# Bottle feeding Boer baby - how much is too much?



## SheriM (Mar 4, 2009)

I've had goats for 9 years now and each and every year I've had at least one or two bottle babies, sometimes as many as 7 at one time, and each time, I struggle with how much to feed them. Most people tell me I am WAY over feeding, but the poor things always seem SO hungry. I'm feeding a little lady now who lives in the house with us, at least till it warms up a whole heck of a lot, and having her around 24/7 makes it seem even worse, I'm sure. She's 12 days old and is taking 8 oz. 5 times a day. I'm sure she would happily take twice that if I let her,  but seriously, how much is too much? Is she really hungry, or is she just reacting to the long period between bottles. I honestly believe bottle feeding messes with their minds because baby goats are supposed to nurse small amounts very frequently, not large amounts spaced far apart.


----------



## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

I would switch her to 4 10oz. bottles. Then work on increasing 3 of the feedings while eliminating the 4th feeding - 3 16 ounce bottles. 

We like to work ours up to 64 ounces of milk/day. 

Also, start letting her go outside to acclimate to the temperatures. As long as she wasn't a preemie, she should be fine. You want to get her out with the herd as soon as is reasonable. Then she can start nibbling at the hay and grain you give your other goats. She will also snuggle up with the other kids, even though she comes running to you for her bottle.

If you are home, then 3 X /day is probably best. If not, (or you are just sick of the feeding schedule) then start working toward twice a day - do it gradually so she is accustomed to more milk in one feeding. Boers can take longer as they are still programmed to have more frequent meals. If she is getting at least 48 ounces/day plus the nibbled feed, she will be fine.

What kind of milk is she getting? Don't forget that Boer milk has a high fat content so regular cow's milk or goat milk won't have as much fat....she may need a smidge more because of that (ours do fine on Saanen milk, so don't sweat that too much - just curious what you are feeding her.) Camille


----------



## Dale in Ar (Feb 8, 2006)

I have been feeding a bottle baby for sometime now and you are doing just about the same thing as I am.The formula that I am using said to feed 8oz 3-4 times a day.Now,I am feeding him twice a day and give him 8-16 oz. or all he will eat of that amount.He is now 6 weeks old and trying to eat some pellets.As far as her acting hungry,they will follow you around and act hungry but I belive they only want attention.Mine will follow me around after I have given him all he want to eat.They follow their mother around also even when they aren't hungry or just ate.Then again,they do follow to get a quick suck now and then.If she doesn't have diarrhea from too much to eat,she is probably getting enough to eat.


----------



## SheriM (Mar 4, 2009)

Thanks for the info. CopperPennyKids, we don't have any other baby goats at the moment. This little gal was a "whoops". I was short of pen space last year and didn't get the bucklings separated early enough. The next youngest goat on the property would be the 10 month old doelings and they're just too big to leave a 12 day old baby alone with them. I will start taking her out for "visits" with the other goats as soon as it warms up again. We had a warmer spell for a few days but now it's back down to -20 C or thereabouts, and that's without the windchill. Too dog-gone cold for a kid that's been in a warm house most of her life and too cold to stand around and supervise while she explores the barnyard.

As for what I'm feeding, until last night, she was on a mix of goat milk and kid milk replacer. I don't have any spare milk right now (put all my extra into making soaps and lotions that I sell) but got 4 liters from a friend. That finally ran out, so now she's on straight replacer. Not my first choice, but it will have to do.

So, you're saying go to 4 10 oz. bottles now, at 12 days old? Wouldn't she do better on more frequent smaller feedings for now? One advantage of having her in the house is that it's not hard to feed her more often. I don't mind staying at the 5 feedings a day but was wondering if 8 oz. was enough or too much or what. After all the bottle babies I've raised, it seems like there's never enough milk in the world for them and I wasn't sure if they were truly hungry or just reacting to the unnatural feeding schedule.

Oh, and just 'cuz, here's the little gal in action.


----------



## dragonchick (Oct 10, 2007)

Awww what a cute baby.


----------



## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

She looks nice.  More frequent feedings are better and if you are enjoying it, then go ahead and do it. We like to increase our feeding amounts slowly - so I would still increase her to about 10 ounces/feeding. Myself, I would want to get to 3 feedings/day... .

Switch her to whole cow's milk from the grocery store. Cheaper than replacer and easier on the tummy. Go 1/2 and 1/2 and then 2/3 and 1/3 and finally 100% cows' milk.

I do agree that some of the crying is just wanting you...but more milk makes for better growth.


----------



## SheriM (Mar 4, 2009)

Hi, Camille. I've fed 1/2 & 1/2 replacer and whole cow's milk in the past but, here at least, whole milk is too expensive to feed 100%. A 4 liter jug (approx. 1 gal) is close to $4.00. At 250 ml (8 oz) per feeding, that jug will only last for 4 feedings, or less than a day (when I'm feeding 5x a day) Replacer, on the other hand, is about $60 for a 10 kg bag. That size bag will do this one kid almost to weaning.

