Even though I strongly believe that goat kids should be raised by mom, there are times when that simply is not possible. A doe may have more kids than she can feed. A kid may be born too small or weak to be able to nurse. And on rare occasion, a doe may reject one or more kids. So, if you find yourself with a bottle baby, what do you do?
What do you feed?
Goat milk is best, and I prefer raw milk because it has all of the antibodies intact. However, if the milk comes from a doe that has CAE, Johne’s, or another infectious disease, then the milk needs to be pasteurized so that the kid does not get infected.
Beyond that, you’ll hear people argue all day long about what to feed. We’ve used milk replacer, and we’ve used whole milk from the store, and we had equally OK results with both. Without mom’s antibodies in fresh goat milk, the kids will be more likely to have problems with worms and coccidia, which is why some people use medicated milk replacer, which helps prevent coccidiosis.
How much?
All kids should get 5% of their body weight in the first six hours and 10% of their body weight in the first 24 hours in COLOSTRUM. Without colostrum, kids will die. When calculating, remember to convert pounds to ounces. If you have a 3-pound Nigerian dwarf kid, that’s 3 X 16 = 48 ounces, which would be 4.8 ounces of milk in the first 24 hours.
It would need to have half that amount in the first six hours, which would be 2.4 ounces. You may have to split that up into two bottles. If the kid wants more, that’s fine. This is just the minimum. If I can get 10% of body weight in colostrum into a kid within the first six hours, I sleep much better.
I gradually increase the amount of milk in the bottle, up to 32 ounces per day for Nigerians. For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, which is what most breeders did back then, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day.
Ellen Dorsey of Dill’s A Little Goat Farm in Chelsea, OK, has raised Nubians and Alpines and says, “I’ll give them a 1-liter bottle, which is around 38 ounces, three times a day and then gradually reduce the middle bottle once they start eating hay and grain. So, I max them out at 114 ounces.”
Although most people today max out somewhere around 20% of the kid’s body weight every 24 hours, it is important to watch the kid. If you have recently increased the amount of milk in a baby goat’s bottle, and it gets diarrhea, go back to the amount of milk you were feeding before the diarrhea started. If the diarrhea was caused by too much milk, it should stop as soon as you cut back on the amount of milk you’re feeding. If it continues, check out this post on diarrhea in goats.
How often?
Most people feed 4-5 times in 24 hours, and you can usually go 7-8 hours overnight between bottles, so it’s about every 3-4 hours during the day. If a baby goat can’t consume much in the beginning, I may need to give five bottles to get at least 10% body weight into the kid in 24 hours. If the kid is a little piggy, I may be able to do it in four bottles in 24 hours.
Some people try to get kids down to only two bottles as soon as possible, but in my experience, baby goats are more likely to get diarrhea when given too much milk at a single feeding. We don’t usually get kids down to less than three bottles ever.
For the first two to four weeks, we give bottles at about 7 a.m., noon, 5 p.m., and 10 p.m. After one month, we do three bottles a day, which would be 7 a.m., 3 p.m, and 10 p.m. After two months, we do two bottles a day — one in the morning and one in the evening.
How long?
Kids need milk for a minimum of two months. In the early years, we used to bottle feed for three to four months. But since we’ve learned that mama’s milk makes them healthier, and they grow faster, we now bottle feed for five or six months.
Where should bottle babies live?
Of course, it is tempting to keep bottle babies in the house with you. They are so adorable and cuddly! And it’s easier than going out to the barn to give a bottle at night. But having a kid in the house creates so many problems!
Sure, it’s cute and fun until the kid is running around and eating your mail and chewing up your extension cords and dancing on top of your CD player. (Yep, really happened.)
The worst part, though, is that they don’t know they’re a goat, and eventually you will have to put them outside, and it will be a very sad day as you listen to that kid screaming for hours. So, if they are a normal, healthy kid, I now make them stay with the other goats.
If they are weak or having trouble maintaining their body temperature, we will keep them in the house initially, but we move them to the barn with other goats as soon as it’s safe for them.
If we have more than one bottle baby, we will have a bottle baby pen in the kidding barn, so they can all stay together. But if there’s only one, we try to keep it with its mother and siblings, if possible. Because goats are herd animals, they should not be alone, and it’s best for them to realize that other goats are their herd, rather than humans.
Getting started
Here’s a video of two kids getting their first bottle. Keep in mind that it is usually much more challenging to get kids to take a bottle if they have already been nursing from mom. The longer they have been nursing from mom, the longer it usually takes to get them switched to a bottle. It is not unusual for a kid to fight the bottle for several days or even close to a week if it’s been nursing for more than a day or two.
My kid is 6 weeks old and I have to force him to bottle feed. He’d rather graze. Should I keep forcing him to bottle feed?
It is not normal for a kid to not want a bottle, assuming he’s been bottlefed since birth. Over the year, we’ve only ever had three kids that age that were difficult to bottlefeed. Two died. The vets said they had been born with some type of congenital abnormalities that affected their digestive systems. The third was vitamin E deficient and improved after we gave him a daily softgel of vitamin E for a couple of weeks.
If someone just sold you this kid and pulled him off his mother a few days ago, then this is totally understandable, and you really should continue to force him to take the bottle because he really needs the nutrients in milk. If he’s going to be a wether, he might be okay if he quits now because there are not many demands on a wether, but if he’s a buck, it could negatively affect his growth and health long-term if he doesn’t get milk long enough.
My kid is 3 Days old and I bought him yesterday (at 2 days old) and he doesn’t like taking the bottle. The man I got him from advertised that he is a bottle baby but he said he has been nursing off his mother. Which makes him not a bottle baby. What do I do?
You force him to take the bottle, or he will die. Watch the video in the post above. If he is only 3 days old, he will pick it up fairly quickly. I hope you have other goats or are planning to get more because goats are herd animals and need another goat friend to be happy and healthy.
Yes ma’am.
Triplets born this am. Mom will not nurse and think she killed one of them stepping all over it she constantly tries to get away from them. I have bottle fed before and use canned goat milk and Vit d milk which has worked well I the past. But these guys don’t weigh even 2 lbs. How much clostridium since I’m almost certain all they got was when we were holding her down? I have gotten 1 oz of milk down them with a dropper my nipples the little red ones seems to big and they seem t be having trouble suckling so I am using a dropper. How much clostridium and milk and how often? Really need your help.
All kids should get 5% of their body weight in the first six hours and 10% of their body weight in the first 24 hours in COLOSTRUM. Without colostrum, kids will die. When calculating, remember to convert pounds to ounces. If you have a 2-pound Nigerian dwarf kid, that’s 2 X 16 = 32 ounces, which would be 3.2 ounces of milk in the first 24 hours. It would need to have half that amount in the first six hours, which would be 1.6 ounces. If the kid wants more, that’s fine. This is just the minimum. If I can get 10% of body weight in colostrum into a kid within the first six hours, I sleep much better. I gradually increase the amount of milk in the bottles, up to 32 ounces per day for Nigerians. For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day.
Most people feed 4-5 times in 24 hours, and you can usually go 7-8 hours overnight between bottles, so it’s about every 3-4 hours during the day.
I have only one baby being rejected. Hie got in the pen with another mom and baby overnight and since we reunited him with his mom and brother, Mom has rejected him. She rammed him into the wall and bit him and sling him across the pen. We took him out. Do we keep him inside alone? Keep him outside alone? Not sure what to do with one.
That is so hard. I’d keep him in the house. He’ll see you as his family. It won’t be easy to put him out when he starts getting into things (like eating your mail and chewing on electrical cords), but you can’t leave him outside alone either — especially if it’s cold where you are. They need to cuddle up with others to stay warm. You can give him supervised time with other goats daily, if possible, and once he’s big enough and/or smart enough to get away from any big bossy goats, you can leave him out there. It’ll probably take a couple of weeks. But he’ll have his brother and other babies as friends.
I have a mama who dropped quads apps 2 wks ago. She didn’t appear to reject any babies but I’ve noticed I have one that is smaller than her three siblings. She isn’t as aggressive to feed and I’m a bit worried about her. Have you ever successfully given a supplemental bottle and left the baby with mom and siblings? The babies seem active and alert, we can watch them on a camera 24/7 because I was worried about her rejecting one or more. I’m new to having goats and I want to make sure I’m doing things right.
Thank you so much
Connie
It’s tough for a doe to successfully raise four kids. Most kids won’t take a bottle if you leave them with mom, but a few will. Here is a post I wrote about multiples: https://thriftyhomesteader.com/how-many-kids-can-doe-feed/
We have a 3 day old bottle baby. He was on mama until today. How much should we be feeding him? We buy raw goats milk and are giving him some of that.
You didn’t say what breed, and it’s based on size. Start out at 10% of body weight. Some people go up to 20% of body weight if they want that much. When calculating, remember to convert pounds to ounces. If you have a 3-pound Nigerian dwarf kid, that’s 3 X 16 = 48 ounces, so 10% would be 4.8 ounces of milk.
