How best to care for bottle babies in the winter?

1473 Views 28 Replies 8 Participants Last post by BarnOwl, Dec 16, 2021

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · Dec 7, 2021 (Edited)

So, I never thought I'd have bottle babies unless it was an emergency situation, and I certainly never thought I'd have bottle babies in the winter, but we fell in love with and put deposits down on two Nigerian dwarf bucklings that will come to us at the age of three weeks. What were we thinking, lol? I was looking for a breeder who was willing to stud out a buck...I wasn't looking for kids, I really wasn't. I expected the husband to talk some sense into me, but he said to go ahead and he would help with the feedings...so what was I supposed to do? ha.

Anyway, I’ve never had bottle babies so I would be grateful for advice on acclimating them to the winter weather. We live in southeast Tennessee; it rarely snows but is somewhat cold. Average highs and lows in December 51/30F, January 49/28F, Feb 54/31. Occasionally we will have nights in the 20s and teens in the coldest part of the winter.

In particular, I was wondering

1. Can the kids spend the night in an unheated attached garage and go outside to run-in shed with an attached pen during the days?

* Would they need a heat-lamp at night if they were in the garage?
* Would they need a heat lamp in the run-in shed during the days?

Heat lamps make me nervous, and I prefer not to use them, but the one at Premier1 seems pretty good…albeit somewhat pricey.

2. At what age can the kids live outside full-time in a calf hut or run-in shed? The run-in shed is partially closed in front, and there would be deep straw bedding and hay bales along the sides. I could run an extension cord and add a heat-lamp if necessary.

Thank you in advance!

See less See more

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

Jessica84

· #2 · Dec 7, 2021

First you will need to find out what the breeder has done with them. If she has kept them all snuggly warm under a heat lamp or in the house your going to have to do the same thing and gradually change them over to the real elements. This is kinda a pain in the behind to do and why I stopped bringing bottle babies in the house.
If the breeder has not then they should be fine. You will want nice deep bedding if they are staying in the garage. Cement is cold so the deep layer will keep them off of that. But yes your plan of the garage and out during the day with a run should be fine. You have about the same temperatures I do and I really don’t do anything special for the bottle babies compared to dam raised.

Reactions: 3

MellonFriend

· #3 · Dec 7, 2021

No advice, but congratulations on your new herd sires!

Reactions: 1

happybleats

· #4 · Dec 7, 2021

1. Can the kids spend the night in an unheated attached garage and go outside to run-in shed with an attached pen during the days?

Would they need a heat-lamp at night if they were in the garage?
Would they need a heat lamp in the run-in shed during the days?

Heat lamps make me nervous, and I prefer not to use them, but the one at Premier1 seems pretty good…albeit somewhat pricey.

Answer: you can provide them a small dog house with bedding to snuggle in. With two kids and no draft, They should be fine. As mentioned..may need to slowly adapt them to the elements if seller keeps too warm.

2. At what age can the kids live outside full-time in a calf hut or run-in shed? The run-in shed is partially closed in front, and there would be deep straw bedding and hay bales along the sides. I could run an extension cord and add a heat-lamp if necessary.

Again .provide that smaller shelter with bedding..a small to medium dog house depending what size the kids are. Play timing by ear based on how cold it is. Also whether you want the convenience of them being closer to bottle them.

Be sure seller has them started on the bottle and if feeding replacer, bring a bit home to slowly change to what you will bottle, I suggest either goats milk or whole cows milk.
Follow the 10% formula in how much to feed them.
Weight x 16=weight in oz
Weight in oz x 10% to see how much milk per day they need
÷that amount by 3 to 4 feedings
Adjust as needed +/- for a happy flat but firm tummy.
Congratulations and best wishes

See less See more

Reactions: 2

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 7, 2021

Jessica84 said:
First you will need to find out what the breeder has done with them. If she has kept them all snuggly warm under a heat lamp or in the house your going to have to do the same thing and gradually change them over to the real elements. This is kinda a pain in the behind to do and why I stopped bringing bottle babies in the house.
If the breeder has not then they should be fine. You will want nice deep bedding if they are staying in the garage. Cement is cold so the deep layer will keep them off of that. But yes your plan of the garage and out during the day with a run should be fine. You have about the same temperatures I do and I really don’t do anything special for the bottle babies compared to dam raised.

