Hi, I have got 2 pygmy kids which were with their mother up until they were 4 weeks old, then I had to have their mother put down. They were eating hard feed at the time, but obviously feeding off her a lot too. I tried to get them on a bottle with no luck, so I used a syringe to get milk into them a few times a day until they learnt to drink from a bucket. That lasted a few days, but then they refused that too. They are now 6 weeks old, have only been having a goat course mix and water for the past week, but have got really thin, and in the last day or so, have barely eaten the course mix. I have wormed them, and I see them eating grass during the day, but I'm worried they are going to go down hill if they aren't eating enough.
I spoke to my vet just after the mother was put down, and she explained the rumen doesn't develop until they are 10 weeks old, but she thought they should be OK without milk if I really couldn't get it into them.
Any ideas before I call the vet again? is there any other feed I could try them on?
thank you!