How to Supplement Goats Milk

Supplementing goat's milk is a management practice that helps you raise healthy, fast-growing kids (baby goats), regardless of whether they will become pets or replacement stock for commercial dairy and meat goat herds. In certain instances, such as when a doe (adult female goat) gives birth to 3 or 4 kids, supplementing her milk supply may be necessary for the survival of all the kids. You may choose to provide additional sources of nutrition in other non-emergency situations as well, such as when you're raising kids for butchering. Identifying the need for supplemental nutrition as promptly as possible is essential to successfully supplementing goat's milk.

Things You'll Need

  • Frozen goat milk/goat milk replacer
  • Hay
  • Grain
  • Scale
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Instructions

    • 1

      Assess your goat kids' need for supplemental nutrition within 1 to 2 weeks of birth. For instance, if one of your young does gives birth to 3 kids and you notice a week later that one of the kids is smaller and thinner than the other two, you will most likely decide to provide supplements for the sickly kid rather than the other two babies. Similarly, if your best doe gives birth to a doe kid that you plan to show in the state fair, then you will want to provide supplemental nutrition to improve her growth rate.

    • 2

      Decide how you will provide supplements for goat's milk. Your method of supplementation depends upon whether your goat kids have access to an adequate supply of milk. If you plan to provide supplementation due to a lack of sufficient milk supply, then you should make sure you have additional milk available from another source, such as frozen goat milk or powdered goat milk replacer. If your goat kids have enough milk and you just want to improve their rate of growth, then you should collect additional sources of nutrition, including hay, grain and grass, if available.

    • 3

      Provide the goat milk supplement to your goat kids gradually. According to Gail Damerow, author of "Your Goats," goat kids between the ages of 2 and 6 weeks should receive approximately 2 cups of milk twice a day, which you can bottle-feed using a soda bottle and a goat nipple for those goat kids that need additional milk. Provide several handfuls of hay and grain daily for goat kids needing non-milk nutritional supplementation.

    • 4

      Monitor how your goat kids are responding to supplementation by weighing them every other day for several weeks. Gail Damerow states that kids over 1 week of age should gain between ¼ and ½ pound each day. Kids receiving milk supplementation may develop scours, or diarrhea. Be sure to watch closely for this life-threatening illness so that you can provide immediate treatment if it does appear. The kids you provide hay and grain for should begin to nibble on the supplementation within a couple of days, at which point you can gradually increase the amount that you feed them.