock. They jumped the 10-foot fences whenever the mood took them, too.

 

[PioneerPrincess]

Wow that would be a really cool experience!

I agree. That is really neat!

Hi I've been looking for a breed of goat to get and I finally found one, fainters. I found a breeder near me and she gave me the option to either bottle feed them or wait until weaning. I really want to bottle feed but was wondering if this is a good idea. I wouldn't be able to feed them between 6:00 am and 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. for school reasons. I live in minnesota and would be getting them in January. I would have to put heat lamps on them or something since I do not have a heated barn. I am in 4-h and really want them to be friendly. These would also be my first goats but I have taken care of my neighbors goats (profile picture) for 2 weeks time. Any opinions on what I should do?

I had my first experience with bottle babies this year and, let me tell you, it's a lot of work. Bottle feeding takes quite a bit of time especially when you're feeding four to five times a day. And if you have a kid that is being stubborn on taking a bottle, it will take much more patience and time to work with that kid. Now, don't get me wrong, bottle feeding is a blast! The kids will come right up to you for their bottle and wag their little tails so adorably. They are just the sweetest things. If the mama goat can take care of the kids she has, I'd just let her. Dam-raised kids can still be just as friendly as bottle-raised. Spending time with them and giving them scratches or good goat treats will make them eager to come spend time with you. Raising goats is certainly fun and quite an expericence. Make sure you research as much as you can about goats. They need to have proper feeding and minerals to be healthy. Doing thorough research will save you from much headache and heartache. Have fun with your new goats when they come! : )

 

[goats rule 101]

Thank you so much! I'm doing as much research as there is possible! I love my neighbors goats and I just can't wait much longer to get mine. That was really one of the main reasons I wanted bottle babies, so I could get them sooner. But i understand how much work that would take and I'm thinking I will try bottled feeding some when I'm older and more experianced. Thanks again!