Bottle Feeding question

[Obe-Willow]

Hi Everyone,
I have my first doe due on Thursday (Jan. 29th), Yay! This year I have decided to bottle feed all of my kids.
Now my question is, when do you take the kids away? I thought that you take the kids away as soon as they are born, and do not even let the mom lick them off so that they don't get attached to each other, and the kids accept you as mom. My mom thinks that you should let the doe lick the kids off and let them drink colostrum. then take the kids away.
Which one of us is right?

We are not doing this for CAE prevention but to have friendlier milking does. We have been doing dam raised with the babies locked up at night and moms milked in the morning with moms and kids socializing during the day. Even though we spent a lot of time with the kids, they were still half wild and we are sick of chasing does down. So we have decided to bottle raise, but my family does not agree with me about when to pull the kids.

Thank You!
~Marisa~
ps: I promise their will be pics when they are born!

[goatkid]

When you leave the kids on the dam, it can be more difficult to train them to the bottle. Since you plan to bottle feed them all, I'd just pull them right away. If your does are semi wild, this should also make it easier for you to turn them into tame does. The kids will think you're their mom and the does will think you're their kid. If you are planning to sell some of the kids, it would be to your benefit to heat treat the colostrum and pasteurize the milk. I always pasteurize when I feed pooled milk to the kids. So far, my does have tested CAE negative, but if one were to seroconvert, I'd hate to think her milk contaminated a whole year's kid crop.

[GoldenWood Farm]

Hey Marisa,

With my kids I pull them right at birth. Mom doesn't see them, hear them, or clean them. I become Mom's baby and also the babies Mom. After the doe is done birthing I run the babies inside whip up some molasses water for momma, take that out to her then I milk her almost all the way out leaving a bit in her udder, run back in and feed the hungry kids their first bottle.

We have let does keep babies before for 8-12 hours only because they where born at night and my mom didn't want to deal with them so she pulled them in the morning. It was harder on mom and babies only because mom had gotten bonded to them although putting the kids on the bottle wasn't horrible just took a bit longer than kids pulled right at birth. I just think all around it is MUCH easier to pull at birth for the kids and the does and you.

But it really comes down to how you want to do it LOL. I recommend pulling at birth though.

Justine

[hoofinitnorth]

Repost from HT's eaten posts:

If you aren't doing any health prevention, it's pretty much up to you. I've been told it's hard to get a kid to nurse from a bottle after they've had the teat, but I think it's just plain hard with some either way. Make sure they get the colostrum right away, even if you bottle-feed them for it.

I have not found that bottle babies are any more or less friendly than dam-raised kids - you just have to spend time with all the kids to get them to accept you. Some have different personalities anyway and just don't *like* people, but will tolerate them as needed. Some always love people and seem to be born ready to be your pal. The only thing I noticed when I bottle-fed my kids for show time only was that they got PUSHY. Little stinkers!

[Madfarmer]

Not a lot of experience, but the one set I bottle-raised were clean & dry by the time I found them, and their mother wasn't a first-freshener. It wasn't too difficult to get them to take a bottle. Usually you can put some milk on your fingers & get them licking.

Madfarmer

[4h farmer]

my 8 year old always takes her kids away right away as she bottle feeds them she will milk the doe out for the colostrum she even cleans them off so i think taking them right away and you being the mom just make sure u milk the doe out twice a day for the first two days and i guess you know that for the first week you can't drink her milk but if you are bottle feeding then u should be milking two times aday anyways

[4h farmer]

as for whos right i feel you are the more they nurse the harder it will be for the kid and you to get to the bottle remove right at birth but make sure u milk asp to keep the kids body heat up and to get the colostrum in to the new born