Willoughby Croft
Bottle Babies
As of 2021 we are offering our buyers the opportunity to bring their goat kids home early, as bottle babies. Previously we had dam raised our kids here at Willoughby Croft. However, in 2020 we raised 3 bottle babies and really enjoyed the experience. We integrated those 3 doelings into the herd, slowly, starting at 2 to 3 weeks old. They easily became happy, healthy herd members. They were also very friendly towards people but not loud or demanding at all. This has taught us 2 things. Bottle babies can grow and mature just as well as dam raised kids...and being a bottle baby does NOT have to mean they are spoiled. It's all in the way they are raised. We also feel that leaving our farm early, as a bottle baby, makes their transition much less stressful. As long as they have their bottles, they are happy.
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We now have ALL of our freshened does on 305-day milk test. We milk them all, twice per day. We also show our goats. It makes sense, for our management style, to sell our non-keeper kids as early as possible. Having kids on a bottle means they can be sold at any time. We can also sell a dam at any time, even if keeping her kids.
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When kids are dam raised, exclusively, they need to stay with their dams for 8 weeks. We release our dam raised kids at 8 weeks old. We understand that is a l-o-n-g time to wait for your new baby goat. Having them on a bottle means they can go to their new homes as soon as we release them for sale (which will be around 1 to 2 weeks old). Their buyers can bring those babies home and bond with them sooner.
Bottle babies will come with some goat milk to get them started. You can either keep them on goat milk or transition them to regular whole milk from the grocery store. We provide FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS, below, so you'll be able to determine how much to feed them each day and when to wean them.
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FAQs:
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Q: Aren't bottle babies a lot of work?
A: We don't release our bottle babies until they are totally trained to a bottle, and we are confident they are healthy and thriving (anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks old., depending on the kid). At that point they are only getting 4 bottles a day. By 2 weeks old they are ready to start being introduced to the rest of your herd. Be sure to start with short, supervised visits and increase the time as you become comfortable that they will be safe.
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Q: Isn't being dam raised preferable?
A: We have raised (and sold) many, many bottle babies. All are currently happy, healthy members of their herds. We see absolutely no difference between them, and the dam raised kids we've retained. All grew well, are healthy, and well-adjusted.
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Q: I've been told bottle babies are loud and needy?
A: This has not been our experience. We move our bottle babies out with the herd as soon as possible so they have other goats to socialize with and learn from.
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Q: What kind of milk should I feed my bottle baby?
A: Goat milk is the best but if you don't have access to that you can use whole cow milk (red cap) milk from the grocery store. It works just fine. We DO NOT recommend using commercial milk replacers. Your baby will be provided with some goat milk when you pick them up.
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Q: When do I start feeding my bottle baby hay/grain?
A: Your baby has been receiving bottles while on our farm but they have also been nibbling hay, alfalfa and medicated grain (Purina Grower with a coccidiastat). You can provide them with these foods daily, as soon as you get them. Just remember to ALWAYS introduce new foods SLOWLY. Also ALWAYS have clean water available. As they grow they will become more and more interested in the feed you provide.
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Q: I want to keep my baby in the house until they are fully integrated into the herd. How do I do this?
A: When we've had a bottle baby who needed to be kept in the house temporarily, we kept them in our kitchen. They had a plastic crate with blankets to sleep in. We could close them in at night and whenever we had to leave to run an errand. We used a baby gate to keep them in the kitchen. We spend a LOT of time in our kitchen, so they got plenty of attention but were able to have quiet time for naps.
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Q: How did you keep your bottle babies from peeing and pooping everywhere?
A: While in the house our babies wore diapers with onsies on over them to hold them securely in place. Having the kids in the kitchen made occasional leaks easy to clean up.
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Bottle Baby Feeding Instructions
Goat milk is always the best but if you don't have access to that you can use regular whole cows milk (red top cap) from the grocery store. Please DO NOT use commercial milk replacers. They can cause all sorts of problems.
Weigh your goat. You can do this with your bathroom scale. Hold the kid and weigh yourself. Then weigh yourself without the kid. Subtract your weight from the weight holding the kid. That number is the kid's weight.
Multiply your kid's weight by 16. This will give you their weight in ounces.
Multiply that weight in ounces by .20. This will give you 20% of the kid's body weight which is the TOTAL amount of milk they should receive PER DAY.
Divide that number by the number of feedings per day and that will give you the total ounces they should receive EACH FEEDING.
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You will need to weigh them at least once per week and adjust their milk consumption accordingly.
Week one: 5 feedings per day.
Week two: 4 feedings per day.
Weeks three thru six: 3 feedings per day.
Weeks seven thru ten: 2 feedings per day.
Weeks eleven thru sixteen: 1 feeding per day ( and I limit this to 8oz.)
Week seventeen: O feedings. Time to fully wean.
The above is the schedule I used for all of my bottle babies.