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Bottle feeding with milk replacer

Posted by Joe Villareale on October 16, 2013 at 7:59pm in Kidding

I am bottle feeding a newborn goat, that the mother seems to have no interest in.

The milk replacer intsructions suggests feeding every 6 hours, 2 to 4 ounces.  So far that seems to be not enough for the kid. He is hungry about every 3 hours. I don't want to over-feed him. I am open for suggestions on this matter.

 

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Replies

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 18, 2013 at 7:55am
    If she doesn't have much milk, she may have given birth prematurely. That would also explain why she ignored the one kid and the other one died.
  • Joe Villareale October 18, 2013 at 7:10am

    She actually gave birth to two. One didn't survive. She had the first one in the field but immediately left him. She ran about one hundred feet and then had the other, who didn't survive. She paid no attention to either one and roamed  the field like nothing happened.

    We did get some milk from her which I fed him and also bought colostrum replacer, in case.

    The kid is doing fine at this point and hopefully will continue to do so.  Thanks for your help.

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 17, 2013 at 10:05pm

    Can you give us more details about what happened? Was this a single kid? Is this a first time mom? How big is he? Was he able to stand and walk? What did the doe do that made you think that she didn't want him? Was she aggressive towards him or simply ignore him or something else? How long did the kid stay with her?

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 17, 2013 at 10:00pm

    Kids REALLY need colostrum because of the antibodies. You should milk her ASAP and give the kid her milk in a bottle. Did you have colostrum replacer? It is not the same thing as milk replacer.

  • Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres October 17, 2013 at 2:21pm

    Joe, you can be milking her and giving him the bottle. That way, he's still getting mom's milk.

  • Joe Villareale October 17, 2013 at 9:58am

    No, she wouldn't go to him at all. I've been bottle feeding him since his first meal. I seperated her from the other goats and I am going to make one more attempt to re-unite them.  Do you think that is a good idea? I'm a novice at this situation.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    Hopefully he also got colostrum the first day.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 17, 2013 at 8:10am
    Hopefully he also got colostrum the first day.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 17, 2013 at 8:08am
    A kid that young does need to eat more often than every six hours. Giving a smaller amount every three hours is fine. If you give too much in a single bottle he'll get diarrhea. An ounce or two every 3-4 hours the first few days is fine. As he gets older he will need more. By a week of age you can probably be down to 4-5 feedings per day.
  • Joe Villareale October 17, 2013 at 6:37am

    He is 1 day old. Nigerian Dwarf.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    How old is he? And is he a Nigerian or a larger breed?

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle October 16, 2013 at 8:07pm

    How old is he? And is he a Nigerian or a larger breed?

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