What equipment would I need to raise a bottle kid? New Question!!!!!

[awesomefowl]

Other than milk? I know of an adorable little buckling MAYBE I could get....

 

[aggieterpkatie]

A bottle and a nipple.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Some Colostrum (if they didn't get it from the mama), Vitamin B Complex (if needed for energy), Scour Ease (just in case), and a bottle. We use a baby bottle, actually. They get 1, 9 ounce bottle 4 times a day about the first week and then 2, 9 ounce bottles 3 times a day until they are 8 weeks. Then, we trim them down to 2, 9 ounce bottles twice a day, then once a day. After they get colostrum, we give ours whole cow milk. It is so much better for their bellies than the powdered milk replacer. Around 6-8 weeks, they will start to eat grass, hay, and grain regularly. Before then they will nibble at it, but don't actually eat much of it. We start ours on goat pellet (with coccistat) then start mixing in sweet feed as a treat to get them started well on solid foods.

Also, at 2 weeks and 6 weeks of age you should give him a dose of CD/T vacc. You can find it at your local TSC for about $5.

You are looking at bottle feeding several times a day for 8-12 weeks - or longer if you elect.

One more thing - if he is going to be a pet, I would suggest you look for somebody to wether (castrate) him after he's 8 weeks old. Adult bucks get really stinky and have annoying habits such as peeing on themselves to attract the ladies. A wether will not have all of those buck-y raging hormones and will be easier to handle.

 

[awesomefowl]

Oh yes, I did read a goat keeping book twice for nothing. I will definitely "whether" him, if I even get him, because I have no desire to breed goats.
Oh, and would he be okay by himself for a month or so? I am planning on getting a few sheep in a few months.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
Yeah, he'll be ok for a month or two alone if you give him attention after you feed him. Let him follow you around when you do yardwork or chores. As he approaches weaning age is when you will want to give him a companion. It makes weaning easier and less stressful on both of you.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

That's good advice greenfamily farms is giving. It's what I would have said....had I got here first

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Make sure if you castrate him and he's old enough to eat grain you give him ammonium chloride to prevent and treat urinary calculi. I had my little guy castrated by a vet at 5 weeks even though the breeder insisted he be banded, and it be done at 3 days old. Also I waited to have his horn buds burned and it turns out he was polled anyway! He's very spoiled goat. He would have been butchered last fall if I wouldn't have taken him and bottle fed him. He's almost a year old and starting to get a beard! I'm excited.

 

[awesomefowl]

Thanks everybody! One more question-- would he be okay in the chicken coop while he was being raised? My coop is an old eccentric garden shed with shelves which would be perfect for a kid to climb on, my coop is clean, I could put in a heat lamp on cold nights, and he would only be there until I got the ewe lambs (I already have a breeder who is lambing now) in another shed. What do you goat people think? My mom won't have a kid in the house!

 

[awesomefowl]

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
Not everyone can answer your question immediately. Not even an hour passed before you posted an eyeroll spam/bump since nobody answered your second question. Have patience. Would you rather wait for a proper answer, or get instant bad advise?