How to Bottle Raise a Pigmy Goat

Individual pygmy or dwarf goat mothers may not nurse their kids through lack of interest or illness. These kids are best adopted by another lactating dam, but failing this, the owner will need to bottle feed the baby. Although orphaned kids typically look forward to their milk and nurse well once introduced to a bottle, hand rearing should always be the last resort, as bottle-fed kids often do not socialize well as adults and may not nurse their own young.

Things You'll Need

  • Dwarf goat colostrum
  • Milk
  • Goat kid nipple
  • Lamb nipple (optional)
  • Bottle
  • Tall plastic container
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Instructions

    • 1

      Obtain colostrum, which is the first milk that contains concentrated nutrients and vital antibodies. Milk one of your other dwarf goats if you are keeping a small herd, or purchase from a local farmer. It is extremely important to feed the kid colostrum for the first few feeds.

    • 2

      Source fresh or frozen dwarf goat's milk. Milk a lactating mother from your own stock if you have females which have produced kids. Buy a goat milk replacement formula or use whole cow's milk if goat's milk is not available. Ensure that the cow's milk is certified disease-free.

    • 3

      Purchase a feeding nipple for goats, if your veterinarian or agriculture supply store stocks these. Purchase a feeding nipple for lambs, if you are unable to find one specifically manufactured for goats.

    • 4

      Examine the hole in the nipple. Some nipples have a single hole, while others have cross cuts. Select nipples do not have a hole at all. Cut the very tip off these nipples, but take care not to remove too much.

    • 5

      Place a needle into a flame and when it is red hot, use the needle to enlarge the hole, if required, but take care not to make it too large. Your orphan goat must suck milk from the bottle. The milk must not simply flow, or the kid may choke. Milk that goes into the kid's lungs may cause pneumonia.

    • 6

      Place the bottle of milk into a container of hot water for a few minutes. Remove the bottle and drip milk onto your upturned wrist to test the temperature. If you do not feel the milk, it is body temperature, which is perfect.

    • 7

      Cradle the bottle in the palm of your upturned hand and present it to the kid at a slight angle. Open the kid's mouth and insert the bottle, if it will not accept it initially. Pygmy goat kids will typically begin to nurse on their own, after the first one or two feeding sessions.

    • 8

      Feed between one and three ounces of colostrum per nursing session, every two to three hours during the first day.

    • 9

      Feed between two and three ounces of colostrum, eight to 10 times per day on the second day.

    • 10

      Increase the amount of milk by approximately one ounce each day, for days three and four, but reduce the nursing sessions to between seven and eight per day on day four.

    • 11

      Feed between four and five ounces per nursing session on days five, six and seven. Feed between seven and eight times per day.

    • 12

      Continue to feed between four and six ounces per nursing session until the end of the second week. Offer the bottle six times per day.

    • 13

      Feed between six and eight ounces per feeding session, four to five times per day, until the end of the second month.

    • 14

      Continue to feed between six and eight ounces per nursing session until the end of the third month, but offer the bottle only three times per day.

    • 15

      Feed between eight and 10 ounces once per day until the end of the sixth month.

    • 16

      Offer small amounts of fresh high quality hay each day, until the kid can completely wean off milk by the sixth month. Slowly decrease the amount of milk and increase the amount of hay.