# starting solid food



## MOgoatlady (Oct 23, 2012)

Our little babies are 5 days old and our little boy is already trying hay. What would you advise about what age and what kind of feed to start them on? they are getting 6oz, 4x a day right now.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

What do you feed the moms?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

About 2 weeks old, is a good time to start, but not all babies are kean on grain, just start them out on a little grain, that you would feed to your does. alfalfa in a good feed, just a little to start. Babies at 5 days old, just nibble and play with their food sort to speak, mimicking their herd mates and momma. 

Make a creep feeder and put a little bit of feed in there. Make sure, you show the kid where it is and how to get in.


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## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

I offer a little pure plain old soybean meal in a pan to mom as a snack and the babies watch her and play with it. They may only mouth it at first, but eventually they will start eating it. It is palatable, high in protein, and safe. 

There have been some studies on cattle (another ruminant) showing that if you start them out well on eating grain, that they develop the papillae on the stomach linings for digesting hay sooner. Go figure! It is counter-intuitive, but that is what they found when they researched it. Before I read the studies, I used to put hay and feed of various types into the creep feeder -- now I just put soybean meal with a container of water nearby, and in winter I place it under a protected heat lamp. 

Don't feed mom too much plain soybean meal -- she should be on her own diet for her job (dairy goat or meat goat diet) but you can leave soybean meal free-choice in the creep feeder for the kids. Giving mom that small soybean meal snack for the first few days lets babies understand that it is OK to eat. They will mouth things long before they are able to eat or digest them, but this is a good thing. When they are ready they will eat, and the earlier exposure to a high-protein food gives them a head start.


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## MOgoatlady (Oct 23, 2012)

Sorry, I was unable to get on here all day! I don't have the mom, they are being bottle raised and are in the house right now. My adult doe is eating Purina goat chow, my buck noble goat. They get a local grass hay (so local that the farmer baled it in the field next to us and dropped it over our fence lol) and I also have all stock sweet feed on hand. I will be going to town tomorrow so I can pick up something if anyone has any ideas on a good starter feed.


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## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

Probably the Noble Goat is the right food for them. Give them a little - -they may not eat it right away, but they will mouth it and think about it. 

Start with putting out just a little, because if the don't want to eat it, you might take the stale food away from them every other day or so and put some fresh in front of them.

It just occurred to me that not all feed stores carry soybean meal. I have to go to a mill in another county to get it in 100 lb bags. It is economical if feeding a lot of kids. 

With just two kids, Noble Goat might be easier for you.


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## MOgoatlady (Oct 23, 2012)

Thank you Squires, I will offer them some this morning.


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## S+S Homestead (Jul 23, 2012)

I agree with Squires, start with a little of the Noble goat. Our babies started nibbling on grain in about 5 days.

Stay away from the sweet feed. Once they get a taste for the sweet feed, they might not want to go back to eating the more nutritionally appropriate goat formula. 

Squires, thanks for the tip on soybean meal! I live in an area with soybean fields all around. While I have not seen any sold in the local feed stores, I'm sure there has to be some available somewhere.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

If you really notice, they are not eating the hay and things, they put it in their mouth and taste iot, then spit it out. They will do this on a lot of things, but they will start to eat it sooner or later. 

When I had my bottle babies, I would leave hay and grain out for them to "play with" at about 4 weeks old.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Because I leave kids with mom, they can try it at any time. I have found the earliest that they seem to try feed is 1 week and the oldest was about 6 weeks old.

I would also go with the Noble Goat for the kids.


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## MOgoatlady (Oct 23, 2012)

I have given the babies a small bowl with the Noble Goat, and the little boy has been tasting it, then seeing what kind of "tricks" he can do with the bowl lol. Thank you everyone, I will keep offering it!


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## MollyLue9 (Oct 14, 2012)

I have been told that kids should be welcome to try any kind of solids they like. I've heard that it simply makes weaning them easier. And if it's just coastal hay it certainly won't hurt. How big are his teeth?


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