# Bottle feeding schedule help



## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

This is our first year with goats and now have to bottle feed. I am just wondering how fast you can up the milk and feedings? We've had 2 babies we've been bottle feeding since Nov. 23 and I have them at 14 oz every 8 hours and now a new baby yesterday still on colostrum 2 oz/4 hrs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## OGYC_Laura (Jan 9, 2014)

Onion creek ranch has a very detailed description of bottle feeding and times. Just google onion creek ranch.. There are also very good threads on here.
The first few days it is important to do several small feedings.. Producers usually do what is convenient and within their ability... At one month old I still do five small feedings a day but my friend only does two large feedings a day... 

Whatever you choose stick to it because change is hard on them 


Old Goats & Young Chicks Farm
Boer and Boer Cross


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

14oz per feeding seems awfully low for the older kids, what breed are they?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

we usually go by weight...weigh the baby and mulitply that by 16 to get weight in oz..then multiply that by 10-12% to see how much PER DAY they need...then divide into 3-4 bottles a day...this is a starting point...after feeding..stand baby and feel tummy..you want to feel a firm but pretty flat tummy..not too poochy or sunken..adjust 1/2 oz at a time up or down as needed.....re weigh weekly and adjust milk amount...

weening is dropping one bottle ( usually the middle) at 2-2 1/2 months old..we dont add the milk to the remaining bottles...we just drop it...this encourages them to browse more and eat their grain...by 3 months we have them down to one bottle a day until we feel they can be weened 100%....IF we have a slow grower we keep them on milk longer...


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I just feed em till they stop. I never worry about how much they are getting. The first week you wanna be more cautious but after that, i just let em go to town.


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

uummm.... at the risk of commenting above my "pay grade..."..... are they exposed to any other goats at this point to learn what they should be doing? They should have learned by now how to "graze" selectively and you could aclimate them to an automatic bottle feeder bucket.... fill it 3x per day with milk substitute.... but they should be learning by now to graze at least a little...


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## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces said:


> 14oz per feeding seems awfully low for the older kids, what breed are they?


I've been trying to up them slowly and don't want to overdo it. I work during the day so am trying to get them on a schedule that is best for both of us. My family was helping with them in the beginning as I was going through medical issues and was not home everyday/night. When I up them, do I also go up in time between feedings? They are Kiko/Boer cross I believe, but the newer one is Boer


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## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

I will have to try and weigh the baby today to see where she is at. She is very eager to eat every time I go to feed her. Been doing 4 oz/4 hrs of milk replacer since last night. I'm scared of overfeeding....ugggg


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## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

happybleats said:


> we usually go by weight...weigh the baby and mulitply that by 16 to get weight in oz..then multiply that by 10-12% to see how much PER DAY they need...then divide into 3-4 bottles a day...this is a starting point...after feeding..stand baby and feel tummy..you want to feel a firm but pretty flat tummy..not too poochy or sunken..adjust 1/2 oz at a time up or down as needed.....re weigh weekly and adjust milk amount...
> 
> weening is dropping one bottle ( usually the middle) at 2-2 1/2 months old..we dont add the milk to the remaining bottles...we just drop it...this encourages them to browse more and eat their grain...by 3 months we have them down to one bottle a day until we feel they can be weened 100%....IF we have a slow grower we keep them on milk longer...


So she weighs 7# = 112 oz. So on the high end she only needs 13.44 oz a day? So like 4.5 oz a feeding 3x a day? That's right?


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## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

So i've obviously been overfeeding her?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Its my job here to raise the babies. I give them as much as they can eat twice a day and have always grown big health babies. Just have to make sure they get their vaccinations.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

> So she weighs 7# = 112 oz. So on the high end she only needs 13.44 oz a day? So like 4.5 oz a feeding 3x a day? That's right?


yes..12% is 13.44...I know many feed a ton of milk..I have a friend who feeds like Dave and has pretty good results..but I have seem many kids get very sick from too much...10-12% is a starting point...feel tummy after each bottle and go from there..flat firm tummy is a healthy tummy while too poochy is too much and sunken in is too little...each kid is different..some can do fine with more...others need it broke up to more bottles per day...so go with your gut...if the baby is not doing well on 14 oz..then his body is saying it cant handle that much at a time..if you fnd you need to scooch it up some..go by 1/2 oz at a time to find his perfect amount...You know you have foundit when you have a playful active baby getting into trouble all the time lol..lethargic, hunched up and sad looking is either not digesting well or is too hungry..


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## rdmmfh (Jan 3, 2015)

happybleats said:


> yes..12% is 13.44...I know many feed a ton of milk..I have a friend who feeds like Dave and has pretty good results..but I have seem many kids get very sick from too much...10-12% is a starting point...feel tummy after each bottle and go from there..flat firm tummy is a healthy tummy while too poochy is too much and sunken in is too little...each kid is different..some can do fine with more...others need it broke up to more bottles per day...so go with your gut...if the baby is not doing well on 14 oz..then his body is saying it cant handle that much at a time..if you fnd you need to scooch it up some..go by 1/2 oz at a time to find his perfect amount...You know you have foundit when you have a playful active baby getting into trouble all the time lol..lethargic, hunched up and sad looking is either not digesting well or is too hungry..


She is a very active little goat, the most active bottle baby we've had, she starts crying after about 3 hours. I will try this method and see how it goes. So can I use this method on my older two bottle goats? They are getting fed about 16 oz each feeding now, trying to get to the 2x a day feeding.


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