How much milk?

[fishhead]

Has anyone ever figured out how many gallons of milk it takes to get a newborn kid to weaning?

[Eunice]

I can raise my bottle babies on a quart of milk a day and a good starter feed. I don't like to wean until three months, which is about ninety days. That would figure out to 22.5 gallons. I would call that a minimum. The kids get more milk when I don't have time to make cheese, and a few don't get weaned until later.

[LomahAcres]

Depends on the kid and feeding management. For me, Rough estimate: 25 - 65 gallons. Low end would be mini breed bucks, high end, standard breed slow growing doe kid. Weaned anywhere from 4 - 6 months of age.

[susanne]

i have similar numbers to kelly. a doe kid here drinks about 1/2 gallon per day. i don't feed replacer or feed starter. only milk grass hay and alfa pellets. no grain either. i have not figured out the amount of alfa or hay yet.

[fishhead]

It sounds like it would be a safe bet to figure a minimum of 25 gallons per kid. That's a lot of milk! Even if you could get outdated milk for a buck a gallon there wouldn't be much profit in raising free bottle babies for meat on browse.