Weaning A Kid...

[mrszlopez]

Is one of the hardest things ive had to deal with lately..
Ive watered down the formula, reduced the amount of
milk being given & ive been spreading out the feeding
times in order to get her adjusted to being off of the bottle.
She drinks water, eats hay & eats grain, while crying for her
baba all the while.. i feel horrible ! I keep telling myself that
she will get over it, but the screams !! It makes me feel a bit
guilty.. are there any other ways to go about weaning ?!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Yes, sell her.

 

[mrszlopez]

I dont understand. Why would i sell her ?

 

[username taken]

no, there's no way to wean them and not have the crying.

personally, as long as they are eating hay and grain well, and drinking water, I just cut the bottles out completely.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Just kidding. If you like her that much, then you will have to be a mommy for a while. Goats seem to have a ONE TRACK mind when it comes to getting the bottle. Everything they do is designed to get to the bottle. i have seen a few on here give their goats a pacifier.

A goat will latch onto any one person that gives them the bottle. Let some one else do it for awhile. The screaming never really bothered me. I had children and I did not spoil them. It is however hard to comfort a goat because all they want is that bottle.

Personally I will never get another bottle baby goat. We had two lambs and they were NOTHING like the goat was.

Just keep up the feeding of other things. Two bottles a day seemed to be plenty to keep the one we had going and they were 8 oz. ones.

Two months should be plenty, some go for 4 months. That would put me over the edge.

 

[mrszlopez]

Oh boy lol. She is about 4 months old. When i got her , she was drinking twice a day (morn & night) & was havign about 28-32 oz per feeding. In all the times ive bottle fed baby goats, that seemed like a lot to me. She was kinda skinny so i let her be for a bit , gradually reducing the milk. I dont mind the screaming, i just feel bad about it. She looks to have a full belly when i go & check on her thru out the day, so i dont think she wants the baba for hunger. Maybe i should make her a pacifier lol.. I guess ill just deal with her crying & she will eventually get over it. Thanks guys

 

[Chatychick]

I have 6 that I am bottle feeding at this time and they are doing great on just 2 bottles a day. They are the larger goats and yes they cry when things get changed and then they everntaully get over it. It just takes a day or so for them to adjust to not getting that bottle. Its weaning off momma that is the hardest as they seem to cry longer and make more noise. Bottle babies are easier for me as they cant go back to momma...Usually lasts only a couple days.

 

[dixygirl]

does she have a goat to play with?

If she has reached this stage successfully, just give her goats to run with and let her whine for a day or 2 to get over it.

My question is what do you do with a goat that ignores water in a bowl and ONLY drinks wataer out of a bottle?

 

[username taken]

Quote:
DONT give her water from a bottle. You need to FORCE her to drink from the bowl. It helps significantly if she can see and/or live with other goats as she will copy them.

I've had a few like this ... you need to give them some tough love. I only only only give water in a bottle as a last resort if its stinking hot and they have gotten dehydrated.

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

Quote:
4 Months old? Yes, you should cut off the bottle completely. She needs to develop her ruminant, and she will not do that if you are still feeding a bottle. It could be bad for her in the long run.