whats the best milk replacer?

glasshousegoats · #1 04/17/12, 03:56 PM

We use Dumor milk replacer for goat kids. It works pretty well but I was wondering if anybody uses anything else that seems to have a better outcome as the kid gets older. Our other bottle kids who got the same milk replacer aren't as big as the others born around the same time...I was wondering if anybody had tips on preventing stunted/slow growth and good milk replacers?

Minelson · #2 04/17/12, 04:02 PM

I have a feeling everyone is going to say throw out the replacer and use whole milk from the grocery store....

Donna1982 · #3 04/17/12, 04:12 PM

We've never had luck with replacer. Mom used it a couple times when we first started in goats (like 10 years ago). The kids did not do well at all. We switched over to whole cows milk and they did so much better. Stronger, bigger , and healthier kids. Now this is when we had only Boers. Which meant the only reason we were raising them by bottle is because the mom couldn't/wouldn't take care of them.

Now we both (mom and myself) have dairy goats. So we use goats milk for any Boer babies that need to be bottle raised.

Dreamgoat Annie · #4 04/17/12, 04:17 PM

My friend Lori Olson works in management at Milk Specialties, a company that makes many of the milk replacers manufactured in the United States. She asked their lab people which is best and they said Advance. Lori sent me a big bag of Advance Kid Milk Replacer when I got Esme and Jimmy, so I'm mixing it 1/3 milk replacer to 2/3 whole milk for Milo and Jimmy but Esme cannot tolerate the slightest amount of replacer with her milk at all. I'd say goat milk is best (of course), followed by whole milk or one of the whole milk formulae, then a very good, species-specific replacer based on milk products, not soy.

Dreamgoat Annie · #5 04/17/12, 04:23 PM

I should add that we did use milk replacer for our lambs before we got goats. The old Land O'Lakes formula was very good (I even put it on our breakfast cereal) but Purina bought out Land O'Lakes and the formula must have changed because the lambs did not grow as well after Purina took over.

Now I feed lambs goat milk if we have it and whole milk from the store with the fat content upped a bit with cream or half & half (I experiment until I get it right for each individual lamb).

Sue

missythemom · #6 04/17/12, 04:24 PM

Yup, get rid of the replacer, and use whole milk from the grocery store

It actually works out to be cheaper (at least with the prices we have around here) and it is a lot better for them. (and you can mix goat and cow milk together with no problems)

Oat Bucket Farm · #7 04/17/12, 06:30 PM

Toss the replacer and use either goat milk or whole milk from the store.

Backfourty,MI. · #8 04/17/12, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oat Bucket Farm

Toss the replacer and use either goat milk or whole milk from the store.

This!

dbarjacres · #9 04/17/12, 07:31 PM

I've used Land O Lakes Does Match in the past a couple times with good results. However I tried it this year and had a buckling with hard poop - it looked like a pearl necklace and was just a continous string. I could pull off 10" and a few hours later there would be another 10"+. I was feeding a steer in fall 2011 Land O Lakes Cows Match and he pooped big logs that looked like dog poop. Made me think "hmmm" so I switched him to whole cow milk and w/in 12 hrs he had normal berries.

I'm doing whole milk, even tho I have to buy 6 gallons a week right now for 4 kids!

SpiderLegs · #10 04/17/12, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbarjacres

I'm doing whole milk, even tho I have to buy 6 gallons a week right now for 4 kids!

I'll trade ya. I buy 42 gal, every 3rd day here..... but I sell goats milk for $16 a gal, so I don't mind.

goatkid · #11 04/17/12, 11:32 PM

I agree with those who say to toss the replacer and feed whole cow's milk. The year we used replacer, out kids didn't grow out as well either. We only feed milk now.
.

Feisty Farm · #12 04/18/12, 06:35 AM

whole milk for sure!

praieri winds · #13 04/18/12, 09:36 AM

I also use whole milk from the store but I add a cup buttermilk for the culture and a can of reg evaporated milk to add fat and extra protein I am feeding 3 babies 4 bottles a day for now

glasshousegoats · #14 04/19/12, 05:14 PM

Thanks for the advice, I decided to do 1/2 milk replacer 1/2 whole milk for now. I talked to someone today who said the only time she's ever lost a kid while using formula was while using sav-a-kid and it died from bloat. I'm glad we aren't using sav-a-kid because I've never had any problems with DuMor except that they don't grow as well as kids who nurse off of their mothers.

I considered grafting but at this point they don't show an interest in nursing off of a teat

CaliannG · #15 04/19/12, 06:54 PM

Your kids are doing poorly because they are not getting the fat that they need.

DuMOR uses preserved animal fat in their milk replacer. Kids and lambs have trouble digesting animal fats because, well, they are not carnivores. (Animal fats in labeling are not the same as milk fats. If it says "animal fats", it means it was rendered from a carcass.)

People have kids die of bloat from using milk replacer because lactose does not break down during the drying process, this means that the lactose content is higher, in respect to the fats and enzymes that help to digest it, in reconstituted dry milk than it is in store bought cow's milk. High levels of lactose can cause bloat in lambs and kids, and therefore death.

I've looked at the "best" milk replacers and yes, really good milk replacers are out there. HOWEVER, once they are mixed up, the price comes out to between $3.48 a gallon to as much as $5.10 a gallon. At those prices, one might as well just buy whole milk from the store.

DuMOR is *not* a good milk replacer. It is basically one step up from Sav-a-Kid (Think they should be sued for false advertising in their name? I have known of more kids that died on Sav-a-Kid than any other milk replacer.) Advance is an excellent milk replacer, but it is pricey. Advance is one of the ones where you might as well just buy whole milk from the store.

You can get special stanchions to graft with. It hold the doe still, has feeders for food, water, and hay, and you can then teach the kids to nurse at leisure without having to fight the doe, and eventually the doe decides it is her kid. But they are pricey too.

We tend to go with whole milk from the store because it is the best, and cheapest, option available to folks that do not have a handy milk supply.