bottle feeding with goat milk

madness · #1 10/01/11, 05:48 PM

I'm working up a scheme with a friend to give some of our goat milk to give her new bottle calf. She's never bottled raised anything and I've only done goats. He's 4 days old and she's been feeding formula and just doesn't think it's right. We have a goat who's milk tastes bitter to us and our goat babies are weaned so we were thinking of drying her off but want to see if it would work to feed the calf.

So we have some questions.

She is currently feeding formula - how do you switch?

Our goat produces about 5 quarts a day and she is currently feeding 6 quarts (its a black angus ~150 lbs calf). Should she supplement the goat milk with some formula or just drop the feed amount? We may be able to supply her with an additional quart from another goat but wanted to avoid this since we can use everyone else's for making and selling cheese.

Anything else we should know?

Thanks!

francismilker · #2 10/01/11, 05:55 PM

You're probably going to need to address Topside1 on this question. He's been doing it for years and is quite successful at it. I think it's a gradual swith by mixing the two types of milk together but I'm not sure what his formula is.

topside1 · #3 10/01/11, 07:11 PM

Madness, here's my advice. Just switch him over but cut the current intake (amount) in half and gradually increase the goats milk per day....Not many 4 day old Angus calves weigh 150 pounds, more like 80 pounds, so I hope your friend is not over feeding. Six quarts seem excessive to me. I've bottle raised roughly 80 calves now and I've never fed more than a gallon of milk to any calf under 30 days of age. Two died out of 80, so I must be doing something right. Don't mix, just switch over and please don't overfeed, they always want more....Topside

madness · #4 10/01/11, 07:53 PM

The calf is exceptionally large but if 'regular' is 80 lbs, maybe he's only 100-115 or something.

I was just over there for his 3rd 2 quart feeding of the day. He didn't want it. Otherwise acting ok. Hopefully that is just because he was being overfed.

So feed him:

Day 1: 3 quarts
Day 2: 3 quarts + 1 cup
Day 3: 3 quarts + 2 cups
Day 4: 3 quarts + 3 cups
Day 5: 4 quarts

And then maybe a few more cups if he is extra big? Our goat is producing just over a gallon a day (by a cup or two) so that might work out well.

topside1 · #5 10/01/11, 08:00 PM

That schedule sounds fine...the reason he's not eating is because he does not feel well. Don't want to sound the alarm but that's the only reason a calf stops eating. Don't feed him anymore tonight, get him hungry and hopefully he'll come around. Calves will eat until they get sick, then stop eating altogether...Give him a few more cups once he's more than a month old...Wanting him to grow may just kill him....Topside

mary,tx · #6 10/03/11, 05:36 PM

If your goat is eating ragweed, that is what is causing the milk to be bitter.

madness · #7 10/03/11, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mary,tx

If your goat is eating ragweed, that is what is causing the milk to be bitter.

Oh boy, have we tried EVERYTHING to make this goat's milk taste good. They are dry lotted (because of the drought) and everything they eat is brought it. No one else's milk tastes bad. We've copper bolused, played with feed changes, etc, etc. No luck!!! Her milk was fine the last two years. Very odd.

The calf is eating fine again. I haven't been over but all sounds well. I'll let you know how things progress with the milk intake.

topside1 · #8 10/03/11, 06:57 PM

Marissa, I'm sure you know that quick chilling is the key to enjoying goats milk....Glad to hear the calf is responding well to it's new milk and routine...Topside

pookshollow · #9 10/03/11, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madness

Oh boy, have we tried EVERYTHING to make this goat's milk taste good. They are dry lotted (because of the drought) and everything they eat is brought it. No one else's milk tastes bad. We've copper bolused, played with feed changes, etc, etc. No luck!!! Her milk was fine the last two years. Very odd.

The calf is eating fine again. I haven't been over but all sounds well. I'll let you know how things progress with the milk intake.

Could be cobalt deficiency in your goat. Try giving her some Vit B12 in her feed - I use the stuff from the tack store, meant for horses. About a tsp per day.