Thank you! I definitely plan to ask the breeder what the kids are used to. I asked him a lot of questions before putting down the deposit--so I'm biding my time, haha.

I thought perhaps I could put a tarp under a large dog-ex pen in the garage and fill it with straw or something similar...

TripleShareNubians

· #6 · Dec 7, 2021

You've already received some good advice about figuring out what kind of weather they've been in or whether they've been inside. The nice thing I would do is build one of the heated barrels and put it in the corner of the shed because it runs on 125 watt heat bulb and they'll go in and out of it as they need and it's not likely to catch on fire like a heated lamp. The other alternative is I have in the past used those microwavable cat pads and kind of rotated them out, but the heated barrel is so much easier there's usually a lot of places where you can pick up the plastic barrels and it's really easy to make the heated barrel. I prefer the barrels that come with a removable lid because it's easier to put the guts of it away in the summertime and then leave the barrel somewhere that it doesn't matter and nothing can chew up the good parts which are easy to put in the house. You are taking extension cord and cut one in off and put it through a small hole that you made in the top of the lid or the top of the barrel you put a fixture attachment on the inside and get one of those little clamp things that go in the hole and thread the end of the cord through there and hard wire a ceramic fixture to that box and put $125 watt bulb in it depending on what size you go to have I think you said Nigerians I use a nine to a 12-in hole with my Nubians you might need to adjust that a little but I cut that square in the bottom.
I also tend to feed warm milk not hot but more much longer to bottle kids in the cold weather.

See less See more

TripleShareNubians

· #7 · Dec 7, 2021

I make sure I use a ratchet strap to secure it in the corner or using hooks in the middle of the wall. I teach them to use it by putting them in it they'll come out when they're hungry and they'll remember where it's warm and go back. Minor bit spoiled anymore cuz I have two heated barrels in my enclosed kid room and I have a radiant heater that sometimes is on and then they have an extra large doggie door and I teach them how to use that and then I seal it at night and then the daytime when the weather supposed to be reasonable I pulled the block out of it so they can use it and they'll go in and out to their run as they like.

See less See more

Reactions: 2

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 7, 2021

happybleats said:
Answer: you can provide them a small dog house with bedding to snuggle in. With two kids and no draft, They should be fine. As mentioned..may need to slowly adapt them to the elements if seller keeps too warm.

Oh, I actually have a couple extra igloo doghouses, a large and a medium! I scooped them up from craigslist when I got my does but they wouldn't use them--little stinkers.

Be sure seller has them started on the bottle and if feeding replacer, bring a bit home to slowly change to what you will bottle, I suggest either goats milk or whole cows milk.
He says he starts them out on bottle from birth and transitions to a lambar. The breeder milks his does so I assume the babies are started on goats milk, which unfortunately I won't have. I might be able to buy some to help in the transition.

Thanks for the info!!

=

Reactions: 1

happybleats

· #9 · Dec 7, 2021

Whole cows milk works well and if you can get a few quarts of goats milk from the breeder can mix a but until on all cows milk. If not, just give quality electrolytes in place of milk for 12 hours then go cows milk. Just makes the transition a bit easier for tummies. Do a pinch of baking soda in first bottle and a bit of goat specific probiotics in their last bottle.

Reactions: 1

toth boer goats

· #10 · Dec 7, 2021

All really good advice.

I do use heat lamps, it really helps.

Reactions: 1

goatblessings

· #11 · Dec 7, 2021

DO - make sure the babies are taking the bottle well. Time your pick up when you can see them take the bottle.... check their butts for no poop problems, and feed exactly what the breeder has them on for a couple of days, and if you need to transition, do so slowly. Make sure you have a thermometer for checking their temps, probiotics, baking soda pinch in the first bottle, and plan early coccidia prevention. All above work well and are well thought out. Have fun with the kids!

Reactions: 4

Dandy Hill Farm

· #12 · Dec 7, 2021

Woohooo!! Congratulations on your new boys!! Would love to see pictures when you have some.

