sorry, yet another goat question!!

[agnes_day]

ok...i just found out that when i get my babies on the 31st...they will have just been weaned..like that day because thats when the mom is going!
at any rate...do i need to get a bottle for them? what is the usual weaning age? the boy was born on december 5th and the girl is roughly a month older. will they need milk at all?
i thought that she was weaning them and then giving them to me.

 

[FarmerChick]

2 months is the earliest I would ever wean a kid and that is almost pushing it.

3 months is preferable and that is what I do.

I have twins out there now and they are about 7-8 weeks old and they are starting to eat a fair amt. of feed.

you don't need a bottle but be sure when you get them they are eating their feed.

 

[agnes_day]

yep, she told me to just get regular goat feed from the feed store. but everything ive read says that they need to be older to be weaned..can i give them a bucket of milk along with their water? or will the feed be enough..im also wondering how they will react to such an abrupt change.

 

[Thunderhill]

Most dairy folks wean at 8 weeks and they don't need a bottle after. They have probably been nibbling food and hay for at least a couple of weeks. Mine start "tasting" their moms food and hay within the first week.
You can give them warm cows milk in one of those shallow pans if you think they still need it. It is really hard to get those older kids to go for a bottle after they are 2 or 3 weeks old

 

[agnes_day]

good...because to be honest, i dont think i would want to bottle feed at all..im sure the novelty wears off pretty quick!

 

[Thunderhill]

you better believe it

 

[FarmerChick]

no they do not require that milk

there are milk stomachs and feed/hay stomachs. the goat changes over as it ages from kid to weanling. they do not need that milk you want to provide.

rumen stomachs need tons of roughage first before feed. feed very little to the young kids. hay and grass and browsing forage is mostly important.

 

[Chirpy]

The little boy will be just shy of two months old; I wouldn't wean and send off my kids at that age but many people do at the two month mark... he's pretty close so hopefully he'll be just fine. If there's any way the owner would keep him and take another week or two to wean him I think that would just be wiser. Is there a desperate reason she has to get rid of his momma that day?

 

[agnes_day]

nope, she wants me to pick him up because she says he will be too traumatized if he stays after she is gone (shes leaving the same day)
seems kinda mean to me though!

 

[FarmerChick]

truly it is not mean.
there is separation anxiety from losing the herd the kid knows, but it will adjust super fast to its new surroundings, your home!
that little kid will just love you to death! you are the new momma..LOL-LOL