4.8 oz a day or each feeding???
It’s 10% of body weight in 24 hours, so if the kid weighs 3 pounds, it needs 4.8 ounces in 24 hours. How much does this kid weigh? If it’s an Alpine or Boer, it is going to weigh two or three times as much.
I have a 6 pound, one week old alpine baby and her mother has rejected her, so we have her in the house. I need to know how much milk and how many times a day she should be fed. Thank you.
Start out at 10% of body weight. Some people go up to 20% of body weight if they want that much. When calculating, remember to convert pounds to ounces. If you have a 6-pound kid, that’s 6 X 16 = 96 ounces, so 10% would be 9.6 ounces of milk. At this age, split up into four feedings. As they get older and can consume more milk, you can split the milk into three feedings. I personally don’t like to go to less than three, some people will go down to two. If you feed too much milk at one feeding, however, they get diarrhea, which is why I prefer to do more feedings with less milk in each feeding.
Hi, we just got our first two girl baby goats. One is @3weeks old and one is now about 6 weeks old. We wanted to bottle feed them because we wanted them to be friendly as pets. Anyway, I ended up bottle feeding them raw goats milk from our local organic specialty grocery store because the first 2 days we had them, they wouldn’t accept the goat milk replacement formula and I panicked and went and got raw goats milk because I read that’s the best choice next to mothers milk. So the raw goats milk is pretty expensive at the local grocer at $10 for 1/2 gallon. This milk is from a local farm. We do not have access to the mothers anymore. They are located about 45 min. away from us. My question is: can I mix the raw goats milk and formula gradually to get them to drink just the formula? Would you give me any other suggestions? We are in love with these goats and want to do the responsible thing for them and our wallet. Thank you!
We just got our kids both bucklings. We have one that is taking the bottle very well and the other one just holds it in his mouth! He has some loose stools this morning. They were born Sunday. Is this normal or should I call the vet?
That’s normal, and I’m really sad to hear that someone sold you a kid that has not yet learned to take a bottle. It can take several days or even a week sometimes. You just have to hold it in his mouth until he gets what he needs. I really like the Pritchard teats because you can squeeze the bottle, so the milk gets in them drip by drip, even if they don’t suck. If you have a human baby bottle, it’s much harder. The poop should look like scrambled eggs or mustard. Scrambled eggs is more normal. Mustard usually means they are getting too much milk. It’s not harmful, just an indication that they don’t need that much.
When you say “both bucklings,” I assume they are not wethered? Unless you are breeding, they should be wethered. Hopefully the seller has agreed to castrate them for you at no charge when they’re a little older.
We have adopted a 2 week old Nigerian Dwarf bottle baby. What is the ratio for determining getting enough milk for this breed? 10% of Weight in ounces divided by 3 bottles? Thanks so much.
Yes, you start with 10% of body weight minimum. I gradually increase the amount of milk in the bottle, up to 32 ounces per day for Nigerians. For years I maxed out at 24 ounces, which is what most breeders did back then, but I discovered that the kids are much healthier and grow faster with 32 ounces a day.
I do hope you have other goats or are planning to get more very soon because goats are herd animals and won’t be happy when alone.
Thank you! And yes we have adult Nigerians and lambs (his buddy is a little girl lamb).
We have a Mytonic girl that is three months old and was rejected at birth by mother, her brother was not. I see you say to bottle feed 5 to 6 months? Is that correct? We just weaned the buckling. They are both close to same size. She is being fed 3x a day, 16 oz each time. I feel like that is to much. Thank you.
That’s what we do now. Back when we got started in the early 2000s, we would only bottlefeed for about 3 months, but we’ve gradually increased that because we realized that the kids are healthier and grow faster if they continue to get milk for that long. I like to be able to breed does at a year. Plus, if they are getting raw milk, they are also getting antibodies, which are extremely helpful in avoiding problems with internal parasites. We do cut back to only two bottles by two or three months (depending upon how fast the kid is growing) and then cut back to one bottle in the evening by about 4 months.
Since I never wean doelings that we are keeping, and we bottlefeed for this long, the only kids I’ve had with coccidiosis in years are bucklings after weaning, which is unavoidable if they are not castrated (and you don’t want unplanned breeding).
Actually, the kids digestive system can only absorb antibodies for 24-36 hours after birth. And colostrum has antibodies. Milk does not. Milk has lots of other important nutrients.
The kid’s gut is “open” and can absorb the colostrum within the first 24 hours after birth in a way that it cannot absorb it after the first day. That’s why it’s vital to get colostrum into the kids ASAP after birth and why it’s really only necessary for the first day or two.
However, milk does contain antibodies. It is not as concentrated as colostrum. That’s what makes colostrum “liquid gold.” Some people refer to milk as “white blood” because it’s very similar to blood in some ways, such as having antibodies. It’s a way that a mother can provide her baby with antibodies while its own immune system is maturing. Baby goats are born with a very immature immune system and because of the odd nature of their placenta with the cotyledons, there is not much antibody transfer at birth, so nursing (or getting raw milk) for an extended period really improves outcomes.
How long do you suggest the transition period should be when going from doe’s milk to milk replacer ?
You can usually do it within about 3-4 bottles. First bottle is 25% milk replacer, next one is 50% milk replacer, third one is 75% milk replacer, and then next one is 100% milk replacer.
My baby will not take a bottle. She is clearly hungry and will suck on fingers, etc. We have tried Prichard nipples and a longer nipple. Going to try a baby bottle now, but thinking it’s a texture issue. We’ve tried the switch (finger to nipple), even a little honey on the nipple. We’ve put milk in a bowl and offered to her. Any other suggestions????
Texture has nothing to do with it. She just has no clue, which is normal. Be sure to watch the video. She won’t just grab it and suck. She probably won’t even suck if you just stick it in her mouth and let go. You have to hold it in her mouth while the milk drips down her throat. This is why I prefer the Pritchard teat. If you squeeze the bottle, it will drip out. It can take a lot of time and patience before they “get it” and start to actually suck — as in, DAYS. In the meantime, you use the mathematical formulas above to be sure they getting enough milk in 24 hours. I do hope this kid was not taken away from her mother. If she’s already been nursing, it will usually take a lot longer to get them switched to a bottle than if you started at birth.
We got her Saturday and it’s now Thursday….and she’s still not taking much. At what point will we need to take her to a vet for help? I’m more worried about her in that aspect. We can only get a few ounces down a day…otherwise she just lets it run out of her mouth.
She may need to be tube fed soon to be sure she doesn’t starve. She needs at last 10% of her body weight minimum daily. She should swallow if the milk is in her mouth. A young kid should NEVER be sold to anyone unless it is already a pro at taking a bottle, so this is concerning.
Hi I will be getting a 3 1/2 week old buckling he weights 25 pounds and I was wondering how much milk I should be giving him and how many times a day
He needs 10 to 20% of his body weight, so 25 pounds X 16 ounces = 400 ounces, so he needs 40 to 80 ounces a day. Ask the breeder how much he is accustomed to getting and start with that amount. You can gradually increase up to the higher amount, if he wants it.
Nigerian dawarf buckling, mom had to have a c section and died as her uterus tore. He’s had colostrum for first 24 hrs and now on formula. He’s 2 days old now. Is putting a small container of water in pen fine or bottle feed some water for first week?
No. Milk is about 85% water. Kids do not need any additional water for awhile. Never give water in a bottle. If he is with other goats, he’ll learn to eat and drink from a bucket by watching them.
I’m sorry to hear that you lost his mom.
I’m really struggling trying to figure out how much to feed my Nigerian Dwarf babies. They are 2 weeks old today. The feeding schedule the breeder gave us caused severe diarrhea. After reading up on the problem, we discovered that they were severely overfed. So at 5lbs we have been feeding them 4 x at 3 oz. each feeding per day. In the past 4 days they have dropped 1/2 lb. What is the correct amount to feed these babies?
5 pounds X 16 ounces = 80 ounces, so at 10%, they need a minimum of 8 ounces per day up to a max of 16 ounces per day. You are giving them 12 ounces per day, which is right in the middle, so the amount should not be causing diarrhea. Did you switch them from goat milk to a milk replacer? Did you make the change gradually by mixing the two together initially? If yes, what type of milk replacer are you using? Sometimes that causes diarrhea, especially if it mixed incorrectly or if it not a goat-specific milk replacer. They should be gaining about 4 ounces per day at this age, so losing 8 ounces is really not good. A variety of infections can also cause diarrhea, if the problem is not the milk.
If allowing kids to stay with mom, how do I ensure good milking returns? I allowed my first doe to raise her doeling, but I did not milk. This year I have 3 bucklings I hope to sell & they have been with mom for the first few days of course. I have been milking as well (retaining the milk for bottle feeding the goats for now) but I’m already seeing a big decline in milk & was wanting to separate the kids…
A doe cannot make enough milk to feed three kids AND you for the first couple of months. Here is more info on how many kids a doe can feed —
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/how-many-kids-can-doe-feed/
When your goat had the single, you could have separated her every night and milked in the morning because you would have been taking the milk that a twin siblings would have consumed. But if you do that with triplets, you will have three sickly, skinny kids.
