Baby doeling, feed ??

[Juliana Goodwin]

Hi guys, we brought home Truffle two days ago.  She is 2 months & a week old if I remember correctly.  

 

My older doe is still in milk so I milked out a little bottle for her.  I have had major problems getting the hole size right, she really wouldn't take the bottle and basically just screamed. 

 

I tried to feed her grain but she just picks at it, barely consumes anything.  She is very small.  I don't know how much pasture or browse she is getting in her out with the other goats.  At night I separate her to a stall alone b/c all except my buckling (who is about 6 months now) bully her quite a bit.  She can see the other goats and even touch them through a fence piece in the stall wall, but they can't take her food.

 

She wouldn't touch the organic grain, nibbled barely at the sweet feed regular goat grain.  I picked up some Calf Manna today because I was worried for her.  I also got this liquid "power punch" stuff from TSC and squirted some of that down her throat.  I offered her the Calf Manna and she gobbled two handfuls of it.

 

How much Calf Manna can I feed her?  She is not consuming any other grain to speak of, nibbles at hay.

 

Will she be okay with no milk?  When I brought the buckling home at this same age he was much bigger and hardier and would snarf anything you put in front of him.

 

She is perky and bright and chases my buckling around to protect her from the other goats.  Her poops are a bit clumpy, her eye lid color is good.  I know she shouldn't be with the buck but the doe was so mean to her, really ramming her around with gusto, she is faring much better in the whole group, because the buckling is her friend.  She hides behind him and he is nice to her.  He has shown no inclination to try and breed her, she is so tiny I don't think he could physically do it anyway.  I will get the girls split off just as soon as I've got her at least eating okay and settled in.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

For adult milking does, I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup Calf Manna to their grain for the first month after kidding and whenever they need to gain weight. I don't think I'd give a kid more than 1/4 cup a day, which is about a handful for most people.

[Adrienne]

I have heard of  babies who were dam raised being finished out on a bottle, but the poor little things have to be really really REALLY hungry before they will take it. As long as the tummy, the soft spot just behind the ribs, is not concave she should be getting enough food. I checked babies for a while like this because I almost never caught them eating. I have never used calf mana, but I am assuming it is like grain, and so should be restricted in the amount the same as you would your regular grain. It is probably a good idea to mix in your grain over time, so she can get used to eating that instead. The clumpy poo could be the adjustment in feed, but I have to say it would not be a bad idea to do a fecal test, just to be sure. I have lost goats to worms suddenly and so I am a bit paranoid of anything remotely  unusual. I'd rather bust out the microscope and be wrong, then not and be right.

[Juliana Goodwin]

AS far as I know they weren't feeding her anything individually.  The whole herd is on pasture with hay.  She was nursing her mom.

 

She is out all day on our pasture with the other three.  When I am checking on her I see her nibbling at stuff.  I can't really tell how much she is actually consuming.

 

Tonight she seemed to be taking a pretty good shot at her hay, and she ate more Calf manna.  I scooped out two handfuls and she gobbled it but I made her stop before she quite finished it because I was afraid it was too much pellets for her tiny belly.  

 

The breeder feeds Noble Goat.  I guess I should have asked her for a ziplock of it.  I really don't want to buy a 50# bag of it because I don't want to feed it to the other goats.  She tried to eat the sweet feed I have, so maybe if I mix the calf manna I can get her to eat a little bit of the regular goat feed.  

 

Since she's eating the calf manna i guess I just won't give her the power punch anymore.  Or maybe a 1/2 dose w/ the calf manna.  All the protein and fiber in the pellets should take the edge off that sugar.  I'm just not sure how much is too much of the calf manna, she eats that like it's candy.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

If she wasn't taking a bottle at her previous home, it's highly unlikely you'll get her to take one at this age. Did you ask what she was eating at her previous home? She'd be more likely to eat something familiar to her. Power Punch is just mostly sugar, so I really don't like the idea of giving it to a goat that doesn't really need it because it can cause a huge spike in their blood sugar -- learned this one first hand. I had a buck that was off feed, so I was giving it to him, and when I got him to the vet, his blood sugar was over 200. Is it possible that she's eating when you're not around?