# Will only take water from a bottle



## alicia (Jul 10, 2013)

Hi.
Our adorable 10 week old boys won't drink from a bucket, they only take water from a bottle. How do we get them to drink from the bucket - they cry until we give them a bottle.
And they should no longer get milk, just water right? 
Thanks for your help.


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## montanadolphin (Jun 18, 2013)

alicia said:


> Hi.
> Our adorable 10 week old boys won't drink from a bucket, they only take water from a bottle. How do we get them to drink from the bucket - they cry until we give them a bottle.
> And they should no longer get milk, just water right?
> Thanks for your help.


I can tell you that you need to stop feeding your babies water from a bottle immediately. It can KILL them. It causes Hemoglobinuria

From http://goat-link.com/content/view/198/214/#.Ud17EvltgjY :

*Don't give baby goats water bottles - a few sips in a bottle is fine but not full bottles on a regular basis- WHY?*

Have you seen your baby goat urinate red urine and are you giving it bottles of water?

What happens with the water in the bottle is called: Hemoglobinuria (Water intoxication)

The presence of free hemoglobin in the urine, an abnormal finding, that may make the urine look dark. Hemoglobin is the protein in the red blood cells which carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. The iron contained in hemoglobin gives red blood cells their characteristic color.

Red blood cells are normally taken out of circulation after approximately 4 months; they are trapped and disassembled in the spleen, bone marrow, and liver. If, however, red cells hemolyze (break down) within the vascular system, the components are set free in the blood stream. Free hemoglobin is bound by haptoglobin (another protein) and reprocessed. But if the level of hemoglobin in the blood rises above the ability of haptoglobin to reclaim it, hemoglobin begins to appear in the urine -- there is hemoglobinuria.

Hemolytic anemia

Hemolysis is the breakage of the red blood cell's (RBC's) membrane, causing the release of the hemoglobin and other internal components into the surrounding fluid.

Here are a couple of cases studies:

Hemolysis associated with water administration using a nipple bottle for human infants in juvenile pygmy goats.

A 4-month-old, 6.8-kg, castrated male pygmy goat was examined for recurrent episodic fever and red urine of 7 days' duration. A second, 3-month-old, 7-kg, intact female pygmy goat was presented for similar clinical signs. The red discoloration of the urine in each case was determined to be due to hemolysis with subsequent hemoglobinuria. In both cases, hemolysis and hemoglobinuria were closely associated with the goats consuming large volumes of water from a nipple bottle. A diagnosis of water intoxication-induced hemolysis and hemoglobinuria was made. Episodes of hemoglobinuria in the first case were consistently associated with dilute (specific gravity < 1.010) urine. Water intoxication has been associated with bottle-feeding in human infants and is also widely reported in human psychiatric patients. The small erythrocytes in goats appear to be the most sensitive of the domestic species to hypotonicity-induced hemolysis.

They WILL learn to drink out of the bucket. Mine wouldn't touch water out of a bowl, and one day they just did. Try putting your finger in the water, under the surface and let your boys suck your finger and see if that helps. Post a separate thread with your issue, I'm sure you'll get lots of help and suggestions to get them to drink out of a bowl or bucket.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

yup stop the bottles of water - its not good for them. 

They will learn to drink from the bucket. Keep it full and cool so its enticing. Place the bucket near where they like to hang out.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

> And they should no longer get milk, just water right


I bottle feed for 3-4 months....so you can still offer a bottle or two of milk...I like to taper off to encourage them eating more hay ...so maybe a morning bottle and one at night..nothing but hay, a bit of feed and water, in a bowl : )


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## alicia (Jul 10, 2013)

Thanks for your help - we immediately threw their bottles out. They are drinking from the buckets but still cry for the bottles. We will survive


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## Kaneel (Oct 7, 2012)

You can still give them milk in the bottle. I wouldn't wean from milk until at least 12 weeks. Are they eating hay and grain fine? If not they might be crying because they are hungry. Before you take them off the bottle you have to make sure they are eating hay and grain enough to sustain them. Glad they are drinking now!


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## montanadolphin (Jun 18, 2013)

I second what Kaneel said, but want to add you could also give them their milk from a bowl if you don't plan on going with the bottles again. It's the milk they need, not the bottle.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

its not recommended to have goats drink milk out of a dish - only in extreme cases when they wont take a bottle

10 weeks is plenty old enough to wean, though I usually do it by eliminating a bottle slowly every couple days so they get use to the idea. But I also sell 8 week old kids who are dam raised and its a complete cold turkey wean. So its all about whats comfortable to the owner.


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## alicia (Jul 10, 2013)

They are eating hay & grain fine. They have all the hay they want & we limit their grain to 1/2 cup per day (I'm afraid of them getting bloat).

They not big into treats - any suggestions?

& they love grazing in the yard eating willow leaves & our blueberry bushes. Argh!

They're doing fabulous drinking from the buckets 

Thanks for all your help!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

the leaves, bushes are great treats lol..if you don't mind sharing them ...I think keeping the balanced with a bit of grain,hay and graze is enough...treats are nice from time to time...banana, raisins, wasa crackers..your bushes lol...
so glad they are drinking water just fine now : )


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## OakHollowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Yes, plenty of clean water buckets of various types in many areas in their pen should help.


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