What you got for the first few days was not milk, but colostrum, so you should freeze it, and label it with the date and age of colostrum, as the earlier colostrum (24 hours) is more concentrated. It changes gradually from colostrum to milk.
Here is info from my goat group about how to start milking a doe when she is feeding two or more kids —
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/starting-to-milk
Oh, I have 2 does, with 3 kids! 2 with my 3 yr old (2nd kidding) and 1 from my first freshener.
And I should have been more specific. First buck is 10 days. He spent 48hr with mom, no milking. Then I went to 2 milkings per day. My other 2 bucklings are 4 days now, & again spent 48hr with mom (she is my 3yr old). I have retained all the milk. But if I keep them on the teat, when do I give it back?
I will read your other post as well. I guess that would have been a better way to ask my question… how do i manage milking while mom is feeding 🙂 i certainly dont mind sharing, lol! & I definitely want healthy kids! I just want to ensure the “demand” is right, to make for good “supply” through and after she weans them.
Thank you!
Sounds like you haven’t read the links I provided because your questions are answered in them. You need to let the kids nurse as much as they want. If you’ve saved colostrum, you freeze it to use in the future if you ever have an emergency situation with newborns.
Thank you. I had. & my questions were answered, I was just recognizing that I hadn’t done a very clear job of asking the first time. & thank you for answering my only other question, on what best to do with the milk I have retained. I have been keeping the kids with mom & will continue to do so.
I didn’t know i shoukd NOT bottle feed my baby goat…he has had two weeks of bad diarhea , and didn’t give him milk so I gave him water and gaideraid, then we changed to homo milk and 2 days later all better… But I have still been giving him lots of water in a bottle and his urine is red today for the first time…. I know it’s the water…. Will it correct itself by stopping water bottle feeding. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow . Poor baby… He’s about 5-6 weeks not sure.. Still small and skinny.
You are correct that you should NOT be giving him water in a bottle. Blood in urine is a common problem with that. Hopefully you have stopped and he will be okay. I don’t really understand what your first sentence means or what you’ve been doing or how long he had diarrhea, but there are about two dozen causes of diarrhea in kids. As for feeding if he is not nursing, he needs either whole fat milk or a milk replacer daily.
Did you ever have baby goat that waves his head back and forth… I noticed my neighbors baby goat does that.. he drinks his bottle pretty good.. it cries a lot
It’s not normal for a goat to wave its head back and forth, but you need to provide a lot more details before I could explain what’s going on.
I read your post on Pritchard teats. I have had a Pygmy for 3 days. He is 20 days old. He doesn’t like the bottle at all. I tried the Pritchard teat but was told a baby bottle would be easier. It isn’t. I like the comment you made about the milk dripping in and being able to squeeze the bottle. So, I am thinking about trying it again. I am wondering if you would describe for me how big to make the hole in the Pritchard teat. I think I made it too big before, because he hated it and wouldn’t take it. I also read the comment about it taking a few days up to a week, so I am hopeful.
This is one of my pet peeves — people pulling a kid off a doe and selling it to someone without training it to take a bottle first. A kid can wind up dying in a situation like this. I’m glad you are being so persistent.
If you think the last hole was cut too large, just snip off the skinny part of the Pritchard teat that sticks out. The hole will be small. When he’s a little older he will appreciate a larger hole because the milk will flow faster, but initially they can choke on the milk if it’s flowing too fast when they’re learning.
I’m sorry, I have another question about the Pritchard Teat. It is so hard to take apart to clean and put back together. You also have to worry about losing the tiny ball bearing. Is it sufficient, when cleaning, to leave the nipple in the plastic ring and just use a bottle brush to clean it and keep it all together? Thank you so much
You don’t need to take the nipple apart to wash it. I just put soapy water in the bottle, put the nipple back on and shake it and squeeze it and force the soapy water through the nipple, then take it off the bottle and rinse it. You do need to use a bottle brush on the bottle or it will start to grow mold.
Hi. I just picked up a 4 day old buckling from a neighbor who had them for sale. I currently have 3 does and a wether. The buckling was on the mother for the first 4 days and is not taking to the bottle very well. He may have had 1 ounce between the two feedings tonite. I am feeding him raw goat milk from the supermarket that I warm in hot water. Any tips? I will weigh him tomorrow. Thank you.
I really hate it when people do this. It takes a LOT of patience and persistence to get milk into a kid that’s used to nursing from mom, and it can be challenging for someone experienced — never mind how much tougher it is for someone who has never done it before. It can take several days or even a week to get a kid to the point where they will grab the nipple and just start sucking. It’s all about persistence and patience. Using a Pritchard teat definitely makes it easier to get the milk into them since you can squeeze the bottle. Just keep trying. Many kids who are used to mom will scream and kick like they think you’re trying to poison them, so if he isn’t doing that, you’re at least a little ahead of the game. Good luck!
I had a similar thing. I bought a week old baby where she had been drinking from the mum and I had to bottle train her. Having never done it before was a huge thing. She kicked and screamed and carried on for about 2 days. But finally yesterday she started to drink really well! Just keep at it!!
Hi
I had three Nigerian kids born two weeks ago weighing 3lbs, 3.5lbs, and 1.5lbs. The 1.5lb doeling isn’t able to compete with the other two and isn’t getting enough to eat. She isn’t gaining weight. I offered her a bottle of fresh goats milk today and she gladly gobbled it down. My question is do I feed her the same ratio I would feed an exclusively fed kid? I know she is getting some milk from her mom and I don’t want to over feed her. Should I be separating her? She’s playing and cuddling with her simblings and Mom is very sweet and attentive.
Thanks so much!
Yes, you can give her the amount that you’d give her if she were exclusively bottle-fed. At this point, she has to make up for lost time. And odds are good that once she realizes she can get “free” milk from the bottle, she won’t nurse much at all. We have one like that right now. Some kids just do not have the personality to fight for those two teats, and they don’t mind waiting for the bottle.
I have a 2 month old doe that I just brought home yesterday. She was mostly on mom but the breeder says she does take a bottle if I want. Originally I didn’t not plan on bottle feeding her when she got here. I was just going to have her on hay. However now I’m thinking I might continue bottlefeeding her. I do not have a doe in milk right now so goat milk is not an option. If I’m using kid milk replacer only is it still worth it to bottle feed? If so how much and how often? Thanks!
You can use either milk replacer or whole cow milk from the store. It has more protein and calcium than anything else you can feed her, which is important when they’re growing so fast in the early months. Giving her a bottle twice a day would be good. If this is a Nigerian, and she is less than 20 pounds at 2 months, I’d definitely give her a bottle. You could start her out at 8 ounces per bottle to get her used to it, and you could go up to 12 or 16 ounces per bottle, if you want, and if it doesn’t give her diarrhea. If she gets diarrhea, it just means that she had too much milk at one time, which is why you want to start out slow. If she’s really small — like 15 pounds — I’d probably do 3x a day (12 ounces) so that you could ultimately get 36 ounces into her.
Thank you! She is a Nigerian and I’d say between 15 and 20 lbs right now so I’ll follow those recommendations. Thanks for your quick reply!
Hi!
First of all, thank you for running this blog 🙂 it has been so helpful!
I did want to get some advice- I have nigerian quads born yesterday morning. We pulled the smallest one because the doe is known for low production and was also walking away from him every time he tried to nurse. He is in the house with us these last 2 days and still screams every attempt to bottlefeed (its getting slightly better) he does spend time during the day outside in the barn with mom and sisters. He does still try to nurse off mom and sometimes if she is distracted enough she will let him. My concern with putting him outside full time is him not getting established on the bottle, and him not getting enough nutrition; also concern for the other 3 as the doe is a low producer and I highly doubt she can support 4 babies- I’m not even sure she can do 3 but we are keeping an eye on them.
How long does it usually take for a baby goat to become established with the bottle? Once he is taking it more easily and hopefully showing less interest in mom, we plan to put him in the barn full time.
(He is on whole cow’s milk. Weighs 37oz as of this evening, up from birth weight of 33oz. Takes less than one half ounce per feeding- sometimes much less- so is being fed every couple of hours.)
If he is with mom and nursing at all, it usually takes much longer to get them established with bottle-feeding. What you describe is no surprise if he is nursing. Some kids just prefer nursing, even if they are starving to death. In fact, we lost a kid in the early years like this before we knew better. In this situation I keep them in the house or otherwise away from mom until they are well established on the bottle. Since he’s been nursing, it could take several days for him to get good at taking the bottle. Sometimes it just happens like someone flipped a switch. You stick the bottle in their mouth, and they’re screaming, and then SWITCH, they start sucking like a pro. But you just don’t know when it will happen with any specific kid — that could be the next time you try, or it could be in five days.
