How to Feed a Baby Goat

Baby goats require milk feedings for two to three months after birth.

Before feeding your baby goat for the first time, decide what type of milk you want to give it. Although cow milk and powdered goat milk replacer are acceptable options, give regular goat milk whenever possible; it contains the exact blend of nutrients necessary for maintaining your baby goat's health and encouraging rapid growth. If you don't have access to fresh goat milk, consider purchasing some from a goat-keeping friend or neighbor, or talk to your county cooperative extension agent, who may have a list of nearby goat 4-H clubs willing to sell goat milk.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Goat colostrum
• 16- or 20-oz. soda bottle
• Rubber goat nipple
• Goat milk
• Hay
• Goat grain
• Water

1. Feed 3 to 4 oz. of body-temperature goat colostrum every four to five hours for the first day of your baby goat's life, being careful to provide the first feeding within four to six hours of birth. Pour the warm colostrum into a washed 16- or 20-oz. soda bottle. Screw a plastic-edged rubber goat nipple onto the soda bottle.

2. Sit or kneel on the ground or bedding and pull the baby goat toward you, angling its body so that the goat faces slightly away from you. Ease one side of the baby goat's mouth open with one hand and gently insert the bottle nipple into the mouth. Squeeze several drops of the colostrum into the goat's mouth to encourage it to suck the colostrum from the rubber nipple.

3. Give 3 to 5 oz. of body-temperature milk every four to five hours for the second, third and fourth day. Continue feeding the baby goat milk every four hours for the first three weeks, increasing the milk at each feeding to 6 oz., if the goat still seems hungry. Once the baby goat turns 1 week old, put several handfuls of hay in a bucket in the baby goat's pen each day to encourage it to start nibbling.

4. Feed the baby goat milk three times each day as soon as it turns 3 weeks old and continue the three-times-daily feedings until it is 8 weeks old. At each feeding during the third week, give the baby goat 8 to 10 oz. of milk, gradually increasing the amount to 20 oz. per feeding by the time the goat is 8 weeks of age or ready to wean. Start feeding a handful of high-protein goat grain once daily when the baby goat reaches 3 weeks of age.

5. Wean the baby goat between 8 and 12 weeks of age. Give the baby goat constant access to fresh water and hay, and feed it 1/4 to 1/2 lb. of grain twice daily. Reduce milk feedings by 3 to 4 oz. each day until the goat no longer drinks any milk.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep milk feedings evenly spaced to minimize digestive upset. Wash the bottle supplies thoroughly with hot, soapy water after each feeding.

• Dwarf and pygmy goats require half of the milk necessary for a full-sized goat kid. As a rule, goat kids from full-size breeds (such as Boers, Nubians, Saanens, Alpines and Toggenburgs) should be drinking close to 64 oz. per day at weaning age; weaning-age baby goats from miniature breeds (such as Nigerian Dwarfs and African Pygmies) should consume half of that amount, according to Ellie Winslow, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Raising Goats."

References

• "Goat Medicine"; Dr. Mary Smith, et al.; 2009
• "Storey's Guide to Raising Meat Goats"; Maggie Sayer; 2010
• "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Raising Goats"; Ellie Winslow; 2011