# Advice...Big group of babies coming



## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

OK folks. I have a large group of Boer mix newborns coming within the next three weeks and I want to know what you experienced bottle baby farmers recommend for optimal health and growth. We have a warm, draft free barn for them with more than adequate space. Also an outside run as they get bigger and the weather is good. They will be on doe's match milk replacer by Land o lakes. They will have a bucket system where they all get all they can drink three times a day. What else would you advise for optimal health? I have raised bottle babies many times but I'm curious what other breeders do in addition to the basics.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

are you going to let the kids nurse on the does?
first add 300 eu of vitamin E a day to the does grain ration. vitamin E will increase your kid survival rate in cold weather.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Make sure all babies get to drink and don't get knocked out of the bucket - so more nipples than you really need. Also practice coccidia prevention monthly!


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Babies come without mother's so no. We will be bottling/lambar freezing them. How do you cocci prevention with a group this large. Can dimethox be put in the milk?


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Unless you are monitoring each goat's weight, amount needed, and how much each is getting, I don't see where this would be effective. You might want to consider Baycox, at least you only have to give it once, instead of 5 days in a row. I don't raise a large number of kids, but a breeder friend does put it in their milk, BUT bottle feeds each kid appropriate to dosing and weight. Needless to say, she has a LOT of barn help.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very good advice by all.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

The most babies we have had on bottles at one time was 25 kids. I bottle fed each their own bottle to make sure they were getting the right amount and monitoring them. One day one drank half the bottle and stopped. I knew then that he wasn't well. Was able to start looking for other signs and treat. I use baycox for cocci prevention and it works really well for us. It is a lot of work feeding the individual bottles but I prefer it as I can keep a close eye on each baby. We have a four bottle feeder than hangs on the fence. We get four kids out, feed those 4 and whilst eating check them over and as they all finish at different times we can weigh them and give them a good check then back into the pen and the next one out on that bottle. We swap 1 for 1 until that pen is done and then move to the next pen. In the morning and lunch feeds it's just me and at night my partner helps so that's when we do weights too.


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## Bansil (Jul 23, 2015)

no advice to give, it's a good thing wifey didn't see this...or there would be "kid"napping issues :bday:

good luck!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I agree with the baycox, but keep in mind that it is not USDA approved so if these are meat kids be very careful. Baycox is such a blessing with large amounts of kids. It doesn't take them long to figure out the drill with the 5 day meds so only having to treat once is great. I usually only treat on the 3 and 6 week time and then figure they are eating great really well by then so they get a medicated feed (for cocci) in a creep feeder that they have access to 24/7. I just make sure feeders are full so there's no worry that one gets left out.
I detest bottle babies so I would do the lamb bar as well too. I also like the idea of milk out all the time. I tried the cold lamb bar this year and was really happy with how the kids were doing till I got a bad batch of milk :/


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Jessica84 said:


> I agree with the baycox, but keep in mind that it is not USDA approved so if these are meat kids be very careful. Baycox is such a blessing with large amounts of kids. It doesn't take them long to figure out the drill with the 5 day meds so only having to treat once is great. I usually only treat on the 3 and 6 week time and then figure they are eating great really well by then so they get a medicated feed (for cocci) in a creep feeder that they have access to 24/7. I just make sure feeders are full so there's no worry that one gets left out.
> I detest bottle babies so I would do the lamb bar as well too. I also like the idea of milk out all the time. I tried the cold lamb bar this year and was really happy with how the kids were doing till I got a bad batch of milk :/


Oh I didn't know that about baycox. In Australia it is the most used cocci medication and easily available.


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

The are meat kids and the buckling a we are raising for the Easter market so if I can keep from giving at least the male's the meds I will. I've done lambar in the past with about a hundred babies. Key is to fill as needed but not allow milk to sit...Especially in hot weather


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Well it sounds like you have a little better set up then I do so you could do corid or dimithox......I believe it's called. Those are approved and as long as they are not on the list for the antibiotic no no going to happen starting today :/ plus being bottle babies in sure you could catch them much more easy lol when I do my kids they are same raised as well as in a pasture so it's a little hard to get my hands on them for a full 5 days


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Well they have seven buckling a born so far...Here we go


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

With the new regulations you will need an rx for the dimethox but not corid.


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Yeah I saw that. I usually go through my vet and get a gallon jug anyway. Check out the first ten boys!








I already got a message this morning that she has 5 girls and 5 boys just since yesterday afternoon when I picked these guys up! And four does in labor. Picking more up tomorrow. All the females I'm keeping. I'm excited! I love Boer goats...Well...Any goats but definitely Boer ones.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Adorable, congrats.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

They are gorgeous!

It must be tough to keep costs down though - do you auction them in April or sell them to individual buyers or offer custom butcher?

I'm extra curious/nosey so no need to share financials if you don't want to! I'm always interested to learn how other folk's meat operations work. We breed, birth, raise, and sell a group weaned meat goats to a processor or someone who raises them out to a larger size each year. Not the most profitable method, but it works!

Are you buying these from a large scale goat dairy? They look quite boer! How come they don't retain the females? And do they let them nurse off the dam's once to get colostrum or milk out colostrum and bottle or not at all?


