Bottle feeding my baby goats question

[chickenlady08]

My baby goats Charlie and Grace will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I have had them since they were 1 week old and have been bottle feeding them. They are eating hay and goat feed but I am still giving them their milk replacer 4 times a day.

I know they are old enough for me to start weaning them from the bottle, but does anyone know the proper way to do this. They get a bottle first thing in the morning, one at lunch, one at dinner and one before bed. I was going to cut out one of the feedings during the day but not sure if this is the correct way to do it. Should I just decrease the amount they are getting at each feeding. I am giving them 9 oz per bottle and they look very healthy and happy and they are very loving as well.

Any help would be greatly appreaciated! Here is a picture of them from about 1 1/2 weeks ago.

 

[philter4]

My baby goats Charlie and Grace will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. I have had them since they were 1 week old and have been bottle feeding them. They are eating hay and goat feed but I am still giving them their milk replacer 4 times a day.

I know they are old enough for me to start weaning them from the bottle, but does anyone know the proper way to do this. They get a bottle first thing in the morning, one at lunch, one at dinner and one before bed. I was going to cut out one of the feedings during the day but not sure if this is the correct way to do it. Should I just decrease the amount they are getting at each feeding. I am giving them 9 oz per bottle and they look very healthy and happy and they are very loving as well.

Any help would be greatly appreaciated! Here is a picture of them from about 1 1/2 weeks ago.

I raised a pair of orphaned wild goats that were born in January, I started cutting back the amount of milk at 5 weeks and they were off the bottle (except as a treat with warm water) by the time they were 7 weeks old. Not sure if that is the normal age but that was what I was told was how I should do it from a breeder who raises meat and milk goats.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

They should be weaned between 8-10 weeks old, make sure they have free choice hay and water. You start at about 6 weeks, taking away one bottle feeding each week....by week 10 you can take away there last bottle. By then they will be eating hay and feed and no longer in need of the bottle.
Good luck, they are so cute!

 

[flgardengirl]

Just wanted to say your goats are sooo cute!!

 

[shadowpaints]

what we do, is by the time they are 3 weeks old they are on 2 bottles a day. one am one pm

at 6 weeks we cut the amount of milk the bottle in half (for big goats they are getting a 1 liter bottle 2x a day) and add water and gradually decrease the amount of milk till at 7 weeks they are only drinking water. so, once they are only on water, we switch to just one PM bottle (this is also when we move them out of the back yard in with the other young goats then at 8 weeks, we gradually decrease the amount of water in the bottle. by nine weeks they are weaned ! we do feed a 4 way mix, and keep a protien block available at all times.

 

[chickenlady08]

Just wanted to say your goats are sooo cute!!

Thank you flgardengirl. I think they are too, but I am supposed to think that. But they are just so sweet and lovable.

 

[chickenlady08]

They should be weaned between 8-10 weeks old, make sure they have free choice hay and water. You start at about 6 weeks, taking away one bottle feeding each week....by week 10 you can take away there last bottle. By then they will be eating hay and feed and no longer in need of the bottle.
Good luck, they are so cute!

Thank you Domestic_goddess
I have cut one bottle feeding out last week, this week I will take one more away and that will leave them with a morning bottle and an evening bottle.
So maybe by about the week mark they will almost be weaned. Bad thing is is that I am going to need to buy another bag of milk replacer to get me through. I didn't want to buy a whole bag to use for a short time, but I will if I need to. Thanks again!

 

[chickenlady08]

what we do, is by the time they are 3 weeks old they are on 2 bottles a day. one am one pm

at 6 weeks we cut the amount of milk the bottle in half (for big goats they are getting a 1 liter bottle 2x a day) and add water and gradually decrease the amount of milk till at 7 weeks they are only drinking water. so, once they are only on water, we switch to just one PM bottle (this is also when we move them out of the back yard in with the other young goats then at 8 weeks, we gradually decrease the amount of water in the bottle. by nine weeks they are weaned ! we do feed a 4 way mix, and keep a protien block available at all times.

I am a little behind schedule then. lol but I have never had to feed baby goats before and I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want to stop. But they are starting to get pretty rough with the bottle and knocking it out of my hand and just being little kids. lol... I will hopefully have them weaned by 10-11 weeks maybe even 12 weeks. They enjoy it so much to cuddle with me before and after feedings, it kinda makes me sad to stop, but they need to. They are eating food and hay daily so I know they are going to be just fine. Thanks again!

 

[Stacykins]

I am a little behind schedule then. lol but I have never had to feed baby goats before and I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want to stop. But they are starting to get pretty rough with the bottle and knocking it out of my hand and just being little kids. lol... I will hopefully have them weaned by 10-11 weeks maybe even 12 weeks. They enjoy it so much to cuddle with me before and after feedings, it kinda makes me sad to stop, but they need to. They are eating food and hay daily so I know they are going to be just fine. Thanks again!

A LOT of people wean them at 10-12 weeks. 8 weeks is the earliest they can be weaned. So you aren't behind schedule at all, since everybody does it differently.

 

[philter4]

Quote: A LOT of people wean them at 10-12 weeks. 8 weeks is the earliest they can be weaned. So you aren't behind schedule at all, since everybody does it differently.

I wouldn't worry about being "behind" schedule, but 8 weeks is not the earliest they can be weaned. I had twins born in Jan, the mother died when they were 4 days old and we had them off the bottles at 7 weeks. They are now out in the lower pen and growing into fantastic pets, the parents were wild ( feral) but these guys think they are puppies and love people.