Separating bucklings from mamma

[Kathy'sKID]

We have three that are now two months old and needing to be separated. They have been nursing off momma from the beginning except at night. We have been separating them for a few hours in the afternoons for a week now but it's time to totally separate them. My question is do I need to give them bottles? If so, how many with how much milk and for how long?

[moosemaniac]

Gosh, I started weaning all my kids from the bottle at 8 weeks. Shouldn't be a problem to start weaning right away.

Ruth

[Goat Freak]

Nope to the bottle, they will eventually get used to the idea. I don't really have any real first hand experience with this, ours get weaned by the mama, one let hers nurse for 4 months the other only let hers nurse for 2 months then on and off for a month. I quess we will have to find out what our many new girls are like, uhhh. Good luck to ya, I just remembered we actually had to take a boy off his mama all at once and he cried for 3 weeks and just stopped gradually. Well good luck, Bye.

[GoatsRus]

I seperate mine at two months with no problems. They cry a little for the first few days, but then get over it. I only let they have babies in the spring so that they have plenty to eat and don't need the extra mother's milk.

[1sttimemom]

I'm not very experienced at all with this, but I have to tell you I left a nubian buckling on his mother too long one time. He ended up breeding not only his mother but their pygmy pen mate too! I didn't know he had bred them & the pygmy looked like she was just really getting fat. A few days later she had 2 very healthy little kids. She raised them up fine, altho I wouldn't suggest breeding a large buck to a very small purebred pygmy! His mother had triplets from that breeding!

[Goat Freak]

1sttimemom, were the triplets healthy as well? Just curious.