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

This is our first year doing this and also a way to get our own Boer herd going. Most of the boys are being raised for the Easter market auction. We may keep a few to sell outright or have processed to sell. The females we are keeping and starting our foundation herd with. I am buying them from a fairly good size milking herd. The farm has all Boer/dairy crosses but breeds to a full Boer buck so the babies sell easily. These kids are all 3/4 Boer most have Nubian in them or sable. She only retains females that are 50/50 crosses for her milking operation. They feed the dams colostrum after birth via bottles.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

There's a lady in Nevada that does the same thing with her dairy goats. But she only breeds the ones she's not impressed with the lines to boers and sell the kids as bottle babies. Two of my favorite does came from there


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Picking up 13 doelings and 9 more buckling a in the morning


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Well here's the newest group! Got my starter does yay! Got a beautiful dark mahogany paint doe! My daughter claimed her of course lol. So ten more bucks and 16 doelings weeee


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Those are pretty thick kids for being part dairy!! I see some weak ankles there, if you have a vet I would ask for a bottle of BOSE and give them 1/2cc, if not not a big deal they have selenium and vitamin E paste for goats that you could get and give to them. Being bottle babies they usually are willing to suck down anything you put in their mouth lol


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

The dairy gave them shots of bo-se already. I have a bottle already too so am prepared should I need to give any more.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That sure is a lot of kids. Sure are cute!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

rebelINny said:


> The dairy gave them shots of bo-se already. I have a bottle already too so am prepared should I need to give any more.


Great!! Ok then leave them be for now and they should straighten out. They don't look terrible just a little weak.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

They sure are cute!!


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

Wow gorgeous kids!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

That's a ton of kids. They are so cute!!!


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Picking up 17 more today. 7 more does for my breeding herd!! Woohoo


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

WOW! Pics when you get them


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## Bansil (Jul 23, 2015)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> That's a ton of kids. They are so cute!!!


:shocked: if not now, they will be in a few months :slapfloor:

so how many is the grand total :scratch:


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

So far ...55. two more were born before we picked up. Here's the last bunch of 19. Ugh won't let me load the video from phone.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Lol when I have one bottle baby it drives me up the wall, I would like to know if you still have your sanity in 3 months lol


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Lol I've raised this many bottle babies before. It's crazy but just like with anything, when you get used to it you get a routine and it's not bad


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

This is the crew. I have lost two out of 55 which stinks. Both were out of the same dam, which leads me to believe maybe they aspirated at birth and had pneumonia or something else wrong with them. There didn't seem to be any reason at sight why they passed. They were triplets. The last doeling is doing very well.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is a lot of kids. Sorry you lost 2.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

WOW!!


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I'm curious - do you keep any type of individual records at this point? Are they ear tagged or tattooed so you can do so or you just treat them all the same for now? I imagine you would be more interested in having detailed records for keeper does but less important for the Easter meat kids.


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I keep records on all, even the boys from as soon as I get them. All have ear tags. Yellow boys, blue girls. All tags are numbered. I keep them all up to date as far as any shots needed or anything on my easykeeper herd management software. I have a check list with each kid that I check off each one every feeding as they feed to make sure no one is missed. One is junky sounding so getting penicillin which is recorded in my software. It also is set to give me reminders straight to my phone for the next five days.


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

These guys are growing like mad! Going through 25 gallons of milk a day!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I have an insane amount of respect for you lol That is a LOT of babies! :lol: too cute  I love that you use a software manager to keep track. Good thinking!


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Did I see on another thread you found a buyer for all kids once they hit 80lbs for $3.00/lb live weight?

That's super, especially if the buyer picks them up from you! But the 80lb minimum may force you to feed milk for longer. 

How are your growth rates so far? How about your milk costs? Are they all eating pelleted grain really well yet? That will help you hit 80 lbs faster!

Hope everything is going well and you have some special keeper does pick out! Does the dairy you get them from do any disease testing?


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Yes that was my post about the $3lb. So far growth rates seem very very good. They have doubled in size in a month. The four week old boys are between 27-32 lbs. I'm cutting milk off at 8-10 weeks and they only want grass/hay fed so it may take a bit longer to get to 80lb. I added it up and we are spending about $1 a day per goat in formula. Even with that cost we will be making out well.


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

The farm we get them from has a closed herd and hasn't tested but hasn't had any issues either. Their breeding buck had been tested negative on everything.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

How goes it?


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Pretty good. Just trying to get them to 80lb as quickly as possible. My biggest ones are about 55-60 lbs at 12 weeks so I guess that is pretty good


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## wifeof1 (Mar 18, 2016)

Wow. This is incredible. How did you keep them from overeating, and getting sick? How the heck did you warm the bucket of milk?


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I mixed the formula only when I was ready to feed with hot water. That way by the time I got up to the barn it was warm. I took extra...based on how much was needed. We observed the whole feeding pulling about ten in at a time, watching them eat, as we saw their bellies fill so there was no more hollowed out hips we knew they had enough and put them outside. We did lose a few from bloat even though we took all precautions to carefully monitor their intake and so on. But out of 60+ babies it was a small number.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

What was your final count of kids?


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