Feeding Bottle Baby

purplequeenvt

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I am going to be getting, sometime in the next few weeks, a newborn Alpine buckling. I've never bottle raised a goat kid before, only lambs. I keep hearing such differing opinions on what to feed kids. Some say milk replacer and some say whole milk from the store. What is the best choice in order to keep costs down, but also have a healthy kid? Also, if I were to milk a sheep, would sheep's milk be a compatible substitute?
 

Egg_Newton

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Whole cow's milk from the store works as a replacement. I've been using a mix of goat's milk and cow's milk because my milking doe can't keep up with my buckling.
 

purplequeenvt

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Thanks for the response. I've decided to try the milk replacer due to cost. Hopefully he does fine on it. I'll be keeping a close eye on him for bloat and scours though.
 

20kidsonhill

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We use Does Match, by Land O' lakes and really have been happy with it. I find whole cows milk too expensive and unless you add other things to it, I don't feel it has enough protein for growing Boer goats. I have heard dairy kids do better on bottles than Boer kids do. Just make sure you measure and mix it properly.
 

that's*satyrical

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When I had bottle babies I also added a pinch of baking soda to each bottle to help prevent bloat.
 

purplequeenvt

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20kidsonhill said:
We use Does Match, by Land O' lakes and really have been happy with it. I find whole cows milk too expensive and unless you add other things to it, I don't feel it has enough protein for growing Boer goats. I have heard dairy kids do better on bottles than Boer kids do. Just make sure you measure and mix it properly.
Doe's Match is what I got. I'm glad to hear it works well for you.
 

purplequeenvt

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that's*satyrical said:
When I had bottle babies I also added a pinch of baking soda to each bottle to help prevent bloat.
Thanks for the tip. How much do you normally add per bottle? Less than a teaspoon?
 

that's*satyrical

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Just a pinch or 2. But I have minis so you could probably add about a teaspoon.
 

20kidsonhill

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purplequeenvt said:
that's*satyrical said:
When I had bottle babies I also added a pinch of baking soda to each bottle to help prevent bloat.
Thanks for the tip. How much do you normally add per bottle? Less than a teaspoon?
Way less than a teaspoon. like 1/4 teaspoon, I only add it once a day or so. But baking soda is a good idea.
I mix the does match as instructed and add 4 or 5 cc of Corn syrup to each bottle to help with constipation, and then once a day or so ad 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. But my kids were transitioning from mom's milk to formula and they were having problems with it and seemed constipated from it.


If you miss a feeding, don't over feed the next feeding or try to squish two feedings too close together. Better to just miss it all together.
Vaccinate your kid with CD&T and give booster 3 weeks later and then another shot, a 3rd booster a couple months after that. Bottle babies are acceptable to overeating disease. Vaccinating is importnant.

Once they get use to the bottle you don't need to always heat the milk to 104. You can take the chill off of it, but giving them a really warm bottle all the time as they get older can increase their chances of getting bacterial scours.

look into treating for coccidiosis starting at 21 days of age.
 

20kidsonhill

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If they are actually bloated then you can do a teaspoon and would need to force feed it by mixing a little in water and dripping it in their mouth, it is salty and will change the taste of the milk if you add too much to the bottle.
 

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