Bottle Feeding Goats Whole Milk

Feed 4 times a day for the first week reducing the 3 times a day during week 2 and settle on 2 times per day when the kid is three weeks until weaning at three months of age.

Bottle feeding goats whole milk.

The reason is that they will eat and eat and they have extremely sensitive stomachs. If it s store bought just be sure it is whole milk. Allow the goat to take the milk naturally. Mix gently each time before making up a bottle.

Day 1 use this exclusively in all bottles day 2 give 1 2 this solution and half milk regular whole cows milk from the grocer day 3 give 2 3 milk and 1 3 this solution day 4 give all whole milk. If a baby goat can t consume much in the beginning i may need to give five bottles to get at least 10 body weight into the kid in 24 hours. When at all possible it s better for the kids to be left nursing from their mom. We do not recommend milk replacer.

Force feeding by opening a goat s mouth and squirting the milk in should no longer be necessary. Most people feed 4 5 times in 24 hours and you can usually go 7 8 hours overnight between bottles so it s about every 3 4 hours during the day. Sometimes however this isn t an option. If you feed them to where they are full and lack interest in their bottle then you ve fed them too much.

After a few days of regular bottle feeding your goat should take to the bottle without trouble. Recognize that this amount varies by sex and number of kids in the litter. If you do not we recommend whole cow s milk. Overfeeding is one of the largest risks of bottle feeding goats.

This will be a 4 day feeding process. The kids seem to grow well on it though i still prefer to use the powdered formula due to cost. Divide 15 oz by 4 feedings 3 75 oz per feeding. This is the total opposite of the way it is with human babies and can be quite confusing.

If bottle feeding a baby goat is necessary it s important not to over feed or feed the wrong formula. Once your goat understands what the bottle is for try to get it to suckle naturally. Round to the nearest whole ounce in this case 15 oz. Pour in the 1 can of evaporated milk and the 1 cup of buttermilk into the gallon then pour to the remaining milk that you set aside until you reach the top.