FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
I just found out from our vet, who also does 4H, that it is better for goats to stay on milk for at least 12 weeks. He said that the 8 -10 weak weaning is driven by large scale agriculture and is not neccessarily for optimum health for the baby.
He has his 4H kids feed milk to their goats, sheep and calves for about 4 months. He has even put weaned babies back on milk.
He thinks they are healthier and in case they go off their feed, they will usually still take the milk.
He also stated that at the time of weaning, the babies will experiment more with other foodstuff, and can get sick from it. Like in eating something poisonous. Especially bottle babies, since they don't have a momma to teach them what to eat and not to eat. He said goats are the worst.
One of our baby goats is in the hospital now, she is very sick. If I had know this before, I would not have been weaning her and we might have prevented this incident.
We are putting our goats back on their former schedule of milk. Flower was happy to get her full bottle and is resting quietly.
He has his 4H kids feed milk to their goats, sheep and calves for about 4 months. He has even put weaned babies back on milk.
He thinks they are healthier and in case they go off their feed, they will usually still take the milk.
He also stated that at the time of weaning, the babies will experiment more with other foodstuff, and can get sick from it. Like in eating something poisonous. Especially bottle babies, since they don't have a momma to teach them what to eat and not to eat. He said goats are the worst.
One of our baby goats is in the hospital now, she is very sick. If I had know this before, I would not have been weaning her and we might have prevented this incident.
We are putting our goats back on their former schedule of milk. Flower was happy to get her full bottle and is resting quietly.
