Kid Concerns

bethh

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bethh

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They should have pelleted poo. I recommend getting some powdered goat probiotics and putting it in their bottle.
You can try some chopped hay- This is very good stuff... pricey but good.

https://ateraknutrition.com/products-and-services
Metabolic Miracle

View attachment 61364

Here’s my update—-

Brought poop sample to vet and it was clear. No parasites. I spoke with Allie at Aterak Nutrition and she recommended
Duration because of the girls ages. I’ve ordered it. Vet tech said to try a goat milk supplement to see if that helps the poop and I could start weaning them.
 

Southern by choice

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Here’s my update—-

Brought poop sample to vet and it was clear. No parasites. I spoke with Allie at Aterak Nutrition and she recommended
Duration because of the girls ages. I’ve ordered it. Vet tech said to try a goat milk supplement to see if that helps the poop and I could start weaning them.
They absolutely cannot be weaned at 4 weeks of age. If anything I would try just regular whole cows milk. I know you are using organic. There are hormones or antibiotuics in the whole milk but it is fortified with Vitamin D and A I think.

Is this a goat vet and did they look for coccidia? I doubt the kid has any, just wondering.
The formula will make it worse.

How much do they weigh?
 

bethh

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They absolutely cannot be weaned at 4 weeks of age. If anything I would try just regular whole cows milk. I know you are using organic. There are hormones or antibiotuics in the whole milk but it is fortified with Vitamin D and A I think.

Is this a goat vet and did they look for coccidia? I doubt the kid has any, just wondering.
The formula will make it worse.

How much do they weigh?
They weigh 8.4lbs. I’m not going to wean them. They said nothing showed up and since they treat goats, I figured they covered everything. I also spoke to another goat vet and she recommended changing to goat milk replacer because she said that some goats can’t tolerate cows milk. They have been drinking whole cows milk. She also suggested giving them some electrolytes. I will keep an eye on them and if no improvement take them in.
 

Southern by choice

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We bottle feed. Of course we are using the goats milk from their dams, but we always transition to whole cows milk when they are going to a home that doesn't already have goats milk. We have found it is better on the goats than any formula.
Of course you can try it, maybe it will work for you. Most goat breeders use cows milk instead or replacer because replacers seem great for sheep but for some reason it is usually a fail for kids. IDK.
It's worth a try.
Did the kids get colostrum from their dam?

The reason I recommended the Metabolic Miracle is because it has all the best nutrients for the kids. The Duration doesn't.
All those vitamins- they need all those, which the other does not have. The vitamins, the zinc, the copper, selenium. the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio.
You only want to put a handful in a bowl and let them start nibbling then after really doing well and you have them eating hay you can keep this as a supplement given everyday (like a treat)
At that point you could have just gotten chopped hay from TSC.
We use the Metabolic Miracle for our baby goats. They start nibbling at 2 weeks.
 

Ridgetop

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What breed are these goats? I forgot what bethh has. Did they get their CDT shots yet?

We bottle fed all our kids because we were on a strict CAE prevention and testing program. The goat kids' poop was very soft (but not diahrea) until they were eating hay. Is the white discharge mucuous? After the first weeks their stool solidified a bit, but they never made goat raisins until they were on hay. The rumen doesn't work until the kids are on solid food - roughage - they are only using their miIk stomachs until this point. Once they are on hay their stool should normalize but they need to start nibbling hay now. Chopped hay is a good idea (per Southern) and will be palatable to tiny soft mouths. They won't nibble hay until their stomachs are empty and tell them to do so. That is why you should stop the midday bottle. I suggest increasing their bottles to 10-12 oz. in the am and pm, and do away with the midday bottle. That way they will be hungry and will start nibbling at the hay.

We used to put our standard dairy goat kids on 2 bottles a day around 4 weeks. We would gradually increase to 1 quart milk am and pm. By 3 weeks they were on 10 kid bucket feeders. Without a midday bottle they start to eat hay more easily. We did not feed grain or pellets. We used pasteurized goat milk, but when they were drinking 1 quart 2x a day apiece we would start cutting the goat milk with regular calf replacer.

