# Pulling Kid's for bottle feeding



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm getting very excited about upcoming kiddings here. This will be our first kidding in about 2 weeks. We have, lamanchas and alpine X sannen doe's. We plan to milk as long as we have a large demand for it. We have one customer set up already that will be taking 1-2 gal a week and maybe more later on. So we do plan to milk the girls to help pay for the goats cost. My question is how on earth do you guys pull the kids once they have been born? I watched Phoenix rising's web cam and after all those girls went through, I just don't know that I'm going to have the heart to pull the kids after the mom's go through so much to bring them into the world. :shrug: 

I don't mind bottle feeding and we raised a few last year when we first started getting into goats, but those were other peoples doe's. I have such a bond with ours and I just don't know if i'm going to be able to do it.  

The benefits to pulling the kids is very good. Friendly kids, better kid management, Kid's won't be picked on by the bigger doe's, and milk sales will be greater. The only thing catching me up is that they love their babies so much after giving birth and I'm gonna have to be the bad guy who breaks it all up. :worried:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I have never pulled any kids, but I think if you are going to do it you do it right away, and don't let them bond with the kids. If they have kidded before and kept their kids I expect that would be a lot harder. If you let them lick the kids that negates the point of pulling them for CAE and other disease prevention, plus that is how they bond with the kids, which you don't want them to do. Most people who are not commercial dairies do it for CAE prevention when they do it. I test every year instead. 

You will still have to feed the kids, are you planning to pasteurize the milk and feed them goat milk from their moms? If you don't heat treat the colostrum and pasteurize the milk that defeats any disease prevention point of doing it. 

I'm pretty sure there must be some people on here who do this, and will talk as soon as they see your message. 

Jan


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

With the breeds your does are, you should get a good deal of milk from them...keep in mind though that the milk will contain colostrum for the first few days, and then may even have traces of it up to a week after delivery.
I don't bottle feed but I do offer bottles and get kids used to the idea just in the case I would need to, I cannot imagine taking a kid from the mom...I went through 3 weeks of heartache after my doe Binkey had a stillbirth last March, she never "bonded" with him, never licked him and didn't even see him but the crying and searching she did was hell on me. All kids here have been dam raised, handled and cuddled daily, and have grown like weeds...friendly and healthy kids. I also have tested 2 years in a row negative for CAE.

Seeing that your does are standards, they will give more than the 2 quarts a day I get from Binkey, What I do is to separate kids at night starting at 2-3 weeks old, milk moms in the mornings and the kids are with her all day. I get milk and I don't need to bottle feed. With 2 does freshening, I'm sure you will get plenty from them to support themselves, especially once they reach peak production at 6-8 weeks fresh. Another thing you could do would be to milk 2 x a day while the kids stay on her...the more that is taken, the more she'll produce....she's feeding kids AND you.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

No I haven't had CAE testing done yet. I just got the goats back in the spring of 2010 and I've tried to buy from clean herds or herds that practiced prevention. I didn't really want to have to heat treat the milk, because I beleive raw milk to be better for them. I do plan to look into testing this year, but untill the goats can start contributing a little I can't afford to have them all tested. 

I just keep going back and forth on this. I might end up doing what you do liz or I might pull them, I just don't know. :GAAH:


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## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

Last year was our first year milking goats, and in the end I had 4 in milk. My Angel I pulled her kids cause she only has one teat, not a genetic defect, she got her other one stepped on and they had to take it off, so she only ever gave 2 quarts a day milking x2. My sugar I left her kid on her, and milked x1 a day, I gave up milking her though because she had Tiny teats, will try her daughter this spring hoping her teats are better than her mom's were. I also had FF Saneens I put some bottle babys I bought on them cause they also had tiny teats. If Wild freshens this year her teats will be much better for milking. so I have tried both ways I would rather leave babies on moms though if I can, just cause then if I want to go somewhere I don't have to worry about milking.


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## kannm (Mar 18, 2009)

We pulled our doe's kid for milking and to have a bottle baby. The way we did it was to let Luna lick her and spend time with her but not to let Cleo, the baby, nurse. We milked out some colostrum for Cleo and gave it to her but let her be with her mom the whole time. When we were not around to keep Cleo from nursing for the first few days we would put Cleo in a small area where Luna could put her head in and be near her baby. We also had a spot for Luna and Cleo to sleep next to each other but that Cleo could not nurse.

It worked well because in a few days Cleo saw her mom as mom for love and attention and saw us as food source (and love and attention). Also, we wanted Luna to be able to be with her baby.


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## WalnutGroveFarm (Sep 27, 2008)

Here is how I did it but its not for everyone. It does tend to pull at your heart strings a little. When Eve delivered I was there she had one, then two, and three. I let her have them she kinda licked the first one but was busy having the others. Soon as they where born I pulled her out and milked her and fed them. It takes a little patience sometimes to get everyone taking the bottle at first, but then some latch right on. But she did cry for a few days and then she was over it. But I think because I fed her milk back to them she knew they where her babies. So I kept them seperate for about 3 weeks then I started letting them out with the herd and she would follow them around and talk to them but they wasnt interested in her for food. So she still got to be with her babies, but thats cause she smelled her milk on them.. That wouldnt happen if you where pooling milk. But I have tested mine all for CAE and they are negative.

Oh just wanted to add the only reason I pull babies is cause I show some of the does. I dont have enough help to show all the does so the ones I dont show gets to keep their babies.


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## Sunny Daze (May 18, 2010)

If you are leaning towards bottle feeding them anyway and they have not yet been tested for CAE, you might as well raise them on prevention to be on the safe side. When I bottle mine I try to pull them immediately. In the mean time their dam usually will lick me and let me milk her, making her bond more to me. I have had some does that were pretty wild but after doing this they saw me as their "kid" and came around. I don't bottle all though. I do maintain a CAE neg herd so it depends on what buyers want, how much time I have, how much milk I need, etc.


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