It sounds like you are doing a good of getting enough milk into him. And I agree that the more he nurses, the less milk for the other three, so getting him 100% bottlefed is a good idea.
Hi!
We brought home 2 doelings at 6 weeks old this weekend. They were pulled from their mom and are refusing to drink from a bottle. I’ve been persistent with trying to bottle feed them but they continue to refuse. I’ve gotten some milk into them but very little compared to what they should be drinking. I have tried several nipples with no luck. I’ve read through the comments above but I’d like to know your thoughts. One of the girls is timid and is becoming more nervous after each attempt to feed. They have lost weight and just seem kind of bummed out. I feel sad for them being pulled so early listening to their cry for “maaaaam”. If they would drink, they would feel better. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated by me and my kids. They are Nigerian Dwarfs btw.
It makes me so sad to hear this. The breeder who sold you the goats is either very uninformed or simply negligent. No one should ever take kids this age from their mom because this when they are gaining weight so fast and really need her milk. The only experience I have with kids that age is when a doe died when her kids were 5 weeks old. It took about a week to get them on the bottle. You really need to be using a Pritchard teat so that you can squeeze the bottle and at least get the milk into them, even if it is drop by drop.
You said these are doelings, so I am assuming that means you want to breed them at some point. If they do not get enough nutrients at this age, they will grow very slowly and won’t be big enough to breed until they are closer to two years old — if at all. They should be at last 40 pounds before being bred. The stress of this will also probably cause a parasite problem, which could permanently scar their intestines, meaning they will never grow to their full potential. You could start feeding them medicated feed to prevent coccidiosis, but they could still have a problem with worms, which will require a dewormer.
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/preventing-coccidiosis/
I am feeding pigmy babies and I am starting to mix my own formula. there are so many ways to mix a formula with various ingredients. I am going to try this one and need to see if I am leaving anything important out.
1 gallon whole milk
1/2 gallon half and half
1 quart buttermilk
2 tbs. corn syrup
Thank You
You really don’t need to do that. They do fine on whole milk. If you really want to add a little half and half to increase the butterfat for pygmies, you can, but that’s it. Most buttermilk in the store is not really buttermilk. It’s a concoction of chemicals made to taste like buttermilk, so please don’t add that — or corn syrup. They absolutely do NOT need corn syrup. That’s from a 1960s human baby formula because human milk is actually very high in lactose, so they were trying to duplicate human milk. Since you are talking about all of these store-bought ingredients, I’m assuming you don’t have fresh goat milk, but if you did, and you were making your own fermented buttermilk or yogurt that was really fermented, some people add that, but the so-called buttermilk in the store has no live cultures in it, so there is absolutely no benefit at all, and it could actually be problematic because of the chemicals in it.
Hi I just got a 2 week old doeling yesterday and I cant get her to take the bottle, i dont want to stress her out to much but she won’t take any at all. How long till i should really worry. The last one took it the second day. I just dont want her going to long without getting anything
I have a 3 month old Nigerian dwarf who I just bought and apparently hasn’t been weaned. I wanted to know if it would be okay to feed her 2% reduced fat milk or should I feed her 1% low fat milk. All of this is from WalMart! I don’t know what to do!!
It is really sad that someone sold you a goat with no guidance. Reputable breeders provide information when they sell goats. Nigerian milk averages 6.5% butterfat, so even whole milk from the store is not really rich enough, but it will do for a kid that age. If she weighs at least 24 pounds, you wouldn’t have to continue bottle-feeding, but you could. We continue for four to six months, depending on the size of the kid. When you say she was not weaned, I assume you mean she was bottle-fed. If she had been dam-raised, it is highly unlikely you will get her to take a bottle at this point. How much does she weigh, and was she being bottle-fed at her previous home?
Actually this is really sad. My poor baby Elspeth (that’s her name) died last night. She got into our alpacas corral and they pushed some of the panels on top of her. We found her dead at 9:17 pm on September 30, 2018.
I’m so sorry! I know how quickly you can fall in love with them! If she was a lone goat, she was looking for a friend, and goats are very good at slipping through any little crack. I never sell a single goat for that reason. I’ve heard a lot of similar, sad stories. If you decide to get another goat, be sure to buy from a reputable breeder — and buy at least two. Stay away from Craigslist and sale barns, as that’s where people sell their problems.
We had one baby last night, and another this morning that are off by themselves, with no mother around. How do you know when they’ve been abandoned and when you should take it away and start bottle-feeding it? They seem energetic. I’m pretty sure they are from two separate moms. All the moms that I see with babies have twins. Could these has been a third that got rejected?
I’d take them up to every doe and see how the does respond. Will they let it nurse? Or do they butt it away or try to bite it? If no one will let it nurse, then you need to start bottle-feeding ASAP, and you need to get colostrum from the does that had babies within the last two days days and feed that to the kids for the first 24 hours. Then you can switch to milk.
This is a heard we recently inherited, and they are not tame enough for us to approach them quite yet, much less try and milk any of them. Should I assume these two are abandoned if a mother has not been around either of them for a while? I have powdered colostrum and milk replacer I can fix for them.
Sorry I just saw this. If I spend half an hour to an hour out there, and I don’t see a mama with kids, I’d certainly be concerned that they were abandoned. Hopefully this worked out for you.
Hi, workmates found a wild baby goat on the roadside with no apparent herd. Can I try to reunite with the mother if I can find her after 24 hours of being with humans and being bottle fed?
There are no wild goats in the US, so I’m not sure what you found. If it’s a mountain goat, they actually aren’t goats, and are more closely related to antelope, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find its mother as they range across thousands of acres. If it looks like a breed of domestic goat, then it’s possible that it escaped from a pen or was dumped by a human. If there is a farm nearby, I’d check with them.
In any case, a dam and kid will recognize each other. It usually takes a really strong scent or odor to cause a mother to be unable to smell her baby. For example, if you bathed the kid with scented shampoo and then dried it off with a towel that was heavily scented with fabric softener, she might not be able to smell the kid for all of the artificial fragrance.
Accidentally came across your blog, question & answers. So much information and I have found this very helpful. Will definitely bookmark and return.
Hi! I just came across your blog and thought I’d ask a couple questions if that’s okay! We bought a Nigerian Dwarf from a friend of a friend and they said she’s a week old, not exactly sure on weight but I think like 3lbs? I’m not sure if she was bottle fed but I don’t think so. I read in your comments it can take a few days to get used to the bottle. The breeder suggested using a regular baby bottle and cutting the nipple in an X to get more flow so I did. They told me to feed her about 4 times a day and about 2-3oz a feed, but she’s only taking about an ounce each feed, every few hours (I’ve had her 24 hours and she’s taken 7oz in only an ounce at a time) is that super bad or are we heading in the right track? I had to watch a YouTube video to figure out how to feed her because she wasn’t taking the bottle. She bucks and whines a little when we feed but eventually she drinks and then around an oz she pulls away and won’t take more, should I be making her take more? Obviously I’d rather feed her 4x a day than 7-8 lol I’m exhausted! How can I get her on the right schedule? Also, I’m using milk replacer if it helps.
Sounds like you are headed in the right direction. You really need to weigh her and then follow the guidelines in the articles as far as amount goes. As she gets used to the bottle, she’ll take more each time, so you won’t have to feed as often to get enough milk into her.
I am concerned that this might be your only goat, and that is going to open up a whole new world of problems for you. She will be VERY unhappy when she’s outside alone, and you can’t keep her in your house forever. Here is my Beginner’s Guide to Goats where you can find lots more info as you get started —
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/a-beginners-guide-to-goats/
Hey – I have a kid who is nearly two weeks old now, His nanny started out taking him but I don’t thin she has much milk, he kept nursing alot and now she kicks him away most of the time. She still looks out for him other than that. I tried for about 6 days to get him to bottle feed and gave up as he never took to it. I started holding the doe for him to nurse but he acts and looks like he is not getting enough. I tried testing her to see if she was giving any milk and got nothing . He nibble hay a bit but I tried to feed him some various grains and he is not interested. Should I try bottle feeding again or is there a way to get him nutrients in some other way?
If the doe had no milk, the kid would have died two weeks ago. If you have no experience milking, it’s not surprising that you wouldn’t be successful at getting milk from her. What you are describing could be normal. It really depends on how extreme it is. Once kids are a couple of weeks old, most does do not stand around for five minutes like they did when the kids were newborns. It’s not uncommon for them to walk away after 20 or 30 seconds of nursing. But the kids nurse every 15 to 30 minutes all day long.
What do you mean when you say that the kid acts and looks like he is not getting enough? Have you been weighing him? Has he gained weight? Is he crying all of the time and trying to nurse off other goats?
