Question about weaning wethers

[LearningLife]

We have 2 8-week-old ND wethers who will have an amazing new home as soon as they're ready to go. They have been dam raised, as bottle feeding is just not a possibility with our schedules. The buyer is ready to take them, but I need to know that they are weaned and eating well before I let them go. We've tried for the past few days to see if they will switch to a bottle, and they wanted nothing to do with it. Their new owner is willing to wait until I'm satisfied that they're ready, but I need to know the best way to wean them and make sure that they'll be healthy. Right now, we're separating them for a few hours at a time, then allowing them to have a little bit of "mom time" before separating them again. While they're separated, they have all the hay they want and fresh water. Is this the best way to go about this? I'm not comfortable with suddenly forcing weaning this early. I know they need the milk a while longer, and it just seems mean. Any thoughts?

[luvzmybabz]

I had a dam raised buckling that had to be brought into the house for treatment and kept in the house for 5 days. He was about 2 1/2 months when I brought him in. I could not get him to take a bottle, however he would drink and I mean demolish milk in a bowl. So this is a possibility if they want to take the wethers now but you will need to cut back on the does milk yourself if you go this route. As we had to take over his part of the milk to help the dam out, as his twin was just not doing it all on her own.