My buckling was born as one of a set of triplets to one of my daughters does. His two siblings were of normal birth size but my little guy was a tiny one. We were shocked he survived but his mama wasn't interested and he was far too small to feed from her. He was only 6" tall to the top of his back and couldn't stand. We bundled him up and took him inside and syringe fed him his mamas milk for 5 days then switched over to whole milk. I was visiting my daughter in Nevada at the time and they were leaving on a 2 week vacation and this little guy needed to be fed every 3 hours around the clock. I rented a car and drove home here to Washington with him and he will be 7 weeks old on July 6th and now weighs 4lbs and is and is thriving. I've introduced him to alfalfa hay and he occasionaly will chew on a piece. He is absolutely thriving and being all goat but what I'm most interested in finding out is if he is going to be grow eventually to normal size or might he stay rather small? Right now of course he is an indoor pet and bottle fed but I do take him to the park daily on a harness and leash to try and get him used to being on the grass which so far he does not like to be on at all, lol. He is an absolute joy and also extremely bonded to me of course. People we come across are overjoyed to see him and I love to share him with others because he really is adorable. I appreciate any feedback from anyone who has raised a NDG from a pound or less but not a preemie to find out what I can expect for his growth.
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Hi Wanda!
Congratulations on doing such a great job with this little guy!
I think the answer to your questions will come down to making sure that he has the appropriate nutrition. I had a 15oz doeling born several years ago and she has stayed small, but I now know that she absolutely did not get enough milk to catch up to her siblings. I just did not know then, what I do now.
Great that you are now offering alfalfa hay. Be sure that is available free choice. I would also start gradually introducing some 16% goat grain to help boost concentrated protein as well as some vitamins and minerals.
By now he should be gaining a good 4 oz a day.
How much milk is he getting and how often?
Tammy
Thank you for the congratulations!!
I replied but somehow I deleted my entire response so I'll start again.
My little guy is drinking 390-420ml a day of whole milk with each feeding being 60-90ml. He has been gaining 1oz a day.
I'm feeling we are way behind when you said he should be gaining 4oz a day so I'm thinking I need to up the feedings for sure. He was always going every 3 hours but since he has upped the amount he goes a little longer but I will start feeding him every 2 hours and see how he takes that. He will definitely let me know when he wants no more milk.
I will also be getting some of the 16% goat grain to introduce to him and hopefully I can find it in something less than a 50lb bag. Are the vitamins and minerals in with the goat grain or is that something else that I should be giving him?
I'm curious as to how big your 15oz doeling got to be? I'm secretly hoping my little guy stays really small because I just cannot vision him going back to my daughters herd. He is rather spoiled after 7 weeks of being our little house goat. He loves to be swaddled, he loves to be held and is beyond attached to me since I'm his one and only. His herd right now is our 2 cats and they all get along fantastic.
Thank you for your suggestions and I look forward to any suggestions you have for me.
Wanda
He should be drinking 20% of his body weight in milk daily. At 420ml, he is right on track with the amount. Do keep adjusting as he gains weight up to a max of about 32oz a day.
Hopefully he will start gaining more weight with the alfalfa and grain. My kids are eating both of those very readily by 7 weeks of age.
There is a potential that he may have a health issue of some kind since he is still so small on an adequate amount of milk. But for now, I would definately get these solids established into his diet and see what happens. Be sure to start the grain as a very small amount. Maybe a couple of teaspoons a day for a few days. Especially since he has just started hay. Has he been foraging at all during the day? I'm just asking because solid foods, especially long stem forage like browse or hay, is important for healthy rumen development. So make these introductions slowly and watch for diarrhea. Eventually you can work up to about 1.5% of his body weight daily for the grain, in addition to hay, forage, and milk.
Goat grain comes in 50# bags most commonly. Since he is so small and at risk of developing coccidiosis, I would recommend Purina Goat Grower Pellets which has a medication in it to keep coccidia overgrowth under control during times of stress. Since he is small, he likely has an underdeveloped immune system for his age, so this is just what I would use. The feed will have vitamins and minerals, but the addition of a loose free choice goat mineral will be needed soon. I just wouldn't introduce too many things at once, so perhaps hold off on that for a few weeks until he is stable with these other introductions.
I also would bottle feed him for much longer than a typical goat would get. Perhaps until he is at least 5 months old. By that age, a single bottle a day of 10pz or so would be a nice supplement to his solid diet. But definately keep him on bottles until he is at least 20-30#.
The other thing that you will need to consider is a goat companion as well as castration, since you are keeping him as a pet, not a breeding buck. Within the next few weeks to months he will start exhibiting Bucky behaviors, and by the time he is 5-7months old he will begin urinating on himself and getting really stinky if he is left intact. He really needs a goat friend by the time he is ready to move outside.
Here is an article about Bottle Babies that Deborah wrote. It has loads of really good information in it. There is also a down-loadable chart that tells you how much to feed according to changing weight.
Tammy
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/bottle-feeding-goat-kids/