I’ve been bottle raising two kids that was born Dec 9, 2018. They stay in a kennel in my room for now. Because the m ok m wouldn’t h ok old still for them to nurse and then walked on them. The issue I’m having is that if pit back with the mom before weaning that she may kill them for the sake of her one kid that she didn’t reject.
The doe’s goal was not to kill them. She didn’t want them to nurse for some reason. At this point, the kids won’t try to nurse again because they’re bottle babies, so the doe won’t be as aggressive with them. If you have them in an open area where the kids can run away, they should be fine. Just don’t put them in a small area where she could smash them against a wall initially. Once they get their pecking order worked out, they’ll be fine.
I have two Nigerian three week old kids. First time owner. One of my babies looks bloated and has a and cold. We picked up antibiotics from the vet but I do not see an improvement. Any advice would be great.
Goats do not get colds like human do. What symptoms are you seeing? Are the kid gaining weight? How much? Are they getting anything other than milk? What kind of milk are you feeding? Are they outside or in the house? What antibiotic did the vet give you and when?
Can you over feed newborn goats?
I don’t usually say that anything is impossible, but I would say that it is extremely unlikely that you could overfeed a newborn kid with a bottle. They usually take a few days to learn to take the bottle well. I have had a few kids get too much milk when nursing from a doe that was an especially excellent producer. They just get diarrhea, which looks like someone squirted mustard all over their back end, but they seem totally fine otherwise. After kids get really good at taking the bottle, there are a few piggies who act like they are always starving, which is why you need to know how much they really need. Over-feeding is obvious though because of the diarrhea in an otherwise happy kid. If you’re under-feeding, you just wind up with a kid that doesn’t grow properly and has a poor immune system.
I have two kids ..one born 12/26 one born 12/27 so 8 and 9 days old ..
So confused one chart says one thing one chart says something else .. and people are telling me other things .. first time with Nigerians ..
we are feeding 9:30 ..1:30 ..5:30 ..9:30 …. 5 oz ..each feeding …each kid .so that is 20 oz each kid per day ..is that too much.. too little ..
They are taking it not stopping and are finally having a BM ..they were pulled from mom a few days ago and we bought them from a breeder ,
HELP !!! How do I know you answer me so I have to go on this site each day to check to see if you have answer or do you email ..if so my email is gras32@aol.com..thank you
Your timing is fine, but I’ve never had Nigerians that would consume that much milk at one feeding at that age. What do they weigh? I’m wondering if they’re purebred because I wouldn’t expect them to be more than about 6 pounds at that age, which would be 96 ounces, so 10% would be 9.6 ounces of milk. You should not give more than 20% of weight, so you are definitely at the max for that size, if that’s what they weigh. If they are crossed with something else, they could be quite a big larger, so that amount of milk would not be so unusual.
I respond to questions on here so that others can learn from the Q&A. There should be a box you can check to get notified of comments when you leave a comment.
**I need advice!!!! We are new to all of this. We’ve been raising Nigerian Dwarfs for a year and a half now and this is our first kidding season!! **
Two of our mama’s delivered their babies this past Saturday. Lucy had three and Dottie had two but lost one. Lucy only took to one of her babies and left the other two. We had a vet- (family friend) over to help us with everything. She advised that we keep the two weaker ones (brother and sister from Lucy) inside. As instructed we have kept them under a heat lamp. We tube fed the first two days and the third we started bottle feeding. When they were first born they were tiny and we weren’t even sure they would make it through the night. They have been fighters! The idea has been to give Dottie’s milk to the boy -(Rocky) so Dottie would take to him and she would smell her scent on him so she would let him feed. For the little girl- (Faith) we have been giving her Lucy’s milk so Lucy would take her in. Our vet advised that they needed to be in the house for a week and then we should introduce the babies to their mamas and see what Happens. If mama rejects the babies then we keep them inside for the next month and bottle feed. Here are my questions:
1) are we going about this the right way? The little girl is tiny and is no where near close to going outside to be with the rest of the heard. She is weaker. Everyday she progresses and is doing so good
2) The boy is much stronger. The vet advised that today we should let him around “his mama” and see what happens. If she takes to him, then leave him inside for a month so he can regulate his own body temp but let him out a couple times a day to feed from mom. What do y’all think?
3) My husband has been milking the mamas and I have been feeding them. I am pregnant and can’t get out there to milk them and with his job, it is very difficult. The mamas are also not letting him milk them as much. Our supply is running low. Should we just keep them inside for the next month and supplement feed them? It almost seems like that would be easier
4) Are we supposed to keep them inside that long?
5) Faith- the little girl. We have noticed her two from hooves are turn med inward a little. She gets around just fine. I have done research and there are so many opinions. What do y’all think?
It doesn’t sound like this vet has ever raised goats. You don’t just keep them inside for a week and expect mama to take them. It doesn’t matter whose milk they’re consuming. That’s not what she’s smelling. I’ve supplemented dozens of babies with other mama’s milk, and I’ve never had a doe reject a kid that she was bonded to. It depends somewhat on the doe and if she’s mourning the loss of her kids. If some does have kids die at birth, they’ll accept any kids that try to nurse off of them for several days after birth while their hormones are still raging.
In my experience, if a kid isn’t doing well enough to go outside at a week of age, they are not going to make it. We’ve had a couple that had issues that caused us to keep them inside for longer than that, and they always died between 1-2 months. Small does not equal weak, especially a few days after birth. If they are getting enough milk and digesting it properly (meaning their digestive system is working well), they get strong and fast and annoying really quickly, and you probably don’t want them in the house more than a week because they are bouncing all over everything and chewing on things.
As for regulating body temp … kids can do that just fine within a day or two of birth if they are normal and weigh at least a couple of pounds. If they can’t, then again, something is is not right. We are in Illinois where winter temps are always below freezing and sometimes even single digits and below zero, and our kids do just fine after the first day or two. And for the first day or two, we just have a heat lamp on them, and they are fine.
I do whatever I can to make sure my kids get as much mama’s milk as possible because they will be healthier because goat milk has antibodies in it, which kids really need because they are born with very immature immune systems, and goats don’t get the placental transfer of antibodies as efficiently as most mammals. I can’t tell you how to arrange your life to make that happen, but if you can’t do it, then you’ll obviously have to feed milk replacer or cow milk.
I should also add that if your does had such small, weak kids that they probably have some nutritional deficiencies that need to be corrected. There could be hidden birth defects that could cause ongoing challenges and possibly be fatal. Having more than one doe with this type of outcome definitely points to a problem, and nutritional issues would be my first guess — copper and/or selenium. If the kids are really weak, they could probably benefit from a shot of BoSe, which is by prescription only. I’m guessing your friend is a dog and cat vet because BoSe would be one of the first suggestions from a goat vet if you had weak kids. If the BoSe doesn’t show improvement, then it could be a vitamin E deficiency.
My doe had twins at 4:30 this morning… good size very energetic… it’s now 7:30 They still haven’t nursed their trying but can’t seem to find her teets… should I be worried do I intervene… help this is my first time
If you don’t help, they could die by this afternoon. They should have at least 5% of their body weight in colostrum within 6 hours of birth, so the clock is ticking. Stick your finger in their mouth. If it’s warm and they suck on your finger, then they are fine to nurse. You can stick them under her and brush their lips against her teat. Sometimes that’s all it takes for them to grab it and start suckling. You can pry their mouth open, stick the teat in, close the mouth on the teat and hold it closed until the kids start suckling. If you can’t get them to nurse, you need to milk the colostrum from the doe and feed it to them however you can — eye dropper, syringe (NO needle), or bottle. If their mouth is ice cold when you stick your finger in there, then they have hypothermia, and they can’t suck or digest colostrum, so you have to get them warmed up. Bring them in the house and put them on a heating pad. Check their mouth every 15 minutes until it feels warm, then work on the things I mentioned about getting the colostrum into them.
I love your website! Do you mind if I share the amounts of colostrum needed with a link to this article on my blog?
You are always welcome to share info from my blog with links back to the post that you are quoting. Thanks!
We had a Nigerian Dwarf give birth last week to quads. She accepted all, all nursed within the first hour or two of being born. Now 8 days in Momma is kicking the babies off when they try to nurse. Is this normal?
One doeling isn’t gaining weight as well as the others so we’ve begun to try bottle feeding her. We’ve been successful in getting her to take the bottle, just never very much at one time. I’d rather not separate her from her momma or siblings, is it possible to bottle feed and not remove them from their momma?
Not every doe has the personality to nurse four. When I have had a doe do so, she is pretty much always standing and letting kids nurse every time I see her. Asking if it’s normal is not really the right question. It happens in some cases, and you need to deal with it. Some kids will happily take a bottle while still with mom, but not all. There is no way to know whether or not it will work with any particular kid unless they make it super obvious. If they scream like you’re trying to poison them, then you need to take them away from mom. If she is not vigorously consuming what she needs, then you probably know the answer.