BTW, I went to your website. I LOVE those long-bodied does of yours. I've noticed that most good stock in the States tends toward the longer body than some of the bloodlines we have here. Too bad there are so darn many hoops to jump through to import goats to Canada from the US.


----------



## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

There have been several studies of feeding 100% milk replacer to dairy kids. As adults, they had lower productivity and shorter lives. If you can swing it, I would try to go 50/50 then. Wethers - probably not such a big deal except for the scours problems.

BTW, I checked the price of whole milk at Costco last week....2 gallons for $3.60. Incredible to think that it is 1/2 the price of milk in Canada! Yikes! Sure makes that goats' milk worth its' weight in gold, hey? 

And thanks for the compliments. We love long-bodied Boers as well. They are very deceptive in that they are also very wide and carry a lot more meat on them than the stocky/cobby type of goats. Lovely to watch walk out in the pasture.

Wish I could send you a nice buck...


----------



## cooleyboergoats (Jan 6, 2016)

Ok I know this is helping someone else and I am sorry. I am new to the site and do not know how to start a topic yet. But I have a 4 day old baby boer goat. She has her all her colostrum from her mother. Now I have her on replacer. My question is how much can I feed her at eat feeding that is twice a day?.. it has to be like this because I work a full time job.


----------



## 3crow (Jul 10, 2008)

copperpennykids said:


> There have been several studies of feeding 100% milk replacer to dairy kids. As adults, they had lower productivity and shorter lives.


I absolutely agree with this. When we first got into goats, we had a well established goat rancher give us 3 bottle babies all on formula. Two of the three had much shorter lives and never really flourished....the third we had trouble on the formula bottle and I ended up taking her off the formula and put her on whole milk. She lived to about 5 + years old, showed at the State Fair placing in top 3, and became part of breeding program. However, we did loose her due to birthing issues, after talking with the rancher we figured it was a an inherent issue from her bloodline for her mother was the same age and had the same issue. If I have bottle babies, now I start on formula colostrum but do move them over to whole milk instead of replacer now.


----------



## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

cooleyboergoats said:


> Ok I know this is helping someone else and I am sorry. I am new to the site and do not know how to start a topic yet. But I have a 4 day old baby boer goat. She has her all her colostrum from her mother. Now I have her on replacer. My question is how much can I feed her at eat feeding that is twice a day?.. it has to be like this because I work a full time job.


My first advice is to switch to whole vitamin D cow's milk from the store. 

While a GOOD replacer can work just fine, most are not that great and the good ones are pricy. Especially the 'unimilk' types that are supposedly able to be fed to several species. And they need to be mixed EXACTLY like the label says, every time. Overfeeding with these types can make animals prone to digestive problems. I've NEVER had problems with feeding any volumes of real milk, personally. 

As for amounts, PERSONALLY we feed ours up to 20oz 3x per day. At 2 weeks, we put out quality hay, a lamb starter mixed 2:1 with alfalfa pellets, and minerals/baking soda. To get them up to 20oz 3x per day, we just give them all they want per feeding until they're up to 20oz. You could do the same, just 2 feedings per day, getting them up to 30oz - it would be the same total volume, but in 2 feedings. 

Every year our feeding schedule changes depending on our lives. Some years we continue feeding 3x per day for months - other years, we cut them back to 2x per day depending on how many kids we're raising and how much milk we're getting from our does (preferably, we feed milk from our own dairy goats). They can be weaned as early as 8 weeks of age, but when I have extra milk, its more effective to continue feeding as growthy doe kids and buck kids can be bred their first fall, and it's easiest to give coccidia prevention in milk.  A quality lamb grower is often medicated to HELP with coccidia prevention, is high protein/high energy for growth, and is balanced 2:1 calcium : Phosphrous to help prevent stone formation in buck kids - as well as contains ammonium chloride to further help prevent stones. When weaning, replacing the milk nutrition with other quality nutrition sources is essential for continued good growth. Parasite control is also very essential for continued good growth.


----------



## J&H family farm (Feb 20, 2021)

copperpennykids said:


> I would switch her to 4 10oz. bottles. Then work on increasing 3 of the feedings while eliminating the 4th feeding - 3 16 ounce bottles.
> 
> We like to work ours up to 64 ounces of milk/day.
> 
> ...


----------



## J&H family farm (Feb 20, 2021)

We have a 6 day old boer kid we're bottle feeding (it's our first time). We're feeding 8oz milk replacer every 4 hours, six times a day. I was reluctant to give more per feeding as I thought that would cause her to over eat and then have other issues. Can you advise if we are on the right track or if we need to change what we are doing?


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Milk replacer, if soy based, is not the best option. Some folks use it successfully, some don’t.


----------



## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

If it were me I would switch to whole cow's milk. You can switch by adding some milk to the replacer - more each time you feed - until you're completely on milk.


----------



## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

When I bottle feed babies, I use fresh milk from their mother or another goat, never milk replacer. I give them a ten ounce bottle twice a day, and never bottle feed for more than two days. If I can't get them on their mother, or another mother by then I put them down. It isn't cost effective to bottle feed goats. You will spend more in milk replacer then the goat will ever be worth.


----------

