It is best advisable to leave a mother to take care of and raise her goat kids. However, this may not be practical sometimes. For instance, there may be times when your doe may have more kids than she can take care of. In some other cases, a goat kid may be born too weak to be nursed by the mother. In another instance, a doe may reject her baby goats. If you find yourself in any of these situations with your goat kids, your last resort may be bottle feeding.
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What Would You Feed Your Baby Goat?
Goat milk is highly recommended. Raw milk is endorsed as it has all the antibodies complete. However, if the raw milk comes from a doe suffering from an infectious disease, then you need to pasteurize the milk so that you do not infect the kid too.
Additionally, you may consider using milk replacer or whole milk from the store too. With these two options, you will get equally satisfying results. However, without the mother’s antibodies present in fresh goat milk, it’d be advisable to use medicated milk replacer. Remember those goat kids are susceptible to worms and coccidian. Medicated milk replacer is the ultimate protection against coccidiosis.
What Kind of a Bottle and Nipple Should I Use on My Baby Goat?
In the real sense, it does not matter the kind of nipple or bottle you use as long as the baby goat nurses from it comfortably. A lot of breeders recommend using the thicker lamb nipples, while others endorse the Pritchard Teat nipple. You may use these two nipples on a 16oz or 20oz water or soda bottle. Additionally, standard baby feeding bottles function just as well. What is more, baby goats are seemingly more willing to take regular baby bottle nipples than the larger sizes.
How Often Should You Bottle-Feed Your Goat Kids?
For most people, they bottle-feed their baby goats between 4 to 5 times in 24 hours. Additionally, you can normally go 7 to 8 hours overnight between bottles. This interval will make roughly make every 3 to 4 hours during the daytime. If your baby goat cannot consume so much on the onset, It may require you to give it 5 bottles to help the baby goat gain at least 10% body weight.
A few homeowners attempt to get to two bottles soonest possible. However, we do not recommend this, as it may cause diarrhea to your baby goat. Too much milk in one feeding it is not good for the kid. It is recommendable that for the first two to four weeks, you may make a baby goat bottle feeding schedule of three bottles a day. You may bottle-feed the kid twice a day with one bottle in the morning and the next in the evening after two months.
For How Long Should I Bottle Feed My Baby Goat?
Baby goats need milk for the shortest period of two months. However, for any homeowner with the realization that the mother’s milk keeps the baby goat healthier and helps it grow faster, you may bottle feed your kid for a period of even to six months.
Where Should a Baby Goat be Living as I Bottle Feed It?
Often, we may fall into the temptation of making a baby goat live with us in the house when we are bottle feeding it. I mean, look at how cuddly and adorable a baby goat is! Keeping it with you in the house makes it easier than going outside at night and in the cold to get its milk to the barn. However, keeping a baby goat around the house will create a handful of troubles!
We agree that the baby goat it adorable and cute. But wait until it starts darting around chewing stuff in the house and dancing while peeing on your innocent laptop!
However, the worst thing about keeping a baby goat with you in the house is detachment. You see, when you keep a baby goat with you in the house, you will have to put it outside at the end of it all. I am sure it’d make you sad to hear that little creature screaming endlessly. If the baby goat is healthy and normal, let it live among the rest of the goats.
However, if the kid is not strong or you find the maintenance of its body temperature hard, you may keep it with you in the house. Only be sure to take it out to live with the other goats when it is safe for them.
If you happen to have more than one bottle baby goats, you may arrange to have a baby pen in your kidding barn so that you can keep all of them together. However, if the baby goat is alone, try keeping it with its mother. Remember that goats are in the category of herd animals and should never be alone. It’d be better for your kid to realize that the other goats are its herd and not human beings.
What Else Should I Keep in Mind When Bottle Feeding My Baby Goat?
One more important thing to maintain is hygiene. Always be sure to keep the bottles and the milk clean. Remember that if you do not keep things clean, your baby goat might contract diseases from bacteria. This could be very dangerous as the kid’s immunity is still young and gradually developing. Also, clean your baby goat’s area frequently.
If you manage to make your doe friendly and cooperating, you’d rather milk her than get milk replacer for your kid. The milk will be better for the baby’s tender stomach and other reasons, such as a strong immunity. It is a good idea always to have some electrolytes stocked up. In case you happen to overfeed your baby goat, they might suffer diarrhea. Electrolytes will help curb the situation.
Make a point of being keen on any bottle changes that you make for your baby goat. This keen follows up will be helpful in the event of any issues such as bloating.
All the best as you bottle-feed your baby goat. Good luck!