Do some goats self wean?

[Carla D]

i have eight bucklings that are five weeks old now or almost five weeks old. I’ve noticed the last couple of days that two or three of them have consistently been not finishing their bottles. I’ve been giving them 3 bottles of 20oz formula. They are all eating pellets, hay, grass, even some snacks quite well. They don’t however seem to be drinking much water. Is it possible that some of them are actually eating enough other things to where they don’t really need the formula? They appear to be quite healthy, not underweight or overweight by any means. I didn’t think goats would self wean and I sure didn’t think they were old enough to be eating enough pellets, hay, grass to sustain them at this age. What do you think?

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Ours never did well on formula and would try to wean early. Keep offering the bottle.
At this age you need to watch for coccidia, especially if kids start refusing the bottle.

 

[Carla D]

Ours never did well on formula and would try to wean early. Keep offering the bottle.
At this age you need to watch for coccidia, especially if kids start refusing the bottle.

Thank you, I will look for that.

 

[Carla D]

Ours never did well on formula and would try to wean early. Keep offering the bottle.
At this age you need to watch for coccidia, especially if kids start refusing the bottle.

After day two formula/milk replacer is all they’ve ever had. The youngest had colostrum from a goat for the first two days and the others started out on whole milk from the grocery store. They have had two different brands of replacer. One they preferred much better than the other which also gave them diarrhea the entire time they were on it. They may possibly get at least a small bottle all winter. Partly as a supplement and partly as a treat. I need to go to the farm three times a day anyways to make sure all of our critters have water at least that often. Between my husband, FIL, and myself they should have water not ice at least 5-6 times a day.