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Best way to feed doe kids?

Posted by Steve K Rayes on February 26, 2011 at 3:29am in Goats 101

Hello all,

this may seem like a dumb question, but we will be picking up our 2 doe kids next month.  These will be our first goats.  

Questions:

1.  We would like to pick them up early and bottle feed as they will be pets as much as they are milkers in the future.

2.  Since we have no other goats, and we would like to pick up early, what milk do most folks use?  Is bovine milk acceptable?  

3.  What is the earliest that folks would recommend picking these kids up?  We have thought maybe at 4 weeks?

4.  How difficult is it to bottle feed?  How often?  How much?

 

Thank you for helping us with this!

Steve

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Replies

  • Melissa Johnson May 7, 2011 at 10:02am
    thank Deborah - too bad - he would've been a nice buck for someone - )  but - alot of nice bucks out there..... ^^
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 7, 2011 at 9:07am
    He will mount does forever! I actually had a five year old wether fight a buck because he didn't want him with his girl. I keep at least one wether with my does at all times as a heat detector. If the does stand, they're in heat. And most wethers learn pretty fast that they'll get the snot beat out of them if they bother does that are not in heat. A six week old isn't going to breed anyone. It takes more than a little wiggle to actually get sperm into the uterus. So,  if he's banded, it's a double guarantee that he's not potent. The sac is usually ice the day after banding, which means it's dead.

    Melissa Johnson said:
    speaking of weaning and buck kids - I got my little buck banded at 6 weeks - he was bothering everybody!!  Now he is still trying desparately to bred his Auntie and his little sister at every opportunity.  Band or not.  He is on their rear, giving the "buck" lunge - etc.  I have had both kids with Mom and only separated them at night bout 3x a week.  In exasperation, I have put him in a pen alone for the day or night - for penence.  How much longer should I have to be concerned, since he is banded?  I also gave him his first CDT and was really careful I thought, Bar-Vac and he has a wallop of a lump under his armpit. Seems I read on another breeder site that some other version of CDT doesnt do that??
  • Melissa Johnson May 7, 2011 at 1:22am
    speaking of weaning and buck kids - I got my little buck banded at 6 weeks - he was bothering everybody!!  Now he is still trying desparately to bred his Auntie and his little sister at every opportunity.  Band or not.  He is on their rear, giving the "buck" lunge - etc.  I have had both kids with Mom and only separated them at night bout 3x a week.  In exasperation, I have put him in a pen alone for the day or night - for penence.  How much longer should I have to be concerned, since he is banded?  I also gave him his first CDT and was really careful I thought, Bar-Vac and he has a wallop of a lump under his armpit. Seems I read on another breeder site that some other version of CDT doesnt do that??

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    Ditto on everything Adrienne said. Most people pick up their kids at eight weeks, and we've never had a problem. The kids are eating hay, grass, and grain by then. I wean buck whenever they start to seriously seem like they could mate a doe, so somewhere between 8-12 weeks.
  • Steve K Rayes February 28, 2011 at 1:38am
    Excellent.  We will plan on adjusting or time schedule.  Can't wait to get started!  thanks for the kind help and advice!
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 27, 2011 at 7:06pm
    Ditto on everything Adrienne said. Most people pick up their kids at eight weeks, and we've never had a problem. The kids are eating hay, grass, and grain by then. I wean buck whenever they start to seriously seem like they could mate a doe, so somewhere between 8-12 weeks.
  • Adrienne February 27, 2011 at 6:56pm
    I have picked up goats at 12 weeks, I do not know if they were weened but they did not get any milk after they came here and they did fantastically  well. I have heard that bucks should be weened about 8 weeks or whenever pink is visible when they pee, and that doelings are best weened around 3 monnths. Having said that though, I don't think there would be anything wrong with picking them up around 8 weeks. They will have gotten a good start. Yes if left alone, as long as mother and baby are willing they will nurse, but that does not mean that you have to wait that long to pick up your babies. Feel free to pick them up about 8-12 weeks old. They will have learned how to eat hay and grain, and drink water from their mothers so the transition should go rather smoothly, but try to spend a lot of time with them those first few weeks because they will likely cry a lot due to the change of environment. But if you are inside and they start crying dont rush out or they will learn to do that to get your attention...unless you want them to do that of course...
  • Steve K Rayes February 27, 2011 at 6:37pm
    If we were to wait for them to ween on their own, what time frame would we be looking at?  I know there was mention of some feeding out to 6 months.  Given what I have heard here, we have decided to opt out of the discount for early pick up and wait until they are weened.  would around 8 weeks be considered a reasonable time frame?  We would like to do what will be the most healthy thing for the doe kids.  I do have a child play yard and hay set up in the heated garage to keep them in until late spring/summer when we will have the big igloo dog house that can be moved and the stationary lean-to goat barn.
  • Adrienne February 27, 2011 at 5:48am
    Same here. The first goats I bought were boys. We had a heck of a time catching them and Stan warmed up to us in about a week but Sam was always a little shy, although after a few months he'd wait for me to pet him when I got home instead of running off. When I bought my does they were 4 and 2. The 2 year old was friendly with us after about a week and the 4 year old took until she was in labor to become friendly and by that point she had been here 4 months. She is more friendly now that she is being milked every day, but she's kind of prissy and only wants to be petted when she decides she's ready. I don't push her. My goats prefer leaves, but we have none available,so sometimes I will give them a small amount of bread on a rare occasion. It will take some time, probably one longer than the other but you should have some friendly goats. David won't let me bring the goats in the house...I brought the babies inside one night and in the morning there was a mess under the crate and he told me they would never be allowed back. LOL so they stay on our enclosed front porch with one of the windows cracked a tad so moms and babies can hear each other.
  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres February 26, 2011 at 7:12pm
    I'm willing to bet that you're right about the skittish kids being more skiddish because they aren't getting much human contact from the breeders. The gal I buy my goats from doesn't bottle feed any of her kids. All of them are timid, but not skiddish, and the more they get to know you, the less they are that way. The baby I got from her comes up to the gate to greet me, and loves to be scratched. She talks to me across the yard, and is super sweet. She'd be even more so if I spent more time with her. The gal I buy from does think that the babies that come from her more shy dams tend to be more shy, but she also has seen that the shyness goes away when more time is focused with those kids. To some extent, I think there is simply an element of personality that you can't avoid. My older doe is not as cuddly as the younger one, but I haven't been her owner since she was little either. She likes me best when there's raisins involved, and the youngest loves me no matter what. lol It sounds like you'll be pretty hands on, so I think you'll see good results from dam raised babies. Congratulations on your future goat ownership! I can't imagine not having goats. They are such great additions!!
  • Steve K Rayes February 26, 2011 at 7:04pm
    Thank you so much!  Our breeder suggested maybe 4 weeks, but felt that her goats that were bottle fed were much more friendly and allowed contact more than those that were not.  We went to the farm to visit, and those she claimed were bottle fed vs. those that were not had a stark contrast in behavior,....in fact, those that were not  bottle fed would not let us approach and would jump across the pen to avoid us.  I suspect this is due to the fact that they are in an outside pen and not in contact with people much based on the feedback we have gotten here.  I would honestly rather wait as long as we can to assure that the baby is well raised.  Both of the Doe's they are coming from are very friendly and calm.  Does that translate to the kids?  or is that totally dependent upon our work?  We have plans to keep them in the garage and also have them in the house so I think they will be used to people.  We tend to spoil all of our animals.  It is reassuring to hear that we can allow the kids to be weened and still have friendly personalities as these will be as much pets as they are future milking goats.  We are so excited and can't wait to have them. Thank you for the wonderful feedback!
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