I have a Nigerian dwarf baby who is 5 days old. He was 1 of triplets. His brother and sister are normal size but he is extremely tiny. He was nursing on his mother but she doesn’t want anything to do with him now so we decided to bottle feed. I am milking another mama goat so he is getting raw milk. 1 day ago he started straining and stopped eating. I though he might be constipated so I called the vet. His bottom is so small they recommended I bring him in for an enema instead of doing it myself. Up until this point he had been pooping fine. When the vet administered the enema there was so much poop inside him. Some was soft and some was hard. The vet said that should solve the problem and sent us home. On our way home he pooped some more. It had alot of what looked like a mucous in it and some blood. He was anxious to eat when we got home but as the day went on he became less interested in eating and more lethargic. Today he has eaten very little and doesn’t have much energy. His belly is very bloated and he hasn’t pooped since yesterday afternoon. I keep trying to get some milk in him because the vet said to keep him hydrated. When I called the vet back she said it could be a congenital abnormality and we may need to euthanize him. I really hate to put him down if there is any chance for him. If you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it.
I would agree that there is probably something wrong with him. I’ve had about 650 kids and never had one get constipated. This is not a normal thing, so it’s likely that something is not quite right in his digestive tract. It’s not that unusual to have something wrong with the digestive tract. I’ve had a lamb born without an anus, and I have had a kid born with a rectum that was not connected to the intestines. I’ve also had one born with the intestines on the outside of the body. And I had a kid born that was weak at birth, so I was bottle-feeding it, and it never gained more than a few ounces and died close to a week of age. So that’s less than 1% of kids, but the digestive tract seems to be the easiest place for development to go wrong.
We have a 2 week old Nigerian pygmy baby who was rejected at birth so we’ve been bottle feeding since. We have him in the house since it’s too cold outside and feed him 4-5 times a day, increasing milk mixture with growth. First, He didn’t get any colustrum. Last week I added drench to the milk once a day At 2 weeks now, what else should I be giving him? Does he need to be dewormed? If so, with what and how much? Second, He is 5-6 lbs now and growing but doesn’t seem satisfied with enough milk. We’re now at 4 oz each feeding. I’m concerned about giving him too much milk because of Floppy Goat Syndrome. I mix up whole milk, evaporated milk, and buttermilk. How much can he safely have? Also, I’ve read a website that said to introduce alfalfa at a week and another site said to introduce grain at a week. Are both sites correct? And for today, is oatmeal (not cooked) okay for him?
Thanks so much for your blog.
If you do the math … 6 pounds is 96 ounces, so he should be getting 10-20 ounces per day total. If you divide that by 4 bottles, that’s a max of 5 ounces per bottle, so you could be giving him a little more.
“Drench” just means an oral medication. What are you giving him? There is not any oral medication that you should be giving a baby goat daily.
I am concerned about the mix that you are feeding him. He needs either a GOAT milk replacer or whole cows milk. The cost of the two is similar. Most buttermilk from the store is garbage. It’s a concoction of chemicals. It’s not the real deal, and evaporated milk is evaporated, which means it’s concentrated and doesn’t have enough water in it. Please don’t feed him this.
If he got no colostrum, you could find that his immune system won’t be the best once you put him outside in the world with other goats and pathogens. At this point he has not been exposed to anything. In the future, if a doe rejects a kid, you should milk her and give her colostrum to the kid(s).
If a baby goat is with mom, they will start nibbling at her feed when they are a few days old. It’s fine to introduce him to hay and grain, but don’t expect him to eat much. It is actually quite a challenge to get a kid to eat anything unless he is with other goats. They mimic what they see the other goats doing. Some kids living in a house may not start eating anything until they are a month or older, which is really not good for their rumen development.
No goat should ever be dewormed unless they have a wormload that is negatively affecting their health and causing anemia or diarrhea or weight loss, etc. Since he has had zero exposure to anything, he should be fine. Here is info about dewormer resistance and why you should not use dewormers unless absolutely necessary: https://thriftyhomesteader.com/dewormer-resistance-in-goats/
Here is more info about floppy kid, since you are concerned about that:
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/floppy-kid-syndrome/
We had two Nubian bucks the dairy’s here dump the boys right after they are born. One is about 5 mths now and doing great the other passed right after weening we still don’t know why. I didn’t want remaining alive one to be alone so I got 3 more Lamancha goats from the same dairy. They have all been sick pretty much the whole time I went through two rounds of antibiotics because of pneumonia. Then they all got scours so we gave electrolytes two got better one still has diarrhea. Then this morning one of the two that got better just wouldn’t move and was super weak couldn’t take his lunch bottle even though he was fine for breakfast bottle . Then he stopped breathing and passed on. Now I’m worried about the other two. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong. They are three weeks old they get 3-10 oz bottles a day grain is made available along with oats and alfalfa from a bale. I change their water everyday and their bedding twice a week. Of two remaining babies one still had horrible diarrhea and is skinny the other is plump but has days where he won’t take bottle and doesn’t want to move then he gets better and worst again. any advice is appreciated I’ve read so many articles and I just don’t know what to do.
A goat with diarrhea needs more than just electrolytes. Something is causing the diarrhea and needs to be treated. At 3 weeks or later, the most common cause is coccidiosis. If they are getting diarrhea earlier than 3 weeks, then it could be something bacterial. You need to take a fecal to the vet to find out what it is and give them the correct medicine.
LaMancha bucklings need more than 30 ounces a day. That’s what I’d be feeding my Nigerians, which weigh half as much. Weigh them and do the math in the article to figure out exactly how much you need to be feeding them as they grow.
Was already giving an antibiotic for the pneumonia so if it was bacterial wouldn’t that of handled it!
Not if it was resistant to that antibiotic. There are about two dozen things that can cause diarrhea in goats.
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/diarrhea-in-goats/
We had two Nubian bucks the dairy’s here dump the boys right after they are born. One is about 5 mths now and doing great the other passed right after weening we still don’t know why. I didn’t want remaining alive one to be alone so I got 3 more Lamancha goats from the same dairy. They have all been sick pretty much the whole time I went through two rounds of antibiotics because of pneumonia. Then they all got scours so we gave electrolytes two got better one still has diarrhea. Then this morning one of the two that got better just wouldn’t move and was super weak couldn’t take his lunch bottle even though he was fine for breakfast bottle . Then he stopped breathing and passed on. Now I’m worried about the other two. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong. They are three weeks old they get 3-10 oz bottles a day grain is made available along with oats and alfalfa from a bale. I change their water everyday and their bedding twice a week. Of two remaining babies one still had horrible diarrhea and is skinny the other is plump but has days where he won’t take bottle and doesn’t want to move then he gets better and worst again. any advice is appreciated I’ve read so many articles and I just don’t know what to do.
I have a 3 week old bottle baby who is doing great, but she has a little bit of a monkey jaw. Her bottom teeth sometimes show and I’m concerned about her being able to graze properly. At what age should she be able to bite off grass and leaves? She tries but they seem to slip through the gap between the teeth and plate.
Second question, how big should she be before putting her out with the other goats? There aren’t any others her age. When temperatures get below about 45 degrees, she starts shivering. I’m concerned we’ve spoiled her to the cold by keeping her in doors. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to put her with the rest of the goats and have her be okay. Any advice is welcome!
If she is in the house and not around other goats, that may be why it seems she is having trouble eating. They learn by watching other goats, and house goats often don’t even try to start eating until they are a month old. Dam-raised kids are nibbling at the feed with their mom when they are just a few days old. A “little bit” of a monkey bite is not going to cause a problem for her.
Honestly she should have been out with the other goats from the beginning. It is never easy to move them out of the house after a few days of age. My youngest daughter used to think we had to have a house goat every year, and it was always heart-breaking to put them outside. Be prepared for her to be very upset because you are the only mama she’s ever known. But she will get over it. You may also find that she is the world’s best escape artist because she is going to try to get back to you. As long as she has no health problems and is not underweight, she will be fine outside even when it’s freezing.
Hi,
I have a kid born 1/15/19. We have bottle raised her and her sister since birth after they were rejected. They both have been taking bottle well. They graze a little on hay and fresh grass and eat a little bit of goat feed.
One of the sisters has now refused a bottle for 24 hours. She does not have any other symptoms. We have her nutridrench last night but she still refused her bottle this morning.
Do you have any advice on what could be going wrong with her?
I would keep trying. I never say anything is impossible when it comes to goat behavior, but it is very, very unlikely that she would just suddenly decide to quit one day. She is old enough that she’d survive if she didn’t get more milk, but it’s not ideal for her to quit.
You didn’t explain what’s happening, but I’m wondering if there is something wrong with the bottle. For example, if it’s a Pritchard teat and the little ball bearing fell out the milk would just come gushing out, which she may not like, or it may take her a day or so to get used to the faster flow. Or on the flip side, is the nipple clogged? or is it coming out too slowly for some reason, which is frustrating her?
There is no need to give her NutriDrench in this situation. It’s really high in sugar and causes their blood sugar to go way up.
