# Mini Kid Feeding Schedule?



## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

Hey everybody, sorry I've been a bit inactive my laptop is in the shop. 
Anyways, I went to the store the other day and bought some Pritchard Lamb Nipples. I can use them on pop bottles and water bottles so that's good. But I also want to know if I could get somebody's feeding schedule for mini goats.
I've never bottle fed before and I want to be well informed on the amounts and such. If it matters at all, she'll be drinking fresh milk from her mother. 

=)


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

If you do a search in this forum, someone had posted their feeding schedule, and pritchards are very good for minis. BTW...if you are still considering pulling a kid from Holly just to make it friendly, I wish you would reconsider...it is ALOT more work than you can imagine and there is no guarantee that you will be as good as her mom. The more time you spend with a baby the more bonded they become and mom has the hard part of feeding it the right amount and when as well as teaching it to be a goat...you get to have the fun of holding and cuddling and spoiling it. This is just my opinion, but mom knows best and just because Holly isn't "friendly" doesn't mean her kids won't be if you don't hand raise them.


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## cjpup (Dec 1, 2007)

liz said:


> If you do a search in this forum, someone had posted their feeding schedule, and pritchards are very good for minis. BTW...if you are still considering pulling a kid from Holly just to make it friendly, I wish you would reconsider...it is ALOT more work than you can imagine and there is no guarantee that you will be as good as her mom. The more time you spend with a baby the more bonded they become and mom has the hard part of feeding it the right amount and when as well as teaching it to be a goat...you get to have the fun of holding and cuddling and spoiling it. This is just my opinion, but mom knows best and just because Holly isn't "friendly" doesn't mean her kids won't be if you don't hand raise them.


I completely agree. Our policy is to never pull a kid unless there is a problem for some reason (ie. not enough milk to go around, mom abandons the baby or gets sick etc). Please dont pull unless absolutely necessary. Kids are much healthier and happier if they are left on their dam. I would post my schedule for you but a lot of people disagree over how much. how often.

Please note that this is just one persons schedule and it will vary depending on your kid and level of activity.

All of our bottle raised kids (for whatever reason)

Day 1-2 weeks= a bottle every 3-4 hourse (even through the night) as much as they would like to drink

Week 2-6=a bottle 4 times a day (during the day and not at night) as much as they will take but no more than a 20 fl oz. water bottle

Week 6-7= 3 bottles a day (during the day and not at night) as much as they want but no more than a 20 fl oz bottle

Week 8-9 2 bottles a day (during the day and not at night) as much as they want but no more than a 20 fl oz bottle

Week 9= 1/2 bottle twice a day

Week 10=1/4 bottle twice a day

After week 10 ends, no more bottles.

This is just a rough outline and I have altered it many tiomes for kids with different appetites and energy levels. I have pygmy goats BTW. I have also altered the length before weaning because every kid is different. Some I wont wean until nearly 12 weeks because I havent seen them foraging enough to wean.

I hope this help and I also hope you will reconsider your decision to pull just because you want a friendly goat. Kids are like playdough, you can mold them into whatever you wish, with no regards to moms behavior. I would rather my kids be healthy and happy than friendly.

CJ


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

never ever feed a kid as much as they will eat. This can lead to overeating disease and possible death. Just because it has worked for you in the past doesn't mean that in the future you won't have issues. I say this with great concern because I know of the disaster of doing it this way. 

Many times a kid will not eat more then it should but you will have that pig of a kid that doesn't know better and you will have disasterous results (bloat or even overeating disease). Please becareful whenever you see a kid who is acting hungry after a normal feeding. Give them 20 minutes for the milk to settle and then decide from there if more is needed, and even then some kids just love the comfort of the bottle so just becareful how easily you let your heart get pulled by their "hunger" cries. 

This is also the advise given to humans when they are overly hungry and are prone to gorging on food. If you don't rest and let the food settle your stomach doesn't have time to report to the brain that it is full. Not everyone has these issues but it does happen for many people - so the same goes for goats. Just a word of warning for anyone who wants to bottle feed. 

Now as to a schedule I will get one for you as soon as I find mine that I tucked away and now can't find :hair:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

wahoo I actually found it!!!

Age: #of feedings: Amount: Times:
1 week 5 1-3 oz. 8,11,2,5,8
2-3 wks 4 4-5 oz. 8,12,4,8
4-5 wks 3 5-6 oz. 8,2,8
6-7 wks 2 8-10 oz. 8,8
8 weeks 1 Dilute with water, 
decrease amount.
Should be completely weaned by 10 weeks.

now you can prolong one week here and there so that you are feeding for 12 weeks or just keep them at 2 bottle for 3 weeks. do whatever fits the kids needs really.

I never have fed through the night kids don't need it unless extremely weak. And this is rare.


