doeling needs to get off of the bottle (I think)

[kasilofhome]

This doeling is 3 month ish and will not or can not drink from a dish. All the others drink from the bucket not her. Not one drop she see the other she goes to it looks as it and stands there.

Yes, we give her the bottle we have tried delaying it to get her interested in the water (note last week we have gone to just water in the bottles) She eats fine.

Now it is not that she is drinking and we are not seeing it DH is disabled he is with the animals all the time. She even sleeps with him (she is tiny and she well behaved and ok I know it is different) But we are keeping our eye on her to make sure she drinks. (she is a runt --youngest out of 70 babies from where we got her so she needed some special care--she carries the blood lines we want)

has any one ever had a goat that would only drink from a bottle?

[lasergrl]

how about training her to a lambar with water in it?

[TennesseeMama23]

She should still be getting a bottle if she is small. Give her milk in a bottle and don't worry about her not getting water, don't give her bottles of water.

Just because she is 3 months old doesn't mean she needs to be weaned, go by weight not age.

[kasilofhome]

Because she has NO interest in the bucket we are very worried that she will be on the bottle while on the milking stand. She has real personality and is a real sweetheart she is really like a 'kid' she seems very smart. It is just this need of the bottle of her's. She eats very well and is growing. Maybe she is just stubburn like a goat. Her looks at us when a pan of clean fresh water is placed before her is quite entertaining ---she just looks at us and nothing but us after one look at the pan. It is as if she is royal and we are to do her bidding. Very fitting of her name "Princess".

Thanks for the support.

[DownHome]

have you tried putting her milk in a bowl. It took our "slowest" one about 3 days to figure it out.

[Alice In TX/MO]

"we are very worried that she will be on the bottle while on the milking stand."

I told my sons not to be so worried about potty training and ditching the pacifier. They won't be using diapers or the pacifier when they go off to kindergarten.

The same philosophy applies to goats. Let the special ones mature at their own rate. She'll figure it out.

[mygoat]

I also second that she still be on milk, if she's the 'runt'. I plan on feeding my non-runt doelings till they are 3.5 or 4 months of age, as I believe it helps them to grow and I'll have a better chance of getting large doelings that I will be able to breed this winter.

[kasilofhome]

My worry is not in milk vs water. it is how it is consumed. She will look at the dish of milk stand there for looking at us stamp her frount hoof down and stare at us.

Oh, and my son did wear diapers to school. (special aid did the changing---he did get out of them later like mid year in kindergarden)

But I see that I wrote Milk in her dish there was a dish with water a dish with milk and after a few minutes the nipple was dropped in milk dish and she looked at it and then back to dh.

At what age should I worry about her not drinking out of a dish. I am getting worried as I will have some one caring for the animals May 11 thru May 14 and they will stay here but they have a reg outside job. I can not bring the goat with me to the hospital---- would she be ok getting a bottle just 2 times a day? she normal comes up to one of us (she has us trained --we were quick learners) stamps that hoof down and stares at up at us. She will do this about 5 times 3 times normally she will down the whole 12 ozs and then about 2 or 3 times she opts only to have maybe 6 oz.

[TennesseeMama23]

She will do great getting 2 bottles (of milk) a day. I promise you she will drink water out of a bowl if she really needs any, just keep some available to her. She knows if she needs any or not. Goats are smart animals. It sounds like she is healthy.

If you have wormed her, cocci treated her, and she is growing good you will have good healthy goat to milk one day.

[Eunice]

I have one milking goat that would like to drink her milk after I milk her- and she is the only one that I ever fed from a bucket rather than a bottle. I used to bottle or the equivalent of a lamb bar all my kids, other than Lollipop. Now I am not around as much because of work and leave the babies on their moms until weaning. I doubt that the mom raised kids would have a clue to find milk in a bucket and drink it, but Lollipop has to check every bucket out. My kids get free choice water so I really never new who learned to drink water at what stage. They are just all healthy kids.

[kasilofhome]

Thanks --I just was getting worried as she is very dear to my dh. When he gets back fro surgery he has to stay still for a while and he has mentioned that his little "princess can keep him company. Dh has a way with animals it would be real sad if while we were go the little one got ill due to lack of drinking. A major reason for starting to get animals is the effect that they have on dh.

I call her the runt because date wise she was the last kid born on the farm of 70 babies this year. When I picked the kids to get and she was one the breeder held the group I pick till this baby one was old enough to leave there is some age differing between the doelings ranging almost 2 months. Thus I call her the runt of the bunch

[Corky]

My preemie is going to be on the bottle till at least 4 months unless she is eating well and has gained as much as the others that were bigger.
Right now she is doing very well even though she is only one month old.
She weighs 17 lbs and that is exactly what the smaller of the twins weighed at one month. they were 8 and 10 lbs when born. The little one was under 6 lbs.

She drinks water but has no interest in grain at all yet.
No hurry to wean.
My best milker nursed her dam right up till time for her to deliver herself.

The only time I wean early is if I am paying for store bought milk. Then never till they are eating grain and hay well. Also never before two months old.

I do have a doe that is weaning her kids now and they are just two months old.
They are eating well but I still hold her leg and let them nurse while she is on the milk stand twice a day. Her and I don't agree on this at all.