I have a baby goat that was born about a month ago. Her mamma and 3 other goats had babies at the same time and they got mixed up so the mamma’s rejected all of them I got her to help well she’s been doing well but refuses to eat any kind of feed. Is there anything I can do? What kind of feed should she eat? She doesn’t think she is a goat either because she stays in the house I know I shouldn’t of but she was our only one and it was cold and I felt bad… But if you could give any advise on feed I would greatly appreciate it.
She should eat goat feed and hay just like other kids her age. They normally start eating within a few days when they’re with mom because they’re imitating her. It can be a challenge to get them to eat if they in the house. You really need to put her with other goats. That’s the easiest way to get her to start eating. At this point it will never be easy to put her outside.
I have a 23 day Nigerian Dwarf. He almost froze twice with his mother. The breeder pulled him and I took him. He been with me 2weeks now. He started out eating alot the first week. A little more then 10 % now he’s just at 10%. Im a little worried he’s only gained 5oz. 3.7lbs to 4.12lbs. I’m transitioning him to whole cows milk. Is there anything extra I can give him? He only poos once a day!
Something is definitely not right. He should be gaining about 4 ounce every DAY. Gaining 5 ounces in two weeks is very bad news. Sounds like his digestive system is not working correctly. Usually they don’t live this long with such a small weight gain. If he almost died from hypothermia twice, that’s also a sign that something isn’t right. I’m really sorry. 🙁
When should you start bottle feeding a triplet? They are 2 days old now and not sure when I need to start. One is smaller than the other 2.
It depends. If the doe is a first freshener, I would have already started because they rarely produce enough milk for triplets. If she is a second freshener, I’d be weighing the kids every day to be sure they are all gaining about the same. Even the small one should be gaining as much as the other two, which is about 4 ounces a day if they are Nigerians (which I’m assuming they are since it’s triplets). If it’s a third or fourth freshener, and you know she’s a really good producer, she should be able to feed triplets, but I’d be weighing them for two weeks to be sure. More information about how many kids a doe can feed is available here:
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/how-many-kids-can-doe-feed/
Hello I have approximately 8 day old kid that is doing well on his bottle and always had fresh water available to him but does not drink it. My question is, is it ok to give him a few ounces of water in between his milk feedings?
Thank you
They learn drinking from a bucket and eating solids food by copying other goats, so it’s not unusual for them to start eating and drinking later when they are bottle-fed. However, there is no need to give him water in a bottle. Milk is actually 85% or more water, depending upon the breed, so he won’t get dehydrated. Also, some people have reported a kid getting bloody diarrhea after getting water in a bottle. This is just one reason that bottle babies need to be around goats. The older they are when introduced to other goats, the harder time they have emotionally separating from you because they think you’re mom.
We will be getting 2 nigerian kids 1and 2 weeks old. They have been nursing from their moms (different litters).
We want to start bottle feeding them. If they wont take the bottle how long should we wait before taking them back to the mom? Would that be an option?
Will the moms still let them nurse if they’ve had whole milk from a bottle?
This is not a good idea. The kids should NOT be taken away from their mom unless they are already taking a bottle easily. They could wind up starving if they don’t get the hang of it, and you never know at what point the mom will no longer accept them back. It has nothing to do with them having milk from a bottle. It has to do with them being away from her and her no longer recognizing them.
If you want bottle kids, you really should get kids that have had a bottle from day 1. It is not usually easy to get baby goats to switch to a bottle from mom. If they are not getting enough milk from their mother, sometimes they accept the bottle easily because it’s so easy to get milk, but even then some kids act like you’re trying to poison them.
Hi — Thanks so much for your wonderful blog — very very helpful! I’ve got a 10 week old Alpine mix (I think) rescue and I’ve been bottle feeding him store-bought goat milk since he was two weeks old. (Actually, he started out on baby formula and whole milk that was suggested by a goat breeder at a TS, but gave him terrible diarrhea until the traveling vet switched him to goat milk and gave him his CDT — couple sleepless weeks even after the change!) Anyway, he’s growing very fast and he’s 25 lb now and foraging happily all day as well as eating alfalfa and goat pellets. The thing is, he really loves his bottle still and we really love giving it to him. I’m getting so much advice to just wean him, but I’m just not that kind of mom — I’m a pushover… I like your advice to keep him on milk for a few more months, but I’m wondering if I can switch him to whole cow’s milk from goat milk or if that’s going to mess with his system. He’s down to about 10 oz in the morning and 10 oz at bedtime. Thanks so much!
I would definitely continue giving him the bottle. I have Nigerians who weigh 25 pounds at 10 weeks, and they are less than half the size of a Saanen when full grown, so that early bout of diarrhea definitely took its toll on him and slowed down his growth. You should be able to switch him to whole cow milk. I usually start by mixing 50/50 for a couple of days when changing milks.
If by “baby formula,” you mean human baby formula, that would have caused a problem. Goats usually do fine on whole cow milk or goat milk replacer, which are both priced about the same.
One of our girls had to have her kid pulled today. His head got wedged and the vet ended up rupturing her uterus pulling him but was able to repair it. She is under observation for the next 24 hours so I have baby. He weighs right under 3 pounds and has been fed 4 ounces or moms colostrum since birth at 2pm. (It’s 9pm now) my first question is, when will he poop and pee? I haven’t seen him pee yet and I wasn’t sure if they were like other animals and you had to stimulate them. My second question is, how hard do you think it will be for me to get mom to take him back once we’ll enough? I’m worried that since she was out of it, she won’t recognize him as her baby.
They pee and poop all on their own. You don’t need to do anything. It’s totally possible that he peed when you weren’t looking. Once he has enough colostrum in him, he will start pooping, so he should be pooping soon. If he is in the barn, you probably won’t see it because it’s a small amount and gets lost in the bedding quickly. He’s probably pooped already, assuming all of his parts are in the right places and full functioning. About one out of every few hundred kids winds up with an incomplete digestive tract, and they die within 24 hours.
As for mom accepting him … that is anybody’s guess. I had a doe wind up in a similar situation, and she let the kids start nursing at a week of age. Other goats might reject a kid that was taken away overnight. If she is a first freshener, odds are worse than if she’s an experienced mom. If the birth is traumatic for a first time mom, they may reject the kids completely even if they are never separated. If she does reject him, she should be very cooperative about being milked because a full udder is very uncomfortable, so she’ll be happy to let you milk her.
Thank you, mom passed away, just got the call from the vet. So it’s bottle for this baby. I’m going to try and find him a home with other bottle babies.
I’m so sorry. If you have other kids, you could put him in there with them. I once had a mom die when her kids were a couple days old, and I put them in a stall with a doe that was raising triplets, and it worked out really well. Raising a kid alone though is a challenge because they don’t know they’re a goat and takes weeks to start eating and drinking. Good luck!
I have a 1 wk old Nigerian dwarf who will not take to a bottle. If I put the nipple in his mouth he will freeze and lock up letting the milk roll out of his mouth. The only way I’ve been able to get anything in him is with an eye dropper. We got him from a petting zoo that says he has been bottle fed. Hes had a total of maybe 3 oz since 0600 and its 2pm now. He is acting okay, and peeing and pooping, but I’m really concerned about him. I’ve tried covering him up, different nipples, faster flows, but nothing is working.
A bottle-fed kid will grab the nipple, start sucking and swallowing. He would not have survived this long if he refused to suck or swallow. I’d call them and ask them if you can bring him back so they can show you how he takes a bottle because you have been unable to get enough milk into him. If they care, they will say yes and help you. I am also concerned if they sold you a single goat, if you have no other goats. They are herd animals and should never be alone.
Just a suggestion for ones who are having issues getting their babies to take the bottle. I adopted a ND Doeling bottle baby at 2 weeks old. Mom rejected her from the beginning so she stayed in the owners home because they also had issues keeping her body temp up as well. When I got her she would not take the bottle which was weird to me b/c they stated she was already on a bottle (pretty sure it wasn’t true). However, I learned that if you rub their backs down by their tail it may get them suckling (mom licks and cleans them there while they’re feeding). It mimics what mom is doing while they’re feeding and they feel more comfortable. Just wanted to throw that suggestion out there as it may help someone like it did me.
Can we offer water (warm) to our 14 day old kids? They seem not to be pooping as much.
They’re on 5-6 oz every 5 hours. (with 8 hour sleep break)
Yes, you should have a bucket of water available. They won’t drink much, but over time they will learn. Do NOT give them water in a bottle as it has been linked to peeing blood, so is NOT recommended. Giving them water won’t make them poop more, and it’s not something to worry about anyway. More liquid just makes them pee more. Here is information on constipation in goats — https://thriftyhomesteader.com/goat-constipation/
You didn’t say how much the kids weigh, which will determine how much milk they should be getting. The amount you’re giving would be fine for small breeds like Nigerians but not enough for standard goats or meat breeds.
