Bottle baby question

[BucksCtyCowgirl]

We have 2 Nigerians Dwarf does (sisters), one of whom is due to kid mid-May. We are planning to bottlefeed the kids. Sooner or later, I want the babies to return to the goat pasture with the 2 older does. How long do I have to keep the kids separate from their Mom? If I return them to the the goat barn/pasture where their mom is, will she recognize them and try to mother them? Since they will be bottle fed, I assume they won't try to nurse her.

[rhjacobi]

Once the mom is dry, you could return them to their mom and still bottle feed them. They will still look to you for their bottle since they are used to that and mom won't be able to nurse them. The good thing about any bond with mom is that the little ones have someone looking out for them and an adult for them to follow/turn to. If there is no bond remaining with mom when you put real young ones back, I would observe closely to make sure that all goes well. If there is another doe that is nursing at the time, quite often bottle babies are bold and will try to sneak a drink from another mom. This can get them into a bit of trouble until they learn that the other mom is going to strongly suggest that they don't do that anymore.

Bob
Lynchburg, TN.

Originally Posted by BucksCtyCowgirl

We have 2 Nigerians Dwarf does (sisters), one of whom is due to kid mid-May. We are planning to bottlefeed the kids. Sooner or later, I want the babies to return to the goat pasture with the 2 older does. How long do I have to keep the kids separate from their Mom? If I return them to the the goat barn/pasture where their mom is, will she recognize them and try to mother them? Since they will be bottle fed, I assume they won't try to nurse her.

[Ksar]

Hi BuckCityCowgirl

Once you take the babies away, will you milk mom or use replacer?

If you plan to use replacer mom will not take them back after a couple of bottles of that milk. Mom reconizes babes by smell, the smell of the poop tells her those are her kids. Once the replacer comes out the other end mom 8 out of 10 times will not have anything to do with them. Also if you just let them have their fill of colostrum and then milk out more for later, and remove them for a couple of days,a week, mom wont remember that she had them, especially a first time mom. But be careful if Mom has horns, she will hook the kids, and butt them. Had one doe that almost broke a babes neck, baby got stuck between the horns and wasn't an hour old being slung around like a rag doll.

Can I ask why you want to bottle feed them?

Kathy

[dscott7972]

I've had 14 kids this year, milked all the does after kidding, bottle fed the kids and have put them all back into the goat yard just recently after I quite bottle feeding them, about 7-8 weeks. None have tried to nurse their mothers.

[TWOGOATS]

My goat Cinnamon was a very good mother; ie, licked the kids, Sandy and Daisy,didn't favor one, watched where she stepped. Only once, she stepped on the very tip of the tail of one of them, that baby screamed at her until she took her foot off. Anyways, we left the babies overnight, because Cinn was CAE free. After that, we bottlefed, bringing out a baby every time we milked, so Cinn would remember them. We kept taking Daisy out cause she was smaller, easier to carry, she remembered that goat was mom, wouldn't drink her bottle willingly. :no: (BTW, Daisy is doing fine now, drinks more than Sandy) So we switched goats, now Sandy is going out there. Sandy hadn't remembered that goat was mom, cause she hadn't seen her for several days. So that worked out. Now, at 2 weeks, the babies hang out with mom in big goat pen during the day, not a problem cause the only other goat there is scared of them, :haha: :haha: thinks they are dogs or something. 2 1/2 weeks, babies sleep out there instead of in my room. :waa: :waa: Perfect scenario; babies think I am mom, Cinn thinks they are her babies and gives them the royal treatment.

Just thought I'd put in my two cents of meager experience.

[Milking Mom]

I have 3, 8 week old kids that I have bottle fed since birth and they are in the pasture with their mom and they do not try to nurse.

[rlatta]

We are bottle feeding a llamancha/Boer baby and put him back in the pasture after 3 weeks.
We have not had any problems with him nursing.