Also, your husband is a keeper!! Any guy that says yes to more goats is a true keeper! 😁😂😋

Reactions: 3

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 8, 2021

TripleShareNubians said:
I make sure I use a ratchet strap to secure it in the corner or using hooks in the middle of the wall. I teach them to use it by putting them in it they'll come out when they're hungry and they'll remember where it's warm and go back. Minor bit spoiled anymore cuz I have two heated barrels in my enclosed kid room and I have a radiant heater that sometimes is on and then they have an extra large doggie door and I teach them how to use that and then I seal it at night and then the daytime when the weather supposed to be reasonable I pulled the block out of it so they can use it and they'll go in and out to their run as they like.

Nice! They look really cozy in there. I actually have a couple of big 55 gallon barrels that I made into pig-waterers, but my pigs wouldn't use them, so they're just sitting around.

Reactions: 1

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 8, 2021

Dandy Hill Farm said:
Woohooo!! Congratulations on your new boys!! Would love to see pictures when you have some.

Also, your husband is a keeper!! Any guy that says yes to more goats is a true keeper! 😁😂😋

I can't wait to have pictures to share.

I was mostly just making conversation when I told my husband about the babies...I wasn't expecting him to say "go ahead and get them." I thought I'd better put the deposit down before he changed his mind.

Reactions: 2

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 8, 2021

Thanks again for all the help everyone. I've been searching on and off for the last several days on how to raise bottle babies in the winter, and pretty much all I could fine were sources that said keep them dry and draft-free...I feel like I have a much better idea what that looks like now. When I win the lottery (which will be hard since I don't play the lottery, lol) I'm going to have a spiffy new barn built.

Incidentally, I did find a bit of information on kidding in the winter and drying the kids after birth. That sounds like it could be quite an adventure! whew!

Reactions: 3

TripleShareNubians

· #16 · Dec 8, 2021

BarnOwl said:
Thanks again for all the help everyone. I've been searching on and off for the last several days on how to raise bottle babies in the winter, and pretty much all I could fine were sources that said keep them dry and draft-free...I feel like I have a much better idea what that looks like now. When I win the lottery (which will be hard since I don't play the lottery, lol) I'm going to have a spiffy new barn built.

Incidentally, I did find a bit of information on kidding in the winter and drying the kids after birth. That sounds like it could be quite an adventure! whew!

It's not too bad to get them dry I use like I said towels and paper towels and then a hair dryer and more of the above. It is well worth the effort they do better and they don't turn into frozen kidscicles.

Reactions: 1

toth boer goats

· #17 · Dec 8, 2021

BarnOwl

Discussion Starter · #18 · Dec 15, 2021

Yikes, we are picking up the babies next Tuesday! They will be 3 and 4 weeks old and have been bottle feeding since birth, so presumably (fingers crossed), they are taking the bottle well. I'll make sure they are in good condition before I take them, but the breeder seems professional and experienced so I'm not too worried. The breeder uses raw cow's milk from his own cows, and recommends we use whole cows milk from the store. So that will be much easier for me to acquire than goat's milk right now.

The breeder also says that the babies are in an unheated barn with opened windows and an open door, and doesn't recommend heat lamps. So, I think I'm going to keep them outside in the "nursery" I made for the doelings during the day, and bring them in the garage at night (just for ease of the early morning and nighttime feed). I'm in and out all day so day time feedngs in the backyward shouldn't be too inconvinient.

What do you all do for coccidia prevention? I'm going to ask the breeder at pickup what they use, but I was also wondering what others prefer? One of my doe's breeders uses sulfamed (I'll have to recheck my notes, but I think she said every 21 days until they're 5 or 6 months old)....

See less See more

Reactions: 1

happybleats

· #19 · Dec 15, 2021

How exciting. Sounds like a great plan in feeding and housing.
For coccidia toltrazuril is great but is expensive right now. My next choice is Dimethox (also sold as sulfa drug) it's injectable we give oral. 1 cc per 5 pounds day one and 1 cc per 10 pounds day 2-5 is common dosage. This is 5 days every 21 days until weening age. Then as needed based on fecal or indication of infection.

Reactions: 2

happybleats

· #20 · Dec 15, 2021

Herbs and/or essential are effective as well if you prefer the natural route. For herbs I use and like land of havilah. Some use Fir Meadow. For ess. Oil I choose DoTerra brand. Oregano. Cinnamon and clove are great to add for coccidia but are hot oils so need heavy dilution.

Reactions: 2

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.