Question about 2 week old Nigerian feeding, please.

[redhen]

Hi, i have a 2 week old Nigerian Dwarf doe...my question is, Should she be drinking water by now? i leave a bowl of water out for her 24/7, but she wont drink it...i have given her a few oz in her bottle, and she does drink it...so, i am wondering if i should be concerned about her getting water to drink. and also...question on grain/feed... when do i start to giver her grain? and do i give her the sweet/molasses feed, (until shes an adult..then switch to the regular feed?), and how much do i feed her now? thanks for any help, Wendy

 

[Guitartists]

Geez...wish I had the answers for you... someday I hope to be asking these questions myself!

I hope someone comes along with an answer... I'm sure you're pretty stressed over the little gal.

 

[CaGoatLady]

First of all, I have to say that you have some BIG dogs, don't you? I've got seven, and two of mine are an Old English Sheepdog and a Great Pyrenees, and they're ALL house dogs.
I wouldn't worry about not drinking water out of a bowl; mine never did at that age. I worried about it too, but one day they just found the water and started sipping it. What mine do when they are that young is they walk up to sniff it and check it out and then they back off and go through a sneezing fit and then check it out again before they give up and walk away. I have a month old lamb that I'm bottle feeding right now and he goes outside with the big goats everyday. He really runs around and pants a lot so I just brought out a bottle with water and he stops by when he wants some. I've never had this technique hinder them from starting on a water bowl or bucket, so don't worry about that. Do you have any older goats that they might learn from? I think, because all of my goats were raised in the house with my dogs, they learned to drink out of the dog's bowl with the dogs; we even had dogs and goats standing in line to take turns at drinking sometimes.

 

[Chatychick]

Usually at 2 weeks they are just sniffing it out and not really drinking it yet...keep it out and with feeding milk she is staying hydrated. She will see the others drink and try when seh gets older...at 2 weeks they are still basically nursing the mother and thats enough for them but they do get curious and try different things. Try some hay or a little grain ...they nibble and chew but wont really swallow...they learn by goatie see goatie do...

 

[helmstead]

I agree with Chaty...

 

[redhen]

Thanks Guys! Appreciate the help!

 

[lilhill]

I agree with Chaty and Kate.

 

[username taken]

Dont feed him water from his bottle, he needs to learn to drink it from a bucket/bowl.

And dont stress, he will drink it when he needs it, and when he is ready. Same goes for grain and hay. Keep all three freely available, and he will eat/drink them when he is ready.