We decided to cut a feed out of our babies eating schedules in hope that they will start to eat more grain. Only 1 is eating consistently and the other 2 just nipple. All they want is milk. They are acting like I am killing them today. LOL AnnaBelle the youngest just stands by my door crying and crying!! Millie the oldest and the one eating a lot of grain is much bigger than the other two. She is a few days older than Jasper so kinda wonder if its because she was on goat milk till last Sunday Mother's day when we brought her home, or maybe Jasper's just going to be smaller. We didn't have access to goat milk so we have been doing 9 ounces vitamin D milk with 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream. Any suggestions on anything that would be better? We are cutting them back to morning and night. I have been doing 3 times a day. Millie had diarrhea yesterday that I treated with meds that our breeder gave to us when they were sick when we first got them. It cleared up and today she is fine.. Not sure why she did that.. Wondering if we are making the right call in cutting a feeding out. Want them to grow the best and I know they really need to be on more grain than what they do now...... Millie is 5 weeks, Jasper is 5 weeks and Annabelle is 4 weeks old. The medication the breeder gave us was called Neomycin (sp?)
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You don't have to add the cream, and I don't think a tablespoon really added much fat anyway.
Janel Rickey said:
Thanks for the help. I will make sure they are getting the 24 ounces. So it doesn't matter if I do the cream then? I always warm the bottles up before I give it to them and we have been doing the correct bottle placement. I watched several you tube videos before we got our goats to make sure we are trying to do everything correct. Thanks for the advice...
Thanks for the help. I will make sure they are getting the 24 ounces. So it doesn't matter if I do the cream then? I always warm the bottles up before I give it to them and we have been doing the correct bottle placement. I watched several you tube videos before we got our goats to make sure we are trying to do everything correct. Thanks for the advice...
This age is NOT the time to be cutting back on milk. They are growing their fastest right now. They need 24 ounces a day and should continue to receive that amount until they are two months old. Milk is much more important than grain. If Millie is eating grain, the other two will learn from her. I've never heard of anyone adding cream. You can either feed whole cow milk or goat milk replacer. Do not use a multi-species milk replacer or a sheep milk replacer as it doesn't have the right nutrients for goats.
I personally have never heard of giving Neomycin for diarrhea. In fact, I'm only familiar with it in a topical antibiotic ointment for cuts. In any case, diarrhea is generally cause by either a digestive upset or coccidiosis (an illness caused by coccidia). If it's a digestive upset, it usually corrects itself within 24 hours. If it is coccidiosis, you need a drug like Di-Methox, Sulmet, or CoRid for five days to treat. Since it corrected overnight, it was probably just a digestive upset. When you give a baby a bottle, it should always be warm, and you should hold it above their head, so that the milk goes into the right stomach. If you're holding the bottle out in front of the goat, the milk can go into the wrong stomach and cause diarrhea. Cold milk can also upset their tummy. It doesn't bother some goats, but if you see diarrhea and you've fed cold milk, it's worth warming it up in the future.
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Janel Rickey said:
This age is NOT the time to be cutting back on milk. They are growing their fastest right now. They need 24 ounces a day and should continue to receive that amount until they are two months old. Milk is much more important than grain. If Millie is eating grain, the other two will learn from her. I've never heard of anyone adding cream. You can either feed whole cow milk or goat milk replacer. Do not use a multi-species milk replacer or a sheep milk replacer as it doesn't have the right nutrients for goats.
I personally have never heard of giving Neomycin for diarrhea. In fact, I'm only familiar with it in a topical antibiotic ointment for cuts. In any case, diarrhea is generally cause by either a digestive upset or coccidiosis (an illness caused by coccidia). If it's a digestive upset, it usually corrects itself within 24 hours. If it is coccidiosis, you need a drug like Di-Methox, Sulmet, or CoRid for five days to treat. Since it corrected overnight, it was probably just a digestive upset. When you give a baby a bottle, it should always be warm, and you should hold it above their head, so that the milk goes into the right stomach. If you're holding the bottle out in front of the goat, the milk can go into the wrong stomach and cause diarrhea. Cold milk can also upset their tummy. It doesn't bother some goats, but if you see diarrhea and you've fed cold milk, it's worth warming it up in the future.