Need help with orphaned goat

[EggCentric]

I have a 3 week old boer (sp?) cross goat doeling. She's an orphan. The guy I am caring for it for told me to feed it 3 times a day. That doesn't seem like enough. How many times should I feed it, and how much? She is a runt, only about MAYBE 10 pounds. (I've had bigger cats)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Barnyard]

She needs to be feed every 2- 3 hours. Is she a bottle baby?

 

[lacyloo]

sounds to me as the mother died, or left the baby,

the kid should be fed powdered goat milk replacement formula, and should be fed ever 6-7 hrs for a few days just to get her immune system up, after that 3 times a day should be enough. at 3 months if shes eating grain and food plus hay she can be weaned.

 

[EggCentric]

Yes, she is a bottle baby. I have one of those nipples that screws onto the top of a 20 oz coke bottle. I have been giving her a full one of those every 4 hours since about 4 pm today. That's when I got her.

Thank you, I didn't think 3 times a day was enough.

 

[UnttouchableRose]

I just lost a 3week old boer/kiko cross. She ate a total of 6-8 cups of milk per day broken into feedings about every 2-3 hours. According to the bucket of milk replacer I was using she was right on track.

Good Luck!

 

[helmstead]

Yup - the four hours is right. Sounds to me like she's underweight now, tho, so pour it to her. She's also old enough for her 1st C/D & T. I would bet she'd deficient in Vit E and selenium, so a BoSe dose (vet Rx) would be a good idea along with some B complex. Another good way to get her 'up' is to add Poly-Vi-Sol to her bottles.

Also be sure to be offering grain and hay - most of my babies are trying to eat with mom by that age and the sooner she learns about solids the better. Don't forget the loose minerals.

 

[EggCentric]

Thank you everyone for your help. I will upload some pictures later today.

What is a CD&T? (I've never had a goat in my life) I've raised orphaned foals, but not goats.

 

[Haviris]

She could survive on three bottles a day, I know of some dairies that put kids on two bottles a day right from birth. Personally I prefer to feed several smaller bottles several times a day. If you have the time and are willing that is what I would do. All seems to be different, you will just have to see what works best for her. My current bottle baby is two weeks old today and is eating 5-6 bottles a day, I could probably push her down to 4, but I don't mind feeding her more often, I just let her let me when she's ready to eat.

What I generally do when I have a new bottle baby is, on the 1st day I feed as often as they want to eat, generally I offer a bottle every 2-3 hours, on the second day I start them on every 4 hours, which would be 5 times a day (I don't feed through the night, last feeding is generally around midnight, 1st feeding is around 8am), and keep them on that for from 1-2 weeks depending on the baby. After that we switch to every 5 hours, 4 times a day and stay w/ that til 6-8 weeks, then down to 3, and usually around 12 weeks we kick back to two and stay w/ that until they are weaned. And I usually let them deside when they are ready to be weaned (generally by 4 months). And I do start offering hay and grain around 2 weeks old.

So anyway that is what works for me, good luck! Can't wait to see the pics!

 

[Chatychick]

I personally would be giving cows milk if you can afford it for her as she will thrive better on it than replacer...to many problems with it. I havent had a case of scours using cows milk. When I used replacer I was constantly treating scours ...not fun either. I would feed her 4 times a day and depending on her age try some goat feed and hay...it will help on the feedings too. Good luck they are a challenge...

 

[helmstead]

Quote:
It's a vaccine:
http://www.bi-vetmedica.com/product_sites/BarVacCDT/reference.html