We are planning on getting a Nubian momma who is freshened and a baby Nubian/Lamancha cross. The momma is the aunt to the baby. My question is, someone else is taking the baby's momma early from the farm we are buying her from and so at 4 weeks old, she will not have her momma to nurse from. Is this ok? Should we bottle feed her? Is it too late to introduce the bottle? I don't know if her aunt will let her nurse off of her. I just feel like this is really early to have her on a grain/pasture diet. But, I don't know. We bottle fed our pygmy's till 8 weeks old. And sadly, we lost one this weekend (11weeks)from bloat. He was always a little sensative and small. I just want to give the Nubian the best start we can. Thanks gals!!
"I should be having tea right now." -Lady Annalía Elisabet Catherina Tristán Llorente
4 weeks is way too early to wean a Nubian. The kid should be on milk until atleast 12 weeks maybe even 16 depending on how well it is growing. If the adult doe will let it nurse that would be great, if not you will need to bottle feed. It might be a struggle to get the kid to accept the bottle but you have to be diligent. If the kid is hungry it will eat. Make sure you use a 'lambar nipple' found at Tractor Supply or online from Jeffers. They fit perfectly on a soda bottle.
Good luck feel free to let me know if you have more questions on this.
I have always bottle fed my baby goats because it makes them waaaay more gentle. I have weaned them at 6 weeks all the way up to 12 weeks. The thing is to tie or wire up a half flake of good leafy alfalfa hay in their pen and let them learn to nibble it. This will help develop the rumen. Also only give her real milk which should be easy since you have a milk goat. You could put the kid on the doe but you will then get a more headstrong situation to deal with when you wean her. One of the reasons I bottle feed is because you can run the kids with their moms after a few weeks and they dont try to nurse cause they dont know where it comes from + she will be YOUR baby. Otherwise you will have a kid that you will have to separate or it will be taking all of the milk forever. Dairy goats are bred to give more milk than the kids need so don't feel guilty. After all you are the one payin the food bill. Just stay away from milk replacer cause that is what causes them to bloat from bottle feeding. Its made partly from grain. And the medicated kind is the worst. Its good for calves to prevent scours but it will kill a baby goat, fast. If you bottle feed start out mixing it half strength with water then gradually go full strength if the baby hasnt been nursing for a while or if its cows milk but if it is used to nursing and its goats milk then full strength should be ok. But the times that I have used replacer I have never ever used it full strength or even half strength. It may take a while to teach a kid that old to drink from the bottle just dont give up. You can pull the side of the nipple when she learns and that will let the air out as she nurses. But I never ever give my baby goats any grain. They don't need it and they will probably bloat from it. I only give grain to my milkers and a little to the pregnant does. I know people give a lot of grain to 4H lambs to make them gain fast but I don't know how they do it with out killing them. That is why you don't want to follow the directions on feed or replacer for lambs. Maybe someone else knows how to do it like that but I don't understand how. I just know what works for me. Bottle babies don't grow as fat or sometimes as big as babies left on the moms but dairy goats do better if they aren't fat. Good luck. Laura
Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice and support. The baby FINALLY took the bottle last night! That is a relief. We have also been keeping her away from the grain when we give it to our milker. This is our first time having a bigger dairy goat and we are tickled with how much milk we are getting! We are so happy and excited to try to start making butter and cheese and yogurt...etc. Thank you all again!!
"I should be having tea right now." -Lady Annalía Elisabet Catherina Tristán Llorente
Weaning a Nubian at 4 weeks???
Posted - May 15 2012 : 05:57:30 AM
