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Bottle feeding and dam raising?

726 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Locklyn
Is it possible to both bottle feed and dam raise? I want my kids to be friendly but also want it to be easier on milk test day to bottle feed them. What would be the best scenario for this?
Thank you
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It is hard to do if you don't start it from the beginning.
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It’s possible, but can be hard. Once the babies get attached to mama, they don’t like to let go. You would have to separate them for a little so they would be hungry, in order to get them to take the bottle. Hopefully someone else who has had success with this will reply.
I co - parent. As soon as they are born , I milk mom and feed them with a bottle and leave them with mom. Next feeding I offer a bottle just a bit and then get them to latch. Every morning I take a bottle out… it’s a lot of work to start, but works for me
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I could try separating them during the day for periods of time then when old enough I could separate them at night and bottle feed in the mornings. I would like to keep them on the dam for at least the first few days.
If they are already used to nursing from the start it can be a fight to take a bottle a few weeks later…
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You can bottle feed and allow them
to stay in mama.
It is good practice if mama doesn’t have quite enough milk for all her babies.
Start early so they know both ways.
Don’t over feed.
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I'm going to give it a try I only have 2 does that I will be trying to bottle feed the kids.
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This is interesting , how exactly do you go about this? Can you give me a detailed how to list. please .
I did this last year. I left them with their dams until 2 weeks old. At 2 weeks, I started separating at night and offering a bottle in the morning. If they took the bottle they could go back with their dam afterwards. If they didn't, I kept them separated until they did, offering the bottle a few times a day. But separate at night again even for the ones who did take a bottle. Most of them caught on very quickly and it made a huge difference in the friendliness of my kids, and milk test days weren't an ordeal.
I did this last year. I left them with their dams until 2 weeks old. At 2 weeks, I started separating at night and offering a bottle in the morning. If they took the bottle they could go back with their dam afterwards. If they didn't, I kept them separated until they did, offering the bottle a few times a day. But separate at night again even for the ones who did take a bottle. Most of them caught on very quickly and it made a huge difference in the friendliness of my kids, and milk test days weren't an ordeal.
The breeder I'm buying a doeling from does it this way as well. Which is the way I would prefer to do it.
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