# Help with bottle baby not eating enough or gaining



## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

I bought a baby last Saturday that was supposed to be two weeks old. She is a friend for my other bottle baby. She was acting normal when I got her but two days later she was not doing well because of milk change and learning the bottle. I gave her some pepto and pedi lite for the scours. She cleared up the next day and seemed to. Be doing well. She has started to get the hang of the bottle. The problem is she only eats about 4-5 oz at a time. She is very skinny. When I put them out she messes around like a goat but just not super energetic like my other one. She is 10 lbs. I have not seen (observed)her poop in a today but after the scours it was returning to solid pellets and yesterday she pooped when I was feeding but she stepped on it so I don't know what it was like for sure. Fairly solid because it took some wiping to get it off. So she is sort lethargic. Any suggestions on how to get her to eat more at a time? How much should she be eating at one time? She is sucking but seems to tire easy and then will not take more

Thanks


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

How often are you feeding her? What are you using for milk?


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## Stacie1205 (Mar 26, 2011)

What breed of goat is she? I really can't help here as I am having similar issues with one about the same age. But what I have done to get him to eat was hold him and help him get the nipple in his mouth and I spend about 30 min. each time letting him drink, rest, and try some more. He is also nibbling hay so he has that to try so you might add that? I am also trying to feed about every hour or 2 depending on how much he took the last time. HTH


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

I am using replacer and I feed around 7:30 and 1 and 5 and 10 or 11. Depends I work three nights but that is pretty much the schedule. I have tried some extra feeds when she only takes three ounces but she won't eat. She is a little hunched but today she was wagging her tail. Something she hasn't done. My other one wags her tail and has it up all the time.


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

She is a boer.


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## Stacie1205 (Mar 26, 2011)

We are currently feeding Whole milk which I think everyone on here suggests. And I warm it up for ours like you would for a human baby.


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

I warm it up as well. My other bottle baby has done very well on the replacer. Should I try and change her over to whole milk? What's the best way?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I would change her to whole milk...replacers can be difficult for some to digest and can also cause allergies...Goat-link.com has a good article on how to switch safely....you cant just change cold turkey..that will do more harm...start slow...I bet once she is on whole milk she will begin to improve...: )


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

Thanks I will check it out and start to change her over and if she's not better by next week I will take her to the vet. Thanks for all the advice and I will check back in a bit.


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## MollieGoat (Jul 7, 2012)

I have two boer bottle babies as well. They are two from a set of quads. I pulled them at one week old and had a really hard time getting them going. I was feeding them on a schedule similar to you but they just weren't doing well at all. My neighbor, who has a sheep farm and bum lambs, came over and told me to get them going I needed to feed them every three hours until they got going then I could stretch it out. The most I got down them at a time was 2-3 ounces. It only took one of them a few days to get the hang of it and I switched to feeding him every seven hours with 10-12 ounces each time. It took the other kid quite a while to figure it out( he was pretty hunched up) but once he figured it out he started to do lots better! Also they are on replacer and seem to be doing good. Good Luck!


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

Well I will give that a try too! She ate 4 oz just about 30 min. Of the goat-link solution and she's sleeping now. Hopefully that will give her some extra energy and maybe feeding more frequently she will start picking up. I will let you all know. Thanks again for the advice!


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## amberjack07 (Feb 10, 2013)

My bottle baby didnt eat as much as he should of been when I first got him but he slowly got the hang of things and now we are finally up to 10oz with hay and feed.
I would def suggest switching to whole milk. Replacer some dont do good on it. Not worth the chance, I switched mine over to whole milk he seemed to like it better also.
How's she pooping?


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

I forgot to add this to my last reply but right before I fed her at 9 she pooped and they are black formed pellets.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

I had 2 bottle baby goats last year. When I got them the people I got them from told me to put a crushed lactaid tablet in the bottle, as well as a small amount of probiotics in the first bottle of the day. I had to stick with milk replacer because they wouldn't touch whole milk. I didn't have any problems, but i did follow their advice, and now Linus and Peanut are strong, healthy, and happy best little pets ever I have 2 wether bottle lambs and I am doing the same routine with them and I haven't had a problem.


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

So she was doing better yesterday. But this morning she wouldn't eat so off to the vet. 150.00 later her blood work looked ok but he is thinking clostridosis?? So she got an antitoxin shot and penicillin plus I have to give shots for 5 days. Hopefully we will get this under control and see some improvement by tomorrow. I will update tomorrow. Thanks again for your help!


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## elliemaematilda (Feb 23, 2013)

elliemaematilda said:


> So she was doing better yesterday. But this morning she wouldn't eat so off to the vet. 150.00 later her blood work looked ok but he is thinking clostridosis?? So she got an antitoxin shot and penicillin plus I have to give shots for 5 days. Hopefully we will get this under control and see some improvement by tomorrow. I will update tomorrow. Thanks again for your help!


UPDATE:
Well she isn't cured but is still alive and seems to be improving slowly. She still isn't eating very well but I am offering her milk every couple hours during the day. The upside is she is still alive! So hopefully after this week and the penicillin is done we will see some improvements in feeding. Thanks again for all the advice...I will let yall know.


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