Bottle feeding?

FrogTacos · #21 08/26/12, 08:29 AM

Ive always found that (for me anyway) the easiest way to heat bottles is in a pot or container under the hottest running tap water I can get. With a little practice you quickly learn how long it takes to heat a refrigerated bottle to the proper temp. A quick shake evens out the temp of the milk.

NONE of my bottle babies ever got a bottle between 11pm and 7am. There is no need to lose sleep - unless there is something problematic with the health of the goat that requires more checks.

Backfourty,MI. · #22 08/26/12, 09:33 AM

What a little Angel!! She's going to end up your favorite I bet!
Wish I could help on the bottle feeding but I prefer to dam raise so I don't bottle unless I absolutely have too!

silverseeds · #23 08/26/12, 11:46 AM

So far shes only taking about 2-3 ounces at a feeding. she did seem to take well to it overall though. She is a bit freaked out though, but I guess that is to be expected since she is so young. I never would have guessed goats this young were for sale! Kinda stinks because apparently this breeder always sells them that young and she seems to be about the only source for good milk lines around here. they dont always sell this young, but when Im trying to piece together the best ones I can find, Id hate to put it off in case someone else grabs one I want.

ozark_jewels · #24 08/26/12, 12:36 PM

Its very common and excepted in dairy goat and dairy cow circles to sell bottle baby breeding stock at under a month old. I personally like to sell all my breeding stock kids between two and four weeks old.
But it can be a shock to those not accustomed to the idea.

Its the opposite of meat goats and beef cattle. Because the goals are different. One goal is milk, the other is meat. So in beef/meat operations, bottle babies are undesirable. While in dairy operations, most kids/calves are raised on bottles, thus easily sold whenever is best for the seller. The owner of the dam can use all the milk they need.
Bottle babies are awesome!

CaliannG · #25 08/26/12, 02:08 PM

I'm with Emily, I prefer to sell my babies between 2 and 4 weeks old as bottle babies.

There are multiple reasons for that. I takes about 2-4 weeks to clear the colostrum out of the dams milk. So, without babies to feed, since I don't like the taste of colostrum, it would be wasted anyway. It is better for it to go into the babies and boost their immune system.

At 2-4 weeks, feedings have gone down to 3x per day, which is easier for a new owner to handle than the 4-5x per day feedings. I can also be sure that they are healthy, and have had their first round of cocci prevention, etc.

That being said, some folks sell their babies at 2 days old, just as soon as that 24 hour period has passed where they are no longer able to directly absorb colostrum.

I, along with a lot of dairy people, pull kids at birth. There are many solid, economic reasons for doing so: CAE prevention (feeding kids only *pasteurized* milk to prevent disease), ease of milking, use and need of milk, etc. However, I have to say that my, particular reasons for pulling kids at birth and bottle raising them are purely and unashamedly emotional:

I hate the sound of their dams crying for their babies when I sell them off at a month old or so. They bleat, and cry, and scream looking for that baby, and it breaks my heart. So, I pull at birth, and the dams never get a chance to bond with the kids, so they never experience grief later on when the kids are sold. Yeah, I know, I am overly emotional, anthropomorphizing, and all of that stuff. I don't care.