When To Wean Bottle Fed Goat Kids?

Sometimes you may need to raise goat kids through bottle feeding system (if you have lost your doe or if somehow the doe is not able to nurse her babies). But do you know, when to wean bottle fed goat kids?

You need to know the correct age for weaning bottle fed goat kids, if you are raising the kids through bottle feeding system.

It is not nearly as much of a commitment as bottle-feeding a human kid. Because human kids might need bottle feeding for a year or more.

But it's different in caprine variety. They need not more than three months of bottle-feeding or nursing care.

When to Wean Bottle Fed Goat Kids

Here we are describing about the correct age of weaning bottle-fed goat kids.

Colostrum

If you have lost your doe or if you can't allow the doe to take care of the kids, then ensure that the kids get colostrum as soon as possible. Colostrum is a nutrient rich first milk and that provides protective antibodies and kick-starts the digestive system.

when to wean bottle fed goat kids, bottle feeding goats, bottle feeding goat kids

Although your does are the best source of colostrum. So it will be better if your goat kids receive colostrum from their mom. Don't feed the kids their mom's first milk (colostrum) if your doe is affected by diseases, such as caprine arthritic encephalitis.

So having safe colostrum ready on hand is a good idea. Ask the vet in your area and purchase commercial colostrum replacers according to his/her advice.

Bovine colostrum is also safe for goats. So you can also use bovine colostrum. After a few days, use commercial goat milk replacer and stop feeding colostrum.

Dairy Goats

In case of raising dairy goats, you must have to breed the does timely for producing kids to produce milk. But the problem with dairy goats is that, those kids are not often nursed by their moms. And the moms can't take care of their babies by feeding their milk.

Because you are raising dairy goats commercially and milk is your main product. In this case you can pan or bottle-feed the babies.

Because the nursing reflex is instinctual, bottle feeding is much easier than pan-feeding. And through bottle feeding, you will get a better idea of how much milk each baby is consuming.

Your kids need bottle feeding at least four times a day, for the first three weeks. Decrease the feeding time gradually. Feed them three times a day from the third week and offer the kids some solid foods from then.

Introducing Solids

Introduce your kids to some solid foods by the time they are 3 weeks of old, even while you are still bottle-feeding them.

Rumen is the first section of the four part stomach of goats. Food is partially digested in the rumen (with solids regurgitated to form the cud).

And feeding goat youngsters solid foods stimulates development of the rumen. Goats break down the partially digested nutrients, when they chew their cud. Try to give the kids free-choice feed which contain about 14 to 16 percent protein.

Introducing solids to the kids also have many more benefits. It makes the stomach fully functional before final weaning.

Weaning

You can completely wean your goat kids within their three months of age. Although weaning much depends on the growth and health condition of kids.

Some kids become ready to eat solid foods completely before three months, and some kids need longer for taking solids. And some kids don't eat enough solid foods right after weaning.

You have to introduce solid foods to this type of kids regularly. Always monitor the kid's food intake and observe their weight and overall health condition. Also read raising orphan goats and abandoned newborn goat care.

Comments

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...

Search This Blog