# Bottle baby questions



## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

Hi everyone  Hope you're all staying warm today. Can't wait for this winter to break! My husband and I brought home some bottle babies last night, omg are they cute! But feeding goats bottles is just about as perplexing as feeding human babies, for me anyways, so I'd like to pick your brains. 

1. Is it ok for a kid to drink like a champ in one feeding and then not eat as much for the next?

2. Can kids be nipple confused?

3. The lady we bought them from was really wonderful but she couldn't give me birthdates for them because she's a commercial dairy w/100+. She said they were 3-5 weeks so for milk mixing purposes is it ok to make them all 4 wks?

4. Is it normal for them to shake if they're nervous? I brought them into the house for feeding just now instead of feeding them in the barn because it's too hard to feed 4 of them one at a time with no help keeping the others occupied. They all were like shivering kinda but we have a wood stove in the house so it was toasty warm for them. 

5. When should I introduce grain? We bought some medicated feed from TSC but no one wanted to even try it. Should I keep trying or just wait?

6. Can you give a kid too much hay?

I think that's all I have for the moment, I'm sure I'll think of more, lol. This forum has helped me out sooo much, I appreciate the work that goes into keeping it going! :kidred:

Carissa


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Congrats on your bottle babies!
They should start nibbling on hay & grain about now but some take their time. The don't really eat enough of it at this stage to be concerned. And no such thing as too much hay.
Yes they can be nipple confused!
Are you using the same as the breeder was?
Sure you can call them 4 weeks.
They shouldn't be shivering; are they hunched up?


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## GreenMountainNigerians (Jul 3, 2013)

Love ,love love all six of my bottle babies. You are going to have a great time with you little ones! I use Pritchard nipples but you may want to use whatever the breeder was using. That's what I did with mine. Mine are all growing up and weaned now. 


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## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

Nancy-yes they are all hunched; especially Bunny, I believe she's a nubian mix. We have a heat lamp in their pen and they huddle up together all the time. Are they sick or something? The breeder was using calf milk and before we even went to get them we had gotten goat milk replacer and there was no heat lamp in the barn they came from. They huddled their too.

GMN-those are the ones the breeder used but we have the ones that fit over a pop bottle because we don't have a bucket feeder. They do have to work at it a bit more to get the milk out.


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## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

Forgot to add-I've seen them poop and pee and they're doing fine that way, so far, knock on wood!


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Hunching is a sign of stomach upset. You should be using whole cow's milk, not replacer. Unless it is Doe's match from Land o Lakes or one other one that I can't remember. If you got it from Tractor supply, it is no good and will cause major problems. There are a few ways to see how much to feed your bottle baby. DO a search on here for the formula- they require that you weigh the kids.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Per Happy bleats...


"weigh baby and multiply that by 16 to get her weight in OZ then multiply that by 10-12% to see how much PER DAY she needs...then divide that into 3-4 bottles....

at 5# x16= 80 oz
80 oz x 10%=8 oz of milk per day
divide into 4 bottles is 2 oz per bottle...

watch tummy..if she is still sunken in add a bit more...if she is poochy decrease milk...re weight he weekly and re adjust her milk amount.. "
__________________
Cathy
Happybleatsdairygoats.weebly.com
Nubians, Lamancha, Saanen, and a few cute boer ladies...
Tons of chicken turkey ducks sheep cats dogs and donkeys....plus 8 human kids and one awesome hubby of 33 years : )


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## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

Cheesy Petes why do they sell goat milk replacer if it's not the right one? We got the DuMor brand. So we can use milk like we get at the grocery store? Thanks for the info, I have time to call hubby to pick some more up. Wish we could take the replacer back, we just opened it today. :-(

Cathy-thank you! I just got done reading this, lol. I'm gonna go check on them again. 

Carissa


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## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

ok, they are all laying down under the light huddled up (so cute) but they're still shaking some. What else can I do for them?


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

Hi Darlingfields, I haven't had baby goats yet, but a lot of people will put little coats on their kids when it's winter. I've seen pictures of coats as simple as old sweatshirt sleeves around the length of the body. That might work better with the girls; boys' coats should probably go around the ribcage but not the belly, or else they'll pee on them, and the dampness will make them colder, not warmer. A quick google of "goat coats" will show you plenty.  Also, once they're on whole milk or the good replacer, I'm guessing they'll stop hunching.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Hunching is different than shivering. What temp is it where they are? Unless it has been a drastic change from where you bought them, they should be ok. It may be that they are scared. Take their temp. See if they have a fever.

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## darlingfields (May 10, 2013)

Last night was a long night, one of many to come I'm sure (yay). We brought the babies in last night and the shivering stopped. Thanks to that formula, we realized we were feeding way too much and have cut back on their milk. They seem to be doing pretty good this morning except crying about wanting more milk but they soon were content munching on hay. 

Thanks to everyone who helped me, I appreciate it. 

Carissa


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

They will act like they are starving, lol. But they are not. They will literally eat themselves to death. That is why they will need a cd/t vaccination at one month and two months of age, then once yearly after that. It is to prevent enterotoxemia and tetanus...

A good website to reference for beginners and pros alike is:
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/articlesMain.html


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