# Bottle kids "coughing" after drinking.



## Bordercollie (Jul 11, 2012)

Hi everyone. 
Some of my bottle babies have this way of "coughing", a wet sounding sound they make somewhere between a cough and a choke each time they finish their bottle and sometimes they have to stop 3\4 way through their bottle to cough before finishing their bottle. Is it just that they are being piggies and drinking too much too fast? The lambs in question are all being fed 330ml of cow's milk 3x a day from a plastic soda bottle with a hole in the side. I use Roynhardt latex teats, the only ones I've been able to get here in RSA. Would it be beneficial to switch them to glass bottles, as some websites and forums suggest, forcing them to slow down their drinking? I have unfortunately still been unable to get some VIT A,D,E for them, I do however have some powdered milk formula for lambs that on closer inspection contains all those vits, should I switch them to that? 
Any other advice would be much appreciated. 


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

It does sound like they are getting too much too fast...a glass bottle will force them to slow down as they need to release to get air in the nipple...
also be sure they are being fed the correct amount..
I would stick to the cows milk..

weigh them and multiply that by 16 to get weight in oz, multiply that number by 10-12% to see how much they need PER DAY...thr divide that into 3-4 bottles per day, check tummies after each feeding..you want a firl but flat tummy..not sunken in or pooching out too much..also you want them to be active...if they are lethargic after eating...they are eating too much at once....re weigh them weekly and adjust amount....


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## Bordercollie (Jul 11, 2012)

Happy, thanks. I'll weigh them tomorrow to check on feeding amount. I'm trying to stick to the cows' milk, but we only the one cow and while she tries her best, there are six hungry little goats to feed.... 


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

You can also use whole cows milk from the store...mix it with your fresh milk to make it go farther..

I meant to ask..are we talking about sheep or goats?? when I had a bottle lamb we fed goats milk successfully but I read sheep have a different need then goats when it came to milk...here is a quote from what I was reading..



> Last year, I had complained to a friend about the cost of lamb milk replacer, and she shared with me her recipe for making it from scratch. She has been raising sheep for many years, and says that this recipe works great for her, grows big lambs, and never causes scours or diarrhea. So I thought I'd give it a try this year.
> 
> Here is the recipe:
> 
> ...


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## Bordercollie (Jul 11, 2012)

Happy, no their goats, the sheep doesn't have any bottle babies so far this year. Store bought milk is a bit expensive. Its around R10 a litre here. But I'll do some math and see how much I short and whether store bought milk might be an option.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

I have a couple of bottle kids who do the same thing as what you're describing and I've found that if I don't cut an 'X' in the nipple and hold their bottle more horizontal (as opposed to vertical) it limits how fast they can drink it and prevents them from aspirating it.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

> no their goats


Ok..just making sure lol : ) IF you have to switch to replacer...do so very slow..mixing your current milk with the replacer 90/10% a few days.decreasing your current milk and increasing the amount of replacer...any changes in stool...go slower...be aware some goats do not do well on preplacer and may refuse milk, become lethargic, stool may stop or become watery...just keeping alert to any changes and go slow and any problems will be spotted quickly : ) This along with feeding correct amounts they should be fine..


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## Bordercollie (Jul 11, 2012)

Happy, thanks no I'm keeping an Eagle eye on them. For any signs of ilness in general.


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