[laurelsh]

I got my 1st baby goats a few days ago! Yeay! One is 8 wks and doing great. The other is 6 wks. Was planning to bottle feed her for a few weeks, but she won't take bottle, or if she does, only 1 oz at a time. Breeder said she was eating on her own, and I have seen her eat hay & alfalfa pellets, but should I keep trying to make her take milk? Today is day 4. Plus I can't find any treats that she will eat: no on raisin, apple, nuts, corn chips. Please advise on bottle feeding!

 

[ksalvagno]

Who won't take the bottle, the 6 week old or the 8 week old?

 

[laurelsh]

The 6-week old won't take bottle. The 8-week old seems fine on her own. Breeder said she tried to bottle feed the 6-week old before sending home with me and she wouldn't take it, but thought she'd be ok anyway.

 

[ksalvagno]

Is she eating grain and hay? Have you tried putting milk in a bowl for her? Six weeks old is really a bit young not to have milk but they can survive.

 

[laurelsh]

She is eating alfalfa pellets & hay. I'll get Goat Chow today for them. Have not tried milk in a bowl, but I will! Any advice re: treats? She also said no to banana. Thank you.

 

[happybleats]

try a little honey on the nipple..first put some on your finger and let her taste it...do it gain an dthis time touch the back of her tongue to stimulate the sucking reflex...do this until sheis sucking like crazy the honey off your finger then slip in the nipple withhoney on it..she will taste the honey first...make sure themilk is nice and warm...it might take a time or two but dont give up....the milk will do her good...Might try the same ting with the 8 week old..try to get another months of milk in them..best wishes and congrats on your new babies

 

[laurelsh]

Okay. She did not love the honey, didn't really want to taste it, but did have sucking reflex when I put finger/honey on back of her tongue, and then took 1/2 oz milk. After that she bucked & wanted to get away from me. I will try the bowl of milk in a little while suggested by Karen S.

 

[laurelsh]

P.S. It seems that everything I'm doing to try to get her to take the bottle is making her like me less, which is why I'm trying to figure out what kind of treat she will like.

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

Was she really bottle fed, or did the breeder have her on the dam? Normally, my goats that have been bottle babies, they will know what a bottle is until the day they die! I have an 11 year old doe that will drink from a bottle if I let her

 

[laurelsh]

The baby was on the dam. The breeder was supposed to get her on the bottle before I brought her home, but told me she wouldn't take it well, but that I could try. She assured me the baby would be okay, said she was eating. But everything I'm reading says they need milk until 8-12 weeks, so in hindsight I wish I'd left her there 2 more weeks. Breeder has assured me 2x that the baby will be fine, but I'm stressing over this.

 

[ShelbyAnn50]

When I got my six day old bottle baby it was absolutely horrible to feed him. We needed two people for the job. One person would hold them down, and the other would shove the bottle in and hold it there. After about two weeks of that routine he would finally take it without force! Good luck!

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

I would maybe put her in a head lock between your legs and shove the bottle in her mouth, slowly squeeze it to get some milk out and she might start drinking.

 

[laurelsh]

Yes, I've been doing that: holding her between my knees, holding the bottle in her mouth, squeezing some in... she'll take a little bit only. That's how I get 1/2 to 1 oz in her.
These are my FIRST goats. The 8-week old is doing great, friendly, loves raisins. The 6-week old is as I've been writing (although she's not shaking any more after the move here), and I can't find anything she loves (tried: raisins, nuts, corn chip, apple, banana, cereal, honey, corn kernels from cob).
How important is it to make her drink milk, when she is only getting 3.5 oz in 3 feedings? Anything else I should try as far as treats?
Thanks for all your help.

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

How much does she weigh? And what breed?

 

[goathiker]

What about Milk Replacer pellets? She may eat them, your feed store even might have them even the ones for foals or calves would be fine as well.

 

[laurelsh]

Okay, that was an interesting exercise! She weighs about 18 pounds, is a Mini-Nubian. Her height at the top of her shoulder is 16".
My local feed store doesn't have milk replacer pellets, but does have Calf Manna (25 lb is smallest size).

 

[laurelsh]

Oh, also wanted to say, she was born 5/10, and will be 7 weeks on 6/28, Friday. I've had her since 6/23.

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

She should be getting roughly 34oz of milk per day. Calf manna is better than nothing if she wont drink milk. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals, high protein etc. That will help her grow.
Just introduce it slowly.

 

[laurelsh]

Wow! That's the 1st thing I've offered her (other than hay & alfalfa pellets) that she's wanted to eat! Also the 8-week old. They both love it. I gave them each about 1/8 to 1/4 cup just now. When you say introduce it slowly, can you be more specific? This is such a great help. I'm so relieved to see her eagerly eating something I've offered.

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

I meant slowly as in don't dump an entire bag in the feeder at a time, lol
Just give her a little bit like you are doing, and slowly increase the amount every day or two.
Say day one she is getting 1/2 a cup a day, and then day 2 add a tiny bit more ( say 1/8 cup), same for all the days to follow, untill you work her up to about 1/2 a pound a day or so. As she gets older and bigger you can slowly increase it to 3/4 to 1 pound a day...