New to my wonderful kids.

Hello fellow goat lovers!! I'm new to having kids. I've read so many things about goats that I dont what to believe lol. I also know that everyone feeds there goats differently and I'm sure there are many different combos that are healthy for them. ( I'm excited to Learn all that I can on this new journey so any tips would be great!!)    Okay so I'll ya about my babies: both are doelings, the first is Starburst, she is mostly darker brown with a white bunny tail some white on her forehead and nose and a few patches on side. She is my month old Pygmy. I got her just two days ago. She was taken off mom and I was told she was starting to eat sweet feed. The lady gave me a jar  Of goats milk to get me started. I went and bought the dumour brand sweet mix. It's not just pellets but got seeds as well. I also bought regular baby bottles.... She dint want a thing to do with those lol. So we got a kid nipple and bottle from TSC and wow it's like she was always a bottle baby! Question: at a month old for Pygmy how much and how often should she be getting goats milk a day? I've been giving 5 oz three x a day. She nibbles on sweet feed then spits it out so milk is all she's getting.     Okay the other is an alpine born march 22 so that makes her just over 3 weeks. Just got her today. And at the moment they are both in house cause the guy we were to get shed from didn't call as he was supposed to, so the alpine is snuggled up with my three year old daughter and they r both sleeping on my couch!! So adorable! ( too bad u can't house train the cute buggers!!)  So the people told me she was eating twice a day.... At three weeks I really thought she'd be eating less more times a day. And if she's eating twice how much would she be getting? I got ahold of my local TSC and asked if they sale goat milk or if someone did and I was so lucky there's a girl that works there that sales goat milk from her farm. So I won't have to put on the milk replanted, Thank god. I didn't wanna use that stuff. I hadn't read good stuff about it lol. So when they do eventually get out of the house and into there permanent home outside I will be using alfalfa for bedding/feed. I was told they would love that. Is there something healthier or something I mix with it for them?  Okay that is enough for now! Lol but I love these two kids like I love my human kids. Just want whatever is best for them. 

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  • I know I responded to this last night! Guess Ning ate it or something.

    When bottle-feeding, I give NDs 24 ounces a day usually split up into three bottles after they're two weeks old. At two months, I drop them back to two, 8-ounce bottles a day, and at three months, I go to one 8-ounce bottle.

    I've never fed any full-size goats, but my mini la manchas take 48 ounces a day. I also feed them three times a day, 16 ounces each bottle. It's just a personal opinion because I've never seen any actual research on it, but I think it's better to spread out their milk rather than have them consume it all in two bottles. With the minis, I cut back to two bottles of 16 ounces each at two months of age, then one 16-ounce bottle starting at 3 months.

    "Hay" can mean any type of forage that is cut green for storage -- alfalfa, grass, oat, etc. Hay is used for food; straw is used for bedding. Straw is cut after it has dried, so it's a golden color and is usually cut after oats, wheat, or barley has been harvested. Goats can and do eat some, but it has virtually no nutrients in it because it's all dried out, and at that point, it has put all of its energy into the grain that was harvested. Hay usually costs quite a bit more than straw because straw is just a bi-product of the grain industry.

  • I don't really know about the feed, there are so many opinions on that.  I was hoping for someone more experienced to chime in on that.  I know a lot of people use Purina Goat Chow.  I have used Purina Horse Chow #200.  I don't use much grain at all though, unless the goats are making milk.  Right now, my does are all withing 5 weeks of kidding, and they share less than 1/2 cup of grain every morning with a handful of alfalfa hay.  The rest of the day they have grass hay free choice.   Even kids don't need much grain.  Perhaps 1/4  cup or a bit more per day for the pygmy.  I don't have experience with full size goats, so don't know how much for the alpine kid.  They only need the grain for about the first year (I think some people don't even feed grain that long), and after that just a nice grass hay, loose minerals, and clean water.  You can also supply them with baking soda free choice to help prevent bloat.  In fact, I would be doing that now.   The alfalfa mix hay should be fine.  Best wishes! :)

  • First of all, welcome to the group! :)  It's a great place to learn tons, and find friends with common interests.

    I would definitely be providing hay for the kids now, a high quality grass hay would be best I think, but someone else may have some good advice about what type of hay.  They should be nibbling hay by now, and I would think were eating it where they came from.   They need to be eating the hay for roughage to develop their rumens properly.  Usually by the time they're a couple of weeks old, they're eating some hay. 

    A good loose mineral is also important now.  They usually start eating some minerals within the first week I think, but maybe someone else will know better about that too.

    I personally would never use alfalfa for bedding and  eating.  First of all, it's very expensive and would be a waste of good hay.  Second, I would worry that it might encourage eating off of the ground, which isn't healthy for the kids.  Too many parasites to pick up.  Using it for feeding only in a hay rack or manger of some kind would be a better idea.  Pine shavings or straw would probably be a more suitable bedding.

    That's about all I can say, since I'm still waiting for my first kids to be born.  Should be within the month! :)  I'm pretty excited to be enjoying the little cuties, and I know you must be having a blast with yours.

    Best wishes!

    • Thank you so much patty!! I appreciate all ur advice
      On them. And yes I am enjoying them so so much! I've seen goats at petting zoos and a
      Friend of my mom has three boers but having babies and bottle feeding
      Them is just a blast! They are the most affectionate creatures I myself have come
      Across so far. ( next to some cats lol) but there little personalities are wonderful to watch develop and they are smart little buggers! 
      I think my first mistake was sleeping with my Pygmy cause I can't even go to the store without her screaming lol and I get hell when I return to her. 
      Oh and my fiancé just informed me that u can get just alfalfa or hay/alfalfa mix and we got a mix lol. Sony know I'd that matters cause u said a waste of hay
      Meaning u knew there was hay in it. ( as uve prob guessed I know little about such things but will learn) and I'm guessing the kids will teach me fast .
      So what would be a good mix for them to eat? I already have alfalfa and sweet mix. I will get straw for them
      To bed on and hay to nibble at then too. 

      Patty Meyer said:

      First of all, welcome to the group! :)  It's a great place to learn tons, and find friends with common interests.

      I would definitely be providing hay for the kids now, a high quality grass hay would be best I think, but someone else may have some good advice about what type of hay.  They should be nibbling hay by now, and I would think were eating it where they came from.   They need to be eating the hay for roughage to develop their rumens properly.  Usually by the time they're a couple of weeks old, they're eating some hay. 

      A good loose mineral is also important now.  They usually start eating some minerals within the first week I think, but maybe someone else will know better about that too.

      I personally would never use alfalfa for bedding and  eating.  First of all, it's very expensive and would be a waste of good hay.  Second, I would worry that it might encourage eating off of the ground, which isn't healthy for the kids.  Too many parasites to pick up.  Using it for feeding only in a hay rack or manger of some kind would be a better idea.  Pine shavings or straw would probably be a more suitable bedding.

      That's about all I can say, since I'm still waiting for my first kids to be born.  Should be within the month! :)  I'm pretty excited to be enjoying the little cuties, and I know you must be having a blast with yours.

      Best wishes!

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