Just try the nipples and see which works out the best. I would start with the medium flow. You are better off using milk rather than replacer for two reasons. One, while most kids will tolerate replacer, some won't and you won't find out which ones won't until it is too late. The second reason is that the very good replacers are expensive and cost just about as much as milk so there is really no advantage to using them.
I agree with you. Just a comment. I have, or know people that have, tried just about every replacer available. Quite frankly, I haven't noticed that kids do any better on the expensive replacers formulated especially for kids than they do on a premium replacer formulated for calves. And I have also had people tell me that they have never had any trouble with replacers. I tell them that is because they haven't raised enough kids. Some kids can tolerate replacers and some can't. Some that appear to tolerate the replacer may bloat suddenly and die without warning. You are right. It just isn't worth it.
Not bashing. Just saying it is not a good idea. And that is based on my personal observation of raising a lot of kids and the experiences of many other commercial breeders I know who had a lot bigger operations and raised a lot more kids than I did. The really good kid replacers cost about as much as milk, so there is no economic advantage in using them. You are far far less likely to see digestive problems in kids fed milk than you are in kids fed replacer. One dairyman found that if he fed half replacer and half milk the kids did much better than they did on straight replacer. He fed replacer when he was short of milk and he had to feed at least some replacer in order to ship his quota of milk. The hobby breeder doesn't have those issues.
Of course you do. A lot of kids do just fine on replacer. But some of them don't. Go with whatever works best for you and your animals. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
