Goats and their KIDS -- Bottle Feed or leave with Mama ? Pros/Cons?

[Bedste]

I am brand new to goats and I am trying to decide whether to bottle feed or not when my Goat Honey kids. What are the pros and cons to bottle feeding? What are the pros and cons to leaving them with their mama? THANKS for anything you can tell me about your own experiences.

 

[allanimals21]

Most people don't bottle feed unless they have to. For example alot of breeders I know don't bottle feed unless something is wrong with momma, momma just refuses to feed them or there are triplets they pull one. Bottle babies are fun. They are usually alot more tame and friendly. My bottle baby is gonna be 2 this week and he would rather be with me than the other goats. Which is nice but can also be a problem. Billy didn't learn proper goat manners and didn't do so well with his first friend in the begining. He was scared of her. He also tends to be a little over friendly. He thinks hes a dog and will rub on you try and sit on your lap and what not. Which was all good and cool when he was like 10-15 pounds. Now that hes pushing 110-115 not so cute. So you want to be careful as always what you let them get away with as babies. Bottle feeding you have to be there every feeding. With mine I had to have family feed him through the day while I worked. Not exactly sure how often. I've heard different but I fed Billy roughly every 4 hours throughout the day. He would go through the night without a bottle. That was the first few weeks. Once I got him to drink water and eat solids I weaned him down to 2 bottles a day. One before I went to work and one before I went to bed. I'm trying to think at what age I switched this all. I remember him being weaned early though. I'd say the every 4 hours was the first 3 weeks? Maybe 4? It kind of depends on the kid too. I guess not all of them will eat the same amount as often. Thats just my experience.

I'm sure I will remember more....give me time! LOL If you have any other questions you can PM me too.

 

[Bedste]

wow thank you ....that is a lot of information. Honey is expecting and we are not sure how far along she is. Her previous owner had them in a field with the herd and many pregnant ones... so she does not know when she was bred . I do not know how to tell either....so I am keeping an eye on her..... Her udder is filling up slowly... she is not bulging yet...

 

[glenolam]

Many people who bottle feed kids do so for a number of reasons -

1) they want to sell the kids faster. Many buyers will enjoy the fact that they can bring the kids home minutes or days after birth and bottle feed them.
2) The seller gets more goat milk for themselves as whomever is bottle feeding can actually regulate how much the kids get at each feeding. Kids that are dam raised take ALL the milk they want so the breeder/seller usually has to wait until the kids are at least 2 weeks old to start milking. Then they separate the kids at night and milk the doe in the morning.
3) They want to prevent the spread of CAE which is passed from the mother to the kids via the milk and teats. Does who are CAE positive must have their milk pasturized before it can be safely given to the kids.
4) People THINK that just because a kid is bottle fed they are much more tame and people friendly. I disagree, but many don't.

People who dam raise do so for many reasons too -

1) There's no bothering with getting up at random hours of the night to feed. The doe takes care of it all.
2) The kids get accustomed to living with the herd and learn what they can/can't eat as far as forage from their mother.
3) The breeder knows their does are CAE- or at least think their herd is healthy enough to support the kids
4) It's just easier when the people at the farm work elsewhere other than the farm. You don't have to find someone to come and bottle feed if you have to be away for 12 hours.

 

[Haviris2]

This really depends on you. If you plan to milk it may be something to consider. Bottle raised kids are friendly, however dam raised kids can be just as friendly if you take the time to spend making them that way. Kids on a bottle can be sold alot sooner (good if you are milking), but you have to be more careful that you sell to people that are prepared for the extra work of a bottle baby (and don't take their word for it, alot of people do not know what they are getting into), and YOU will have to be prepared for the extra work of a bottle baby (although, unless they are really weak or something there is no need to feed through the night). Your fencing needs to be extra good to, I've found bottle babies tend to be harder to keep penned (they want to be w/ there mom, you). They won't have any trouble learning goat behavior as long as there are atleast two, or they are kept w/ the herd. Currently I have four on bottles (and three others that were already weaned this year, and I think weaning bottle babies is easier then weaning dam raised if done right). The girls are nearly 8 weeks old, they browse some w/ the herd and spend the rest of the time on the porch (waiting for bottles), the boys are 3 weeks and spend more time out w/ their mom, and just come up for bottles and sleep on the porch w/ the girls at night. Now my older three were born in Dec. and Jan. so didn't spend as much time w/ the herd as the others (didn't help that some of the girls liked to knock them around), so they are their own little herd right now, but that won't last, by next breeding season they will all be together (happens every year).

I don't bottle raise all, I like to bottle raise keepers, and I'll put kids on bottles for buyers (as long as they reserve them before they are born). Then there are others that end up on bottles for one reason or another. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, right now I've been bottle feeding since Dec. and I'll be really glad for a break!