Sugar Rhea eats what seems to be alot she drinks about 4 to 5oz of milk per feeding every 3 hours is that to much for 2 days old ? if so how much should i feed her ? her mom still trys to kill her when we take sugar rhea out to see her so it's just easier to bottle feed her at this point. we got appointment to have dady re fixed hope it works this time but we have to keep him in barn until appointment so no more prego goats.
Is she a large breed? We usually give 4 oz every 3 hours to our minis. Is she acting hungry? Or overfed? Ive been told a few times that you really can't over feed a baby that young, and that they should have all the milk they want. I somewhat I agree with that, but prefer to have them on a schedule. The first day or 2 I feed them when they are hungry, anytime they are hungry. But then they go for 3 hours. And they get fed 6 times a day til they are month old.
thanks she is a mix lil more than half faint and less than half pyg. she is smallest goat i have had born here. but she will not eat much in the middle of the night not sure if its a good thing or bad lol and she hates water i have to take her to work with me cause she will not eat for my husband makes me fill like a mom again i feel the love
You can overfeed a baby goat. More importantly is to allow long enough time between feedings to digest everything properly. If they have not digested everything and they eat a lot more on top of it they can get FKS. I never feed more than 3 times a day. I have full sized boer and kiko goats. I start with 6-8 ounces 3 x a day and work them up to 16-20 depending on size by adding a few ounces a day. If they down what I give them and still want more I will offer more, within reason. You will use less since you have a smaller baby. I have raised only a few bottle babies but I use advise given to me by someone who raises ALL her babies by bottle.
She's a newborn...I don't bottlefeed but going by how mom feeds new babies, they eat small meals frequently the first week of life,, 2-3 ounces every 2 hours is fine for a mini kid. Once she turns a week old you can increase the amount per feeding by an ounce and stretch the time between bottles by an hour. You can overfeed with a bottle, but going by the "natural" way they eat when it's available 24/7...it's frequent small meals.
Yes you can over feed a kid. But how you are feeding sound fine to me. If you do over feed they don't get FKS but enterotoxemia (aka overeating disease). This is why giving mom her CD/T shot before kidding is important
I agree but from others experience FKS can be caused by large meals fed too close together before all the milk can be digested.
my knowledge on FKS isn't wide but I do know its a selenium and vit E deficiency and I am not sure at this time how over feeding can lead to a FKS issue - will have to look into it more to made a decision on this
ok thanks for all the help she is the most active lil baby i have ever had. what i have been doing is offering her 4 oz ever 4 1\2 hour but if she don't drink it all i offer the rest to her through out the 4 hours and most of the time she will finish it if she acts like she wants more i offer water her poop has been kinda think and hard i think its where she doesn't eat as much for my hubby as she does me but he feeds at night and she may just not eat much at night been feeding at 8:00am 12:30noon 4:00pm 9:00pm 3:00am then all over again if anyone has better feeding plan please let me know
You are both right...FKS isn't caused by overeating but a kid with a full stomach of high quality milk Predisposes a kid to entereotoxemia ,endotoxemia ,bloat ,clostridial infections....I think the exact cause of FKS is still unknown(?) and the best prevention methods out there suggest "over full" kids have a better chance to have FKS issues, even dam raised kids. The best idea would be 3 or 4 small feeding per day to insure all the milk from the previous meal had a chance to be digested. FKS is really only a threat to kids under 2 weeks, so controlled feedings for that period would be important....I also have limited bottle experience. I might feed 10 bottle kids a year, although this year I am on a record pace. I have never had FKS issues and have never lost a bottle kid, came close a few times. I feed 3X per day, similar to the routine Jodie has previously laid out. Amounts vary as to size and breed of the kid, but essentially 8-20 oz 3x a day for 2 months then dropping to 2x per day...then 1x a day at 2.5 months...weaning at 3 months. Always hay, pelleted feed medicated with decox, a good loose mineral, and clean water, as much as they want. I always only use whole milk and throw out any that is unused after feedings.
Thank you Relics for clearing that up. I admit I had taken someone at thier word when given that advice about waiting between meals. I figured anyone who raised close to 500 bottle babies and not lost a one knew what she was talking about. I lost two my first year trying it and looked for help. Since I started following that schedule I have raised several successfully. I avoid bottle babies if I can but things do happen.
