Weaning bottle fed goats, its painful for me as much as for them

12-26-18

I have 2 bottle babies. As much as I enjoy making ba-ba's 4 times a day, its time for them to learn to be goats. I have read many articles and its time to slowly try to wean them from so many bottles. I decided yesterday, Christmas Day,  its time. They are 1 month old and totally reliant on the Mama.

At first, they were only 1 week old and never left their mother. Bottle feeding was new for all of us.  They had to learn how to keep the nipple in their mouth. What we did was cup their chin with the tilt of the bottle up so if they moved it wouldn't fall out of their mouth.  It took them a good 4 days to get a hang of it.  My little buck, Madmartigan, started getting aggressive with is bottles, and bumping them to get more milk, just like if it was an utter. Now, when he does it to my face or my neck piece, it isn't that cute!  Have you ever been throat punched by a little solid hard ram?

No matter where I go, I have to take back up milky bottles and a diaper bag. The like to pee pee through their diaper and get their whole onsie wet. So, usually it gets their sweater as well.  They get fed in the car, in a parking lot, while I'm working, on the way to school. Just like a baby human, whenever and wherever they need it. 

During the warm days, 50 to 60 degrees, they go outside in a small pen. I let them run around the backyard 3 or 4 times a day when I can play with them. They enjoy jumping on all the patio furniture and nibble on a little bit of grass.  

I have been making goat pellet feed available to them when outside during the day.  I mix the regular pellets and a little bit of sweet feed.  Today I saw Willow taking a bite here and there and chewing. Not sure if she swallowed it but its a start!! I wish they would eat as much as the spill all over the ground!  I attached this small plastic dish to the actual metal pen so it wouldn't get tipped over and be so wasteful. 

Today I decided to fill a pie dish half way up with their milk. I feed the regular Vitamin D cow milk with powder pro-biotics added. I tried to dip my finger and then put it in their mouth, didn't work. I tried to force their head down just to look, then drip a drip in their mouth, didn't work. They totally ignored this new dish.  They do not know how to drink out of a bowl yet. At least I have never seen them do it. I keep water in their kennel when they are in the garage at night, the water level never changes.

Ample amounts of hay.  I make sure they always have fresh hay, every day in their pen. I have seen them pick out the greenest piece and start to chew on it. I have only seen them have half hanging out of their mouth.  I really hope they are starting to understand this will be their main food when they are big kids! 

So I totally caved in and gave them a bottle at 10am. They kept calling for me " MAAAAHHH" and they were breaking my heart!! I think maybe in the next few days they may try to explore the milk pan. I tried to dip the nipples in the pan, and they sucked them, but then when they realized there was nothing coming out, the weren't interested.