[clydesdaleclopper]

We have had to take poorly girl's kids away from her as they weren't taking enough from her during their supervised feeding sessions and she is now getting worse rather than better 


They are 8 days old and I would appreciate some advice on how much milk they should be taking and in how many feeds. One has got the hang of feeding and is taking about 12oz 4 times a day. The other one hasn't really worked out how to suck and is only taking about 6oz a time. None of my books give any clear guidelines on how much to feed at different ages etc.

[jinglejoys]

Little and often if you can manage several feeds a day,are you feeding goats milk or the bought in powdered stuff?..And what breed?

[clydesdaleclopper]

Breed is BS x BT. At the moment they are getting mum's milk but milking her whilst lying down is somewhat of a challenge  .

[Anke]

RE milking mum.: If her udder is quite full you will have to continue milking her, it may be quite difficult to dry off a BS x BT a week post-kidding without seriously risking mastitis.

I start mine off on the following regime.: Off the dam for a few hours to make sure they get hungry, then into my daily rota of 7am, 12noon, 5pm and 10pm. Basically they just start whenever the next feed is due. I start off with 150ml per feed and if they finish that for two feeds in a row easily they go up to 200, then 250ml until full bottle about 2 to 3 weeks in (my GG's take a little longer to get to full - 500ml - bottle stage). (I have no idea how much 12oz are - sorry, I am genetically programmed for metric

There is no point trying to feed them more than they would take, and also once I have messed around with them for 10 to 15 mins I stop. They will get another chance at the next feed. If it gets to evening and they had less than half their planned daily total - I make sure that the last and first bottle are tube-fed, but let them get hungry during the day. That's especially for the night feed, I don't want them to go cold.

Obviously any that are weak/not quite right etc will a) get more feeds offered and b) probably come under a lamp if I think it necessary, or preferably come into the house (dog crate) so I can keep a close eye on them and feed (if necessary by tube) more often.

I have also found having the milk a bit warmer is usually better than a bit cold, they really don't like cold(ish) milk at that age. Try a sock or two over the bottle to keep milk warm if they do take a bit longer or have breaks in-between.

One thing that I have found works a treat, is to milk some colostrum from mum straight after kidding BEFORE the kids have suckled and offer them the bottle straight there and then. They normally take about 100ml of colostrum quite well, and then go on to drink from mum. I also then don't worry so much about them getting colostrum. Whenever I manage that, the transition from mum to bottle is really easy - I don't know if it is that they remember or what.

Hope you can get the little men sorted! Does the dam stand up now?

[clydesdaleclopper]

12 oz is about 350 ml. They have now both got the hang of sucking from the bottle and have both settled at about 200 - 250ml per feed, 4 times a day. For how long do you do 4 feeds a day?


Mum is really deteriorating now and I don't know that I can keep her going. She can no longer stand up at all   

[Anke]

I feed four full bottles per day until they are about 12 weeks old, then down to three until 4 months, down to two for another month, and then one last bottle (at evening milking straight from the milking bucket, as by then they don't bother so much about it being really warm) for about two months. Females and wethers are weaned at 7 months at the latest, but entire boys get one last night bottle until they are 12 months (my current buckling, although he had a difficult time for the first few months) is still getting a "good night bottle - softie or what? ).

What are your plans with the kids? Have you got enough milk, or if not anyone near enough to get some?

Re the dam.: I guess you know what to do if she isn't getting up anymore, so sorry it's taken this turn. I am having to make some difficult decisions soon to re the future of two of my milkers...

[Lesley Silvester]

It's the hardest decision but one that we have to make at some time or other for the good of our animals. 

[tattycat]

Great news re the kids..remind me is she the girl with the ligament problem? Have you tried comfrey poultices?  Rosemry nd willow wonderful painkillers. Has SHE given up? It's a hard call to make......

[clydesdaleclopper]

Mum was PTS yesterday    It's been such a stressful 5 weeks nursing her and she was getting worse rather than better but I still feel awful and wish there was more I could have done for her

[shygirl]

 
sorry to hear that but it sounds like you made the right decision. 

[tattycat]

Sooo sorry.....

[Lesley Silvester]

So so sorry. 


The hardest decision in the world  for animal keepers.