OK goat people- bottle baby nubian SOLD !!!!

[kinnip]

I'm with Kate on this one. I don't voluntarily bottle feed anything. I don't have a baby and I don't want one, don't even want a similar experience. I have a LaMancha buckling I just brought home at 5 weeks of age. He'll be off that bottle by 8 weeks! I have enough work to do and he knows where the hay rack is.

 

[mekasmom]

I ALWAYS bottle feed. It makes a better personality.

I would offer a few pieces of grain in your hand to the baby a few times a day. She should start chewing it.

It's normal goat behavior to butt the bottle. Don't be upset by it. It is normal. You could actually wean her as soon as you can get her eating grain/hay/grass. If you really dislike feeding her that much, weaning as soon as she eats is fine. Just make sure to vaccinate against overeating, and watch her weight. I wean at 8wks, but a little early won't hurt a kid if they will eat.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Thanks for the replies. Oh, it is not that I hate to feed the little fart, it is just that HE is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO insistant on getting that bottle.

I hide behind the barn when I see him come out of the horse barn. If he sees me he is on my heels EVERYWHERE i go until he gets his way.

We bought some rehydrated alfalfa and he is actually eating the stuff. He drinks a bit of water now and again.

I have NEVER seen any animal so focused on getting ONE thing, the bottle.

He sucks the thing so fast that no air can get in the bottle. Then he butts the thing and I mean hard. Most of the time he knocks the bottle out of my hands.

He is begining to realize that a simple "let go" will get him more milk than his butting.

When i leave the farm and he is around he gets under my vehicle and just sits there. So, I found a place to lock his little butt up when I leave. The wife comes out a few minutes latter and lets him out.

He is continually under my feet when I am doing chores and this annoys me. Oh, he is obnoxious, he is ill mannered and he is a real pest.

But, he thinks i am his daddy I guess. I can not lock the little turd up all day. He is a smart little thing. When i go into the house and he FINALLY realizes that I aint comming out he goes back up to the horse barn which is a pretty good click. For a 8 week old animal, he has it figured out.

I do not want to bucket feed him, because he needs to get to the weaning part. We are feeding one bottle in the morning and one at night starting tomorrow. I do give him 7 percent horse grain and he seems to eat this too.

I can not fence him in because we have such a crappy fencing system. For now, he know home is the horse barn.

By the way, here is a pic of the monster.

He is the gray and black.... The other two are lambs and we have sold them to a nice couple near us.

 

[Haviris]

He's a cutie! Do you spend any non feeding time w/ him? My bottle babies only act hungry and overly 'bottle focused' at feeding time, the rest of the time they are normal playful kids!

I have a two week old right now that is happily sleeping by my chair.

If you are trying to get him to eat more things and you don't have an older goat he's bonded to to teach him, then you might want to try pretending to eat it yourself. May sound silly but they learn by watching the others, and it's not always true that they will get hungry enough and just start eating, I've had some that would have starved themselves to dealth. My little one already eats and drinks pretty good, but she also thinks she needs to check out anything she sees me eat or drink.

And if he's obnoxious you will want to work on that. You are acting as his parent so it is your job to teach him manners!

He's a beautiful boy! I had one that looked like him only w/ white spots, I thought he was the prettiest nubian ever!

 

[username taken]

If you wean him onto 7% horse grain he will starve to death. Slowly.

Goat kids need to be weaned onto a grain that is AT THE VERY LEAST 16% protein, preferably 18 - 20%.

Why dont you advertise him for sale?

 

[BorderKelpie]

He's sooo pretty, he reminds me of one I had years and years ago. I wish he lived by me. (Besides the fact that my lawn mower is broken and I could really use his 'help' trimming weeds.lol)
I was just threatening to get a pair of sheep or goats. *sigh* wishful thinking.

 

[LilbitChicken]

We have 6 goats, the bottle nudging is normal- they will wean out of that. Enjoy they are great pets- for us!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Thanks, I will go to the feed store and get some high protein grain for the "kid".

I have a lady coming for the Llamas in a few weeks. We are trading a big gelding for a few miniatures and we have to move the two mini cows to a new pasture. This all has to be timed and the fences worked on. So, i will put a post with a recent pic of him ( he is a whole lot bigger now) in a week or so on the BYC sell sections.

Oh and yes, the little brat demands my time. We do chores together and the wife has "fallen" for him. He is after all just a baby.

Lately, he has been following me behind my feet instead of right under them. Heck by the time he is ready to go he may be a decent animal.

What am i saying, he will always be a GOAT.

 

[JoJo 95]

are you still thinking about selling him? i would love to have him.

 

[SheriM]

Last year, I had a bottle baby who was so fixated on me that he'd press his mouth against my leg, at about knee height, and just sort of stick there, like he was attached. I could actually walk (limp?) around the barnyard with him plastered to my leg. It was the funniest thing...till I needed to actually do something constructive.

Please try to understand that baby goats are hard wired to eat a couple of ounces several times a day so when we impose the unnatural schedule of bottle feeding - larger amounts only a few times a day - it messes with their minds in a big way. There is also the lack of "parental" contact that other people have mentioned. Goats form very strong family bonds and the kids are programmed to want that close association with their "mother" and to them, "mother" means the milk provider, so I hate to tell you this, but the kid thinks you're his mother, not his father.