We had high yield milkers, but they routinely had triplets and quads (Nubians) and twins from the FFs. We needed at least a gallon or so of the milk for ourselves am and pm. Goat replacer was too expensive for 50 to100 kids, so we cut the goat milk with regular calf replacer. It worked fine for us. We sent the buck kids to market at 2 months old. We did not disbud or castrate because our ethnic buyers wanted them that way. After the bucks left, we had more goat milk for the doe kids. We used to wean completely at 4 months which was when we brought our veal calves in.
 

Southern by choice

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@Ridgetop these are 4 wk old 8 # Nigerians. I would not recommend skipping the mid day bottle because they are already small.
Our ND's at two weeks bottle fed kids here are eating chopped hay and we provide feed as well, Nigies are always the first eart everything LOL Even over our lamanchas.
 

bethh

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We bottle feed. Of course we are using the goats milk from their dams, but we always transition to whole cows milk when they are going to a home that doesn't already have goats milk. We have found it is better on the goats than any formula.
Of course you can try it, maybe it will work for you. Most goat breeders use cows milk instead or replacer because replacers seem great for sheep but for some reason it is usually a fail for kids. IDK.
It's worth a try.
Did the kids get colostrum from their dam?

The reason I recommended the Metabolic Miracle is because it has all the best nutrients for the kids. The Duration doesn't.
All those vitamins- they need all those, which the other does not have. The vitamins, the zinc, the copper, selenium. the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio.
You only want to put a handful in a bowl and let them start nibbling then after really doing well and you have them eating hay you can keep this as a supplement given everyday (like a treat)
At that point you could have just gotten chopped hay from TSC.
We use the Metabolic Miracle for our baby goats. They start nibbling at 2 weeks.

I contacted them to purchase the metabolic miracle but after talking to her she said I needed the duration. I didn’t have enough information as to why so I went with what she recommended. I hope it’s helpful for them. It cost $30 to ship it to me. It’ll be here in a few days. They received colostrum from their mom when they were first born after that cow’s milk. I guess I’ll order the metabolic miracle also.
 

bethh

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What breed are these goats? I forgot what bethh has. Did they get their CDT shots yet?

We bottle fed all our kids because we were on a strict CAE prevention and testing program. The goat kids' poop was very soft (but not diahrea) until they were eating hay. Is the white discharge mucuous? After the first weeks their stool solidified a bit, but they never made goat raisins until they were on hay. The rumen doesn't work until the kids are on solid food - roughage - they are only using their miIk stomachs until this point. Once they are on hay their stool should normalize but they need to start nibbling hay now. Chopped hay is a good idea (per Southern) and will be palatable to tiny soft mouths. They won't nibble hay until their stomachs are empty and tell them to do so. That is why you should stop the midday bottle. I suggest increasing their bottles to 10-12 oz. in the am and pm, and do away with the midday bottle. That way they will be hungry and will start nibbling at the hay.

We used to put our standard dairy goat kids on 2 bottles a day around 4 weeks. We would gradually increase to 1 quart milk am and pm. By 3 weeks they were on 10 kid bucket feeders. Without a midday bottle they start to eat hay more easily. We did not feed grain or pellets. We used pasteurized goat milk, but when they were drinking 1 quart 2x a day apiece we would start cutting the goat milk with regular calf replacer.

We had high yield milkers, but they routinely had triplets and quads (Nubians) and twins from the FFs. We needed at least a gallon or so of the milk for ourselves am and pm. Goat replacer was too expensive for 50 to100 kids, so we cut the goat milk with regular calf replacer. It worked fine for us. We sent the buck kids to market at 2 months old. We did not disbud or castrate because our ethnic buyers wanted them that way. After the bucks left, we had more goat milk for the doe kids. We used to wean completely at 4 months which was when we brought our veal calves in.
Why do you ask about white mucous? I have noticed some, not a lot.
 

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