When, What, and How to Feed a Baby Goat
- naturaldaysfarm
- Jul 23, 2018
- 4 min read
When to Bottle Feed a Goat:
First 24 Hours:Colostrum from a mother (or other goat) if possible. If you don’t have fresh colostrum from a goat you can use Powdered colostrum. 1/4 cup every 2-4 hours for the first 24 hours. Then move to milk.
First week: approximately 4 oz of milk every 2-4 hours. I set alarms to make sure I am not missing or late on a feeding. I try to get them to the every 4 hour mark pretty quickly- usually by 4 days old or so. I do not like to bring them inside unless they are critical because they do better in the long run with their herd.
Weeks 2-4: approximately 5-6 ounces every 6 - 8 hours. I stretch them to 8 hours at night as fast as possible because I am not a fan of waking up at night to feed.
Weeks 4-5:At this point I have them on 3 feedings a day (morning, noon, evening) with each bottle being about 8 -10 oz depending on the size of the kid.
Weeks 5-6: Still at 3 feedings a day with 10 -12 oz in each bottle
Weeks 7-10: Give 2 bottles per day, in the morning and evening. Each bottle should have 10-15 ounces milk depending on the weight and appetite of the kid.
Weeks 10-12:Start reducing the amount of milk per bottle or go down to 1 bottle a day. The goal is to have them weaned completely by 12 weeks of age. I wean my bottles babies at 8-10 weeks, but this is a decision each owner has to make for themselves. Bottle feeding is a BIG commitment and at our farm we avoid it at all costs. We simply do not have the extra time to devote to feedings unless we absolutely have to. We have only had to bottle feed 2 goats so far and were lucky enough to be able to have them on the mom for the first 2 weeks. If you do have to bottle feed the amounts and timeline I have listed are just what has worked for us and our goats. There is no set standard, do what works for you and keeps your goats healthy and happy. It is always best to start with less and build up to what your goats seem to be healthy and thriving on. The biggest thing to remember when bottle feeding a goat is to always leave them wanting more as opposed to overfeeding. If the kid starts to play with the nipple they are done and you can reduce the amount of milk in the next bottle. If they start to scour reduce the amount of milk per bottle. You want their tummies full, but they should not be round and bloated.
Starting at birth there is always fresh clean water available. At about 2 weeks of age I give free choice hay. By 4 weeks of age I also offer a very small amount of grain morning and night. The babies will learn to drink water and eat the hay, grain, and graze from the older members of the herd that is why it is very important to keep them with their herd from the beginning.
What to Bottle Feed a Goat:
If possible we use raw goat milk to feed the babies, but if that is not an option this is the recipe we use as a milk replacer:
- 1 gallon of whole cow’s milk
- 1 cup cultured buttermilk (this is super easy to make just 1 C milk add 1 TBSP white vinegar or lemon juice, mix, let sit for about 10 minutes)
- 1 can of evaporated milk 1) pour out enough milk from the gallon to pour in the buttermilk and evaporated milk. 2) Use the milk you initially took out of the gallon to fill gallon to top.
3) shake gently before use
How to feed your baby goat:
1) First you need to prepare your bottle. Heat the amount of milk you need in a pot on the stove. Do NOT use a microwave as it destroys the health properties of the milk. This is especially important with colostrum. Watch it so it doesn't scald. You want the milk at about 104 degrees (a goats body temperature). If you don't have a thermometer you can use your best judgement. You want it comfortably warm, but not scalding.
2) Pour your milk into a bottle. You can use a normal baby bottle or an old soda or water bottle with a screw on pritchard nipple (these are what I use and have had the best luck with).
3) If this is the goat's first bottle they will most likely resist it and it will take several tries and a good amount of patience to get them eating well from them, especially if they have nursed off mom already. After the first couple bottles they will be sucking that milk down in no time at all. 4) You will need to hold the goat (usually under one arm) then use the second hand to open the kid's mouth and insert the bottle. Keep the bottle at an angle similar to what they would experience if nursing from mom. Again they will most likely struggle and resist at first. Squeezing milk in their mouth usually helps encourage them to suck. I have had much better luck getting the larger breeds to eat from bottles faster. My nigies are very slow to take to a bottle. Bottle feeding is a trial in patience. You will most likely need to try multiple times a day in order to finally get them to take a bottle. If a goat under a couple weeks old has gone a full day without eating anything you will need to consider taking them to a vet as they may start having issues with dehydration.
Happy Feeding!
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