Am I feeding them right?

I have two Saanen babies who are 11 weeks and 9 weeks. They get 24 ounces of milk in the AM and the same amount in the PM. They get a scoop of sweet feed daily and every 3-4 days a scoop of alfalfa. They also have a pasture to browse.

Am I feeding them right? At what age do I ween? Do I decrease the amount of milk or let them decide when enough is enough?

[billooo2]

I think that most people wean between 8 and 12 weeks.

What's funny is that my doeling is 11 weeks and she sucks down her bottle in record time. The buckling is younger and pokes around while taking his bottle. It sometimes takes him twice as long to get done drinking his bottle! If I'm not careful she'll try to get whatever he didn't drink! I call her my "Piggy Goat"!

Is it time to start feeding them bits of salad and rinds that we don't eat? Today we had watermellon and I was tempted to toss them in and see if the goats liked them. We also had a small handful of lettuce from the bagged salad that I wanted to feed them, too. Would that make their tummy go haywire?

[goatkid]

I feed my babies milk until they are 4-5 months old. This way, they are big enoughto breed in late fall or early winter. For grain, I feed goat developer pellets. I also feed alfalfa hay. If you have plenty of browse for them, they should be OK being free fed alfalfa pellets.

[Chaty]

I agree with goatkid...the longer you can give them milk the better for them. I have 6 that I am bottlefeeding and some are 4 mths old but still want the bottle. They are getting fed 2x a day same amount. Some are pigs on the bottle and some are slower. If you want them to grow then give them milk till they are close to 5 mths. Its the best thing for them since they are large dairy goats. I dont know about the rinds as it might give them the scours and upset their tummies. Browse is better for them in the long run.