Questions about Milk Replacers, Goat Colostrum, and more...

IMO the colustrum replacements are of no use read the ingredents and you will see animal fat with preservatives, you really need to express colustrum from the dam or use some frozen from another doe. They really only need it for the first 24 hours then I use whole cows milk from the store. I do not like milk replacers, read the ingredents list and you will see why. It has dried cows milk and lot of other unneeded stuff added along with preservatives. Pritchard Teat nipples are the best and all I use.

 

I agree. And I buy organic milk, so I now I'm not pumping antibiotics into their little bodies. Of course the best thing is raw goats milk, if you have to bottle feed.

 

I've used the Omega Energy Drench, the goats seem to like it alot better than Nutri Drench. And I love the Prichard teats for starting kids out on the bottle. I have some of the gel on hand, but I had a hard time getting it down the little kids, I had a few problem ones this year.

 

i agree with the above. if you can not get goats milk then i would give whole cows milk. i have found that the replacer milk gives them scours. also if it is from one of your does milk out the colostrum & use that.you can also freeze it if you have extra for next year. i use the pichartt nipple the first two days then i switch them over to the lamb bar nipple because i use the lamb bar bucket for mine. of course i have full size dairy goats. the lamb bar nipple would be to big for a mini i think.

 

I use milk replacer to feed bottle babies - if I don't have any goat's milk. Obviously I would use the goat's milk if I had it... I raised 4 goatbabies on mostly milk replacer this year and they did fine with it. Harmony was the only one who hadn't had enough colostrum, and she is still smaller than Demi - who had plenty. Also, I lost 2 kids, Rhythm and Melody, to a disease which might not have been fatal if they had received enough REAL colostrum when they were born. They did have sheep's colostrum and cow's colostrum - but the antibodies weren't the same.

I would recommend that if you have a goat kid that has surplus colostrum - freeze it in case you have one another year which doesn't have enough. The frozen colostrum lasts a year, I think, in the freezer. I now have a bottle in the freezer just in case of emergencies like this time!

 

Believe it or not the adverage milk replacer adverages out to $3.00 to $3.50 a gallon and I payed $3.50 a gallon for whole cows milk at the store. If you can find milk on sale or buy it at a Sam's club you can get it cheaper and freeze it. So to me price wise it is the same but ingredents are way different. I have used milk replacers in the past and didnt like the results but it is really a to each his own kinda thing.

 

This is just my opinion, but for colostrum if you can't get the real stuff from the goat(which is the best you can get) here is a good replacer:
3 cups milk
1 beaten egg
1 tsp cod liver oil
1 tbsp sugar

For cows milk, I know I'm probably rocking the boat here but personally, after doing much research, I'd rather give my kids expensive replacer than cows milk. After talking to several breeder friends and doing my own research, many cows throughout the US in dairies carry or have Johnes, and Johnes is not killed by pasturization. I would rather feed replacer than risk my goats getting infected with Johnes.
For milk replacer, Purina, I've found, is probably the best milk replacer you can get, we used that one year when we didn't have enough goat milk and our kids did wonderfully on it.

 

i have used replacer in the past & i did like tht land o lakes the best. again i think it is what works for you & your herd. i know alot of breeders will use the colostrum replacer & milk replacer to make sure that the babies are free of c.a.e.
when i did have to buy milk it was not as expencive as it is now. for a while i even mixed whole milk with the replacer to make it go farther.

 

Sarah you do know that kid milk replacer isnt made from goat milk but infact is cows milk and or soy. If you know that then how is it safer than the whole milk from the store we drink?

 

I don't know for me though I just personally wouldn't use the stuff from the store. Actually, our babies did better on replacer than they did on the stuff from the store, the store milk gave them scours really bad.

 

I fed both of my bottle babys purina replacer. The only problem I had is sometimes it would be lumpy when I mixed it and I had to drive 80 miles just to get it.

 

stacy that work real well for me two years afo. i bought a 2 week old buck & none of my does had freashend yet so i gave him that for 2 months until i had the goats milk.

 

hi all,
just had a baby goat on last sunday the 25th. nov.
baby and mom doing great. it took me a few min to get the newborn to suck then it was all good.
mom is a part haberlasi and boer. baby dad is full boer. baby looks like a boer mom looks like a haberlasi. nice looking baby goat female.
Why do so many people seem to prefer bottle feeding? I had goats when I was a young teenager and don't remember ever having to bottle feed.
the goats I had back then were saneen and gave lots of milk though. and it was in upstate NY very cold in april during kidding time.
Am I missing something here or is it just a preference to bottle feed? thanks goatee

 

goatee with me it is a preference & i sell breeding stock most dairy breeders will not buy if they have not been raised on C.A.E. prevention or are tested for it. also i am home all day & i enjoy it.
i don't think that it is right or wrong just what you enjoy & what works for you.

 

Here is a schedule for the mini goats that I like to use

1-3 days.................6 feedings a day...2-4 oz per feeding with first bottle at 6 am and last at 9 pm (I feed more often and round the clock for weak kids)
3 days-2weeks.........5 feedings a day...2-5 oz per feeding
2-4 weeks................4 feedings a day...5-9 oz per feeding
4-6 weeks................3 feedings a day...10 ounces per feeding
6-8 weeks................2 feddings a day...10 ounces per feeding
8 weeks-3-4 months 1 feedings a day...10 ounces begin reducing the amount in each bottle, until weaning is complete.

If you have a doe who kids a single they are great for stealing some colustrum to freeze. some people freeze it in ice cube trays so you can thaw what you need when you need it. A good place to get a feeding tube sized for the little kids we have is http://www.maggidans.com she sells them and lots of other neat stuff.