weaning bottle kids

[BeardedChick]

The good news is the goats and I have survived to their weaning age! Hooray!

They are just over two months old. Over the past week, I have tapered off their milk to 16 oz. twice a day.

How much longer should they be getting their bottles? They are eating hay and grain well.

 

[Katy]

When I'm weaning bucket/bottle calves I taper it off to once a day and then every other day over a couple of weeks time. They still will yell for their milk, but if they're eating their hay and grain well they don't need it.

 

[BeardedChick]

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OMG, I am so ready for the yelling to stop! They are driving me crazy!

Between the yelling and the jumping all over me, I'm wondering if I'm more of a goat kebab person.

 

[Katy]

One of our cows was a bottle baby years ago and she'll still come running when she sees me with a bottle!

 

[ksacres]

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We don't wean until three months. At the twelve week mark, we take them down to one bottle a day (at night-so they are forced to search for water and drink during the day when they are most active) for one more week, move them into a different pen farther away, and just ignore them for a few weeks until they begin to settle down, then we start handling them again.

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I have a three year old La Mancha that will still drink out of a bottle. Of course her mouth it way too big for a nipple, so she makes a COMPLETE mess...

 

[tazcat70]

AWWWW! I want a goat baby!

 

[BeardedChick]

KSA, do you cut down the amount of milk at two months? They were at 32 oz. twice a day.

I can understand putting them somewhere and ignoring them when they are this age. They are sooooo obnoxious!

I have been threatening to sell them and get something quieter. A flock of guineas or peacocks... You know. Something quieter.

 

[Cara]

LOL I was trying to bottle feed the doe kid when she was first born as she was so small, and having trouble feeding. Guess who was trying to get the bottle... Dizzy!

 

[BeardedChick]

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Now that you mention it, Snickers (preggo doe) looks longingly at the bottles when I feed the kids in the next pen. That explains what she is thinking!

 

[MandyH]

OMG, I've got two lambs that cannot be any quieter than a foghorn or tornado siren!!! They are freakin driving me insane. They are 1 month old now and we are trying to reduce the number of bottles from 4 to 2. Is it to early to do that?