My Doe had quads, and they are all doing great, but the runt is only 1 lb. , second born, and she left him for dead. We brought him in, fed him colostrum that I milked out, from and eyedropper, and this is day 2. He’s stonger, hungry and can be with the others until feeding. Mama pushes him aside, and the others, three times his size, push him away for teats. I will be bottle feeding him. How much is enough? I don’t want to burst his little belly or damage his system. So far he won’t take the bottle, it is just too big to fit in his mouth. I used a syringe this morning but will continue to work on the Pritchard.
He needs 10-20% of his body weight just like a normal kid. It’s a percentage, and it applies across all sizes. A pound is 16 ounces, so that’s 1.6 to 3.2 ounces in a 24 hours period. Since he is so small, you night want to split it up into six feedings instead of four. If you can get half an ounce into him six times a day, that would be great.
Hi I got a 4 day old female kid twin that was weak and couldn’t stand or walk at birth we got her to nurse from mom but couldn’t keep up. I was scared she was gonna die so I bought colostrum replacement and goats milk and milk replacement and brought her in side. She is doing great now but mom has rejected her and being mean. What should she be drinking and what should I do about mom. She is boer and Nigeria mix.
Whether she is a Nigerian or a boer, she needs 10-20% of her body weight with 10% being the absolute minimum and 20% being the maximum. Use the mathematical formula in the photo above to figure out how much she should be eating each day. You can use a kitchen scale or a hanging scale to weigh her.
If that was the only kid, you may want to milk the mom and use her milk to feed the kid. If you can’t milk her, and there are no other kids, then you can just let her dry up. Mother’s milk is definitely best, but if you can’t milk her, you can use whole cow milk from the store or goat milk replacer. Just do NOT use sheep milk replacer or an all-stock milk replacer because it doesn’t have the nutrients that goats need.
Growing up we raised dairy goats (Nubians, Saanens, Alpines and LaManchas) and we bottle fed all our babies. They all got mom’s milk to start with. Depending on how many kids we had during a kidding season they might eventually get switched to calf milk replacer (blueseal or agway). We were always breeding 6-10 does at a time so we usually had plenty of milk for the kids and to sell.
I have a Nubian/Boer mama that had triplets (b,b, g). I’m thinking they were premature because they didn’t have teeth and they were so tiny. We got the babies warmed up and used a syringe to get the colostrum in them. They couldn’t stand, and were very weak. Over the next couple of days, the girl and then one of the boys died. I finally transitioned the surviving kid from the syringe to a bottle. I’m milking the mama goat 2 times a day and getting about 2 qts of milk total. Should I milk her more often? Is that an okay amount of milk? I’m using the Pritchard nipples. I’ve been putting him outside with his mama a few times a day. She’s pretty attentive with cleaning him and keeping an eye on him even though I haven’t been able to get him to nurse. Since he is premature, how long will he need to stay inside? He weighs about 4.8 lbs. I’m using your 10% body weight formula as a guide For feeding. I’ve been getting up at least twice to feed him at night. Is that still necessary? I appreciate any advice. I have two more does that could deliver at anytime.
Great job! We usually milk them 3 times a day in the beginning if kids are not nursing. You will get more milk. Since she’s a mix between a meat goat and a dairy goat, it’s hard to know what to expect. It kind of depends on which genetics are really coming through. Half a gallon should be enough for one kid, but I always like to get more if I can.
If the weather in your area is not below freezing and it’s not too windy, it’s probably fine to have him outside.
He should be able to go at least 6 hours overnight, if not 8.
It was 68 and sunny here today, so he spent the day outside with his mama and the other goats. I can definitely milk her 3 times a day. I’ve still been working on getting him to latch on, but he’s not really interested. He sucks 4 or 5 times and then let’s go. He roots around on her milk sack and udders, but can’t seem to connect without help. He’s two weeks old, so I’m not sure if it’s going to happen. How long will goats milk keep in the fridge? I’ve been giving it in the order that I milked her, but I have over 12 quarts stored up. I’m straining the milk through cheese cloth into clean quart jars. Is there anything else I should be doing ? I’ve really enjoyed your site! It has been so informative:). Thank you!
Wow! Sounds like he’s doing great! If he is two weeks old and has not nursed though, odds are not good that he’s going to figure it out at this point. If you’re willing to spend time with him getting him latched on and holding his head in place while he gets started, it might still work out. If he latches on and gives up after a few sucks, sounds like he might not realize that there’s milk in there.
You can freeze the milk. When you thaw it, it will have tiny chunkies in it, but you make it smoother by shaking it or putting it in a blender. You could also make yogurt or cheese with it. Cheesemaking.com is a good source of cultures for people who are just getting started.
If you’re using a cheesecloth for straining rather than disposable filters, you should boil it between uses so that bacteria don’t start to grow in there.
I’ve been taking Louie, the kid, out to the barn with me in the morning and at night when I’m doing my chores. Olive tends to him while I milk her. Tonight he latched on by himself and nursed! I watched him try to nurse some this afternoon, but it was always like 10 seconds and then he’d stop. So, what do I do in this scenario? Continue feeding like I am now? Continue to milk Olive 2 or 3 times a day? Today, I just stuck with my usual feeding schedule, but he ate a little less . When I milked Olive this morning and tonight, I got about 3/4’s of a quart instead of a full quart. I’m taking him outside during the day to be with his herd and bringing him in at night. I’m going to miss him when he’s outside full time. He is very sweet and cuddly Also, I’m using a fresh square of cheesecloth each time I strain the milk. I just ordered your book about raising goats naturally and the one with all the goat birth stories! Very excited to read them both
If he is with her, he might be nursing more than you think, which would be why you got less milk. You should be getting more milk every day at this point in lactation. If he is not hungry, he might only nurse for 10 seconds. I’d suggest taking him out to her when it’s time for another bottle and see how he nurses. Leave him with her and watch for at least 10 minutes to see if he really latches on and nurses well. For a goat that only means a minute or two. They nurse very frequently all day, which is why they don’t nurse for very long.
I just realized you wrote this three days ago. Sorry for the delay! I’ve been sick. Let me know how Louie and Mama are doing now!
They’re doing really well! Louie spends his days outside with mama, and I bring him in at night. I’m not sure if I need to do that still, but it’s unusually cold this week. In the mid 20’s at night. (I live in Ga). I’ve been giving him a 3 oz bottle in the morning and at around 10:30 at night another 3oz bottle, and letting him nurse during the day. I’m still milking the mama really good at night and then just enough to relieve the pressure in the morning. What do you recommend? Should I keep milking? Do you think I should put baby, mama and other 2 does in the goat pen at night. I have a heat lamp in there and a little hut they can go into. I hope you feel better!!
There’s no reason a healthy kid can’t stay outside when temperatures are in the 20s. Ours have even survived 20 below zero as long as they’re dry and out of the wind. So if you don’t bring him into the house, you definitely need to put them into the barn at night. As long as he is out of the wind, he does not need a heat lamp. (And a heat lamp won’t help if he is in the wind.)
Milk is all about supply and demand, so if you quit milking or milk less, she’ll supply less. Do you need less milk for his bottles or anything else that you want to use goat milk for? If you have any plans to milk her and use the goat milk, then you definitely need to keep milking. Otherwise you could wind up with a fat kid and very low milk supply. A single kid will demand as much as he can, but it’s not really that much compared to what a doe would need to produce for twins or more.
If you have a digital kitchen scale or a hanging scale, I’d suggest you start weighing him daily for several days to see what he’s gaining, and then you can play around with giving him less milk in a bottle and see if that slows down his weight gain. For example, if he’s gaining 8 ounces a day average over several days, and then you discontinue one bottle, and his weight gain drops to only 6 or 4 ounces a day, you know he needs that bottle. It sounds like he should do well with nursing, but there are no guarantees, so weighing him is the best option so that no one is guessing.
My other 2 does each had twins this week! I missed the birth by seconds:(. They are doing beautifully. My premie is outside full time now and doing really well. His mom is not very pleased with me milking her all of a sudden. I hadn’t had to restrain her to milk her. She’d just stand there and let Me milk her. Well, it turned into her walking around the pen while I was trying to milk her and me crawling around on my knees. So, I slacked off milking and she got really engorged. I put a collar on her and restrained her and milked her really good. She’s looking normal again. Her kid only nurses off of one side. I guess I will continue to milk her… at least the side not getting nursed on. I’m about to read the section in your book about what to do with goats milk. I’ve never really thought about drinking it, but I love goat cheese!! Thank you for all your help.
It’s a very rare doe that will just stand there and let you milk her after the first few days. If you are going to milk regularly, a milk stand will make the job much easier, and you can let the doe have her grain while you’re milking her.
You definitely want to milk the side the kid is not nursing on, or she will wind up very lopsided. Many years ago we wound up with a doe that was only producing on one side by the time the kid was a week old because we didn’t realize he was only nursing on one side.