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## goatnutty (Oct 9, 2007)

I was reading up on this because of my doe being a first freshener and I read every 6 hours feed them so much. I'll try to find the exact amount and post it later.


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

i don;t know if minis are any different. I have alpines, they get a couple of bottles of colostrum to start off with, and then they go ina pen with a free choice lamb bar. They can have as much as they want whenever they want. I have never had a problem with over eating disease, and i have been doing it this way for about ten years now. Its no different when left on their mom, if you think about it they have full access to food all the time. I think people have problems with over eating disease when they feed their kids very large amounts a few times a day. there needs to be several small meals. When a kid only gets a few meals a day they don't know when they are going to eat, they gorge themselves, because like us their brain is slower then their stomach. the stomach is telling them they are still hungry and their brain hasn;t caught up yet. Of course you can't tell a hungry kid to slow down and take it easy. so limeting them to a few ounces at a time is best as well as feeding more meals a day. If i have a baby that doesn't take to the lambar and has to be bottle fed i take the bottle away when they are looking full but they havn't figured out that they are done eating yet. Make sure the belly is still a little loose. 
I spend a lot of time with them. I only have about six does freshen a year so spending time with kids isn't an issue. If you are present at hollys kidding i imagine her entire attitude will change towards you. I had a yearling doe that was completly wild. I couldn't get a hand on her without attaching a lounge line and reeling her in, and even then she would shake and cower like someone had hit her. I was present at her birthing and now she loves me to death. It was like an overnight change. They seem to realize that if you're there at their special time then your ok. Interfear as little as possible but sit there with her and talk to her, let her know that your not going to hurt her. Bring her a yummy treat when she is done, peanuts or raisens. if you want help her dry the kids a little, she will understand that you're trying to help her.
Good luck!
beth


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

sparks879 said:


> I have never had a problem with over eating disease, and i have been doing it this way for about ten years now. Its no different when left on their mom, if you think about it they have full access to food all the time. I think people have problems with over eating disease when they feed their kids very large amounts a few times a day. there needs to be several small meals. When a kid only gets a few meals a day they don't know when they are going to eat, they gorge themselves, because like us their brain is slower then their stomach. the stomach is telling them they are still hungry and their brain hasn;t caught up yet. Of course you can't tell a hungry kid to slow down and take it easy. so limeting them to a few ounces at a time is best as well as feeding more meals a day.
> 
> beth


you said it so much better then I did Beth! And it so makes more sense LOL


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

lol thanks stacey. goats are a lot like us in so many ways. They havea very complicated digestive system. And babies can be just so sensitive. 
beth


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## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

Well I am pulling the kid I've already decided. Unless she has all boys. The doeling would be with me at all times, and I'd be bringing her to my independent study group. Of course she'd also get playtime with her siblings and Mother and Thomas and Indy from day one. I just want her to be bonded to me. My bottle babies, Thomas and Indy, will let me do anything to them and they trust me. I feel like they have a different relationship with me than Holly. I feel like with Holly she knows I'm a person and accepts me as just that, a big scary person.  But Thomas and Indy either think they are people, or I'm a goat. I've also noticed they are more eager to accept changes and don't panic as easily if I'm calm around new things, because if Mom is calm it can't be too bad. 

 Anyhoo that's just my view on it. Of course I'm a first timer so I may go through this and decide that bottle feeding isn't right for MY herd and never do it again.

Thanks to everyone for the different views and advice.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I love bottle babies and I think that with your dedication you can keep up with the demands of bottle raising.

Oh and Holly still has time to come around. Just this past month Aspen (2 years old) has started to become friendly (I can now walk up to her and she lets me pet her without scooting out of the way.) I have had her since she was 3 months old. I am so excited!!! 

Just a glimmer of hope for you and Holly.


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## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

She's getting better, I'm teaching her to "kiss" me. She'll now take frosted mini wheats out of my mouth. But I can tell she still is wary of me.


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## cjpup (Dec 1, 2007)

Well, congrats on your new addition and I hope all goes well for you! Just remember that different ways of doing thing work for different people, you have to find your niche and stick with it. 

GOOD LUCK!!!

CJ

PS: You better not forget to post piuctures when your new arrival.....well, arrives!!! LOL!


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

Another good reason to bottle feed is moms udder. I have had does that have had years of raising their own kids and no matter how good their udder was or is the does that have not raised their kids always last longer. All that slamming and bumping, especially when kids are two to three months old can really take a toll on moms udder. The does i have had that dam raise have always developed a lot of scar tissue by the time they are four or five years old. 
Milking is also a great way to tame down your does, I had a dam raised kid that was wild as all get out, i took her kid at birth, the first few times of milking were pure nightmare, but after she got used to it she came around and eventually even looked to be milked.
beth


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## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

Yeah I'm going to use the Fiaso Co Farm method and lock the babies up at night, so Holly will associate milking with a comfortable empty udder and she already knows that the stanchion means grain.


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