Weaning kids from bottle feed how do I get them to eat grain/hay

[jmoran]

I just got two 8 wk old pygmy goats one was bottle feed all it's life and one was on momma and is now bottle fed. I want to start weaning off bottle and get them to eat grain and hay but they are not interested in either! Help!

 

[H Diamond]

Do you leave it out free choice for them? If not, definitely start there. Secondly, without momma showing them what to eat, they will pick it up much more slowly. One way to kind of force the subject is to decrease their milk consumption. If they are full on milk, they aren't going to want to eat the other stuff much because they are full.
Thirdly, is there are reason you want to wean them now? You certainly can, but your babies will benefit from another month of bottles... even if it's just like once a day.

 

[Haviris]

I agree, if they were mine they would be on the bottle longer. If you don't have another goat to show them what to eat, you can do it, get down with them and pick at the hay, make them think you are eating it and they should mimic you. At least my kids generally do (they want to try anything I put in my mouth).