# Bottle Raising?



## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

I'd like to bottle raise one of Holly's doelings, if she has one. And have it live with me in the house till she's weaned. What do you all think of this? Have any of you done it? What should I feed her(fresh goat milk, replacer, cowmilk/buttermilk/cream recipe?)


----------



## rgbdab (Nov 26, 2007)

Hi, if you have access to fresh goat milk, that will be best. I have raised a couple on replacement milk and they had a lot of diarrhea compared to dam raised kids. There is nothing more fun than raising a bottle baby, but unless you have a LOT of free time she will need to go out with the other goats or be penned alone when you have to be elsewhere and that brings up a couple of problems. 
1. she won't have a "Mom" to protect her from the other goats and she won't be too comfortable, or 
2. keeping her by herself isn't great either. 

Although it is tempting to me, I don't take kid from it's mom unless she can't/won't nurse it. The 2 I raised were orphaned at birth and now they are nearly 4 years old and they still prefer my company to other goats.
Maybe you can just bring her in for fun and take her back to mom for feeding and goat company. I bring my young kids in 1 at a time when I feed just to get some quality time with them and bond and take it back out after an hour or so. None of my Mom's has been bothered by this, but I wait a week or so to be sure they are bonded first. Good luck either way you choose. Denise


----------



## CarolinaGirlzminigoats (Oct 5, 2007)

*GOOD LUCK!*

I have bottled raised five of my goats and I am now feeding two twins that the mother wont feed. It is a lot of work and takes tons of patients till they get use to the bottle and learn what that rubber thing you are putting in there mouth is. They adjust and it is lots of fun and you bond with them and they are very friendly. I keep my babies in my house till they are weaned and then I slowly introduce them to the herd. That takes time as well but they do adjust and learn to be apart of the herd. SO if you are willing to spend many hours feeding, cleaning up after there messes and owned by a goat then I wish you best of luck. I have used both milk replacer and vitamin d milk. BUT if you can milk the mother that is the best for them. It is basically like have a newborn human baby and you will loose sleep and so forth but I have LOVED every min of bottled raising my babies.


----------



## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

WOW, I MY SELF would never raise one just because. I do not know how all the dairy people do it. I guess if you are home and you can, that is great.
We had one that was bottle raised, because mom rejected it. (long story short, she was pulled from mom 20 hours after the twins were born.). It was a lot of work for me because I had to take her to work, and my daughter did take her to school. We could not go anywhere without her. I LOVE her to death, and I am not sure I will ever be as attached to another goat as I am her (unless I have to bottle feed another one). Like I said I saved her life, so I am a real softy anyway.
I just believe all goats should be damn raised unless there is a good reason NOT to. We are CAE free, and there is no reason to believe we will not stay that way, so I am not worried about that. I totally understand those that milk, you pretty much have to bottle feed them.


----------



## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

I think you would be fine, but it is impossible to keep a healthy (or in some cases, live) kid in the house unless it has a buddy, no matter how much time you spend with her. My first doe kidded this year with two bucks and a doe- I sold the two bucklings together at 5 days old (to a good home) and left the doeling. I gave her ALL of my time, but she got terribly depressed. She even got where she wasn't excited about eating. (a 5-7 day old kid!) FINALLY my other doe kidded out with two doelings- friends for Suzie. All of her depression suddenly disapeared and she was up and jumping again. I will never do that to any kid again- I was worried I might loose her until the other two came along. 
I agree with rgbadab- there is nothing more fun than bottle feeding! It is well worth the trouble.  I hope whatever you do, it works and you and the goats will be happy with it.


----------



## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

sweetgoats, alot of the time it is neccessary to bottle feed- the dams may have too much milk and the kid gets a belly ache, a bad one. I've had it happen.  Some kids don't seem to know when to stop. *sigh* When you have a doe that gives 6lbs of milk with a single kid that eats and eats and eats, you've got a problem.  Plus, after bottle feeding they are more gentle and obedient.


----------



## Sara (Oct 5, 2007)

`Well I guess I might not do it then. I just wanted one of Holly's babies to be super friendly, since Holly isn't too friendly herself and I didn't want them to "learn" that from mom.


----------



## needs to know more (Oct 7, 2007)

The babies can be very friendly even if mom isn't I have a doe that is the mom, grandma to almost every goat I have. She isn't real friendly, but everybody else is!!!!! It just takes a little time and the baby/babies will be all over you!!!!!


----------



## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I notice that when babies are 1-2 weeks old they are skittish but they DO get very very friendly!!!


