How to Feed a Newborn Goat

Newborn goats that are not with their mother require regular feeding.

Baby goats---more commonly referred to as kids---require regular feeding when they are young to help them grow up healthy and strong. If the baby goat is accepted by its mother, you will not need to help feed it. However, many dairies that milk their goats will remove the kids from the mother right after birth so they can use the mother for her milk. When this happens, or when the mother rejects the baby, you will need to hand feed the goat until it reaches maturity.

Things You'll Need

• Colostrum
• Bottle or pail
• Water
• Concentrate food

Instructions

1. Warm the colostrum, a form of milk produced in late pregnancy, to entice the goat to drink. Baby goats are used to having warm milk from their mothers and it is important that the colostrum be warmed before you feed it to the baby, or it could reject the feeding.

2. Feed the kid colostrum from a bottle with a teat attached or directly from a pail. Both methods are acceptable and it will depend on what your baby goat prefers. Try both methods to see which method works best for your goat.

3. Feed the baby goat three times daily for the first month of his life. During the second month of life feed the kid twice daily and then in the third month feed the goat once daily.

4. Provide the kid with water and hay during the first week of his life. Gradually replace the hay with a concentrate like high protein pellets, oats, barley or dairy meal. He will slowly pick at the food until he is completely weaned off colostrum.

5. Wean the kid from colostrum to a concentrate food after 12 weeks. To do this, slowly feed him less milk as described in step three. Eventually he will eat more and more solid foods until he does not require colostrum at all.

References

• Aussie Goats.com: Hand raising goat kids