----------



## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

I too have a doeling that was born out of a not so friendly doe. She was dam raised and is so friendly. She begs for attention! You just have to be out there with them playing and petting them. You have to be consistent though.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I have never bottle fed a kid to keep it alive, my girls are excellent moms and I think they do fine. The only ones I ever gave a bottle to are Chief and Angel. Chief because he was a bottle baby and Angel because I wanted her to adjust to her new home, which she even nursed off Tilly for a bit. As far as a "friendly" kid goes, let mom bond for a few days and then spend as much time with those babies as you can. Hold them and just plain love them, All of my kids are friendly and used to attention when they leave here, though there are some that are just not the loveable kind...it is different with each goats personality the same as it is different with ours, example I am not a touchy feely type person, I don't just give people I know hugs...a kind word is good enough for me. Goats are the same way, you have some that run to you for attention and others that just seem to tolerate you.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Sara when the time comes you have to make the decision for yourself.

I would love to bottle feed a kid or two just for the fun of it once again. Bottle kids have such a bond to you (well most of the time) and there is nothing else like it. 

But you have to be committed to it. If you are then you can make it work. 

our first goat born here was an only bottle baby. She LOVED humans and even slept with my sister inside during the day. (in a crate at night). year later she kidded with a single, I bottle fed him and he was my precious baby. There was no other like him - well Jasper comes reallly close. 

but then there is Jasper my little man. Who was dam raised but latched onto me, and Owen too. 

So you just have to decide for yourself.


----------



## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

i bottle raise all of mine. unless they are a single with no one else to cuddle to they come in for the first night & then go out to the barn in the baby stall. it is very time consuming but i am home all day so have the time to do it. i bought a two week old buck last year & he lived in the house till he was 2 months old. i use to put a diaper on him but i have to tell you they are in to every thing. if the only reason you are doing it is so they will be friendly i would suggest that you take them out of the pen from momma a couple of times a day & play with them. then put them back with her. i know alot of people that dam raise & there babies are friendly. i do agree that the ones i have are so attached to me because i have always been momma. like stacy said when the time comes that is some thing you have to decide. there is no wrong way to do it. the one thing i would not recamend is to try to bottle raise them & then decide not to. you need to either do it or not. they will not do good going from being in the warm house all the time & then going back out to the cold barn


----------



## MiddleRiver (Oct 29, 2007)

I have a question about this - I have two does due in very cold weather ( not by choice ) one is due Dec. or Jan. the other due in Feb. I don't have a barn. I do have a garage the we may be able to put a small stall in depending on how much hay is in there and a few other things. Hubby says NO to a heat lamp - i do kinda agree.

We also have a basement where could put up a small stall ( kid size - so the doe would not fit ). I prefer not to bottle feed and really want my does and kids to stay together, but i want live kids too.

How could i handle this ? I will make sure to be there for the kidding and dry the kid(s) asap. But the garage has no heat so i don't think the kids would do well in there. I figured worst case i will pull the kid(s) and bring inside to bottle feed - but don't want to. Could the kid live inside and just visit mom for feeding for the first week, then would it be strong enough to stay in the garage with her after that for say another week or so ? Any other ideas ? Thanks !


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

If you decide to bring them into the garage, you can leave them with their mom. As long as they have shelter from the weather and enough bedding on the concrete they will be fine. I am sure that most of us , me included, don't have heated barns or sheds. As long as they are out of the weather they will be fine. Make sure you can dry them well so they don't chill, mom does the best in raising babies. No need for a heat lamp either. I have babies coming in January and February and I've had kids born when the single digits hit...I've been there to dry them and made sure they nursed and they all survived. If you can use the garage, do it, it will be for the best.


----------



## MiddleRiver (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks - that makes me feel a bit better. How old do they have to be before they can go outside with the herd ? We do have below 0 weather here in northern WI, so i worry very much about the cold.


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

If it is always that cold at night it would be best to keep the kids in with their moms, do the other goats have shelter from the cold? If not then I would only let them out of the garage when the sun is warm and the wind is calm, but lock them in at night for warmth and to protect them from predators. Also, are these the only 2 goats you have? If so then keep both of them in so they have company even though they are due a month or so apart.


----------



## MiddleRiver (Oct 29, 2007)

Yes the other goats have shelter - they are like a three side run in shelter with a partial front on them - goat sized - in the doe pen i think theirs is 8x 10, and the buck's is 4x6. Plus also some dog houses in there too.

I do have other goats, i've got one buck and 5 does. One doe due Dec./Jan. another Feb. 18, one due March 30th, and one due April 18th. My doeling i'm not sure will be bred or not this year.

Thanks !


----------

