Milk Replacers Kill Baby Goats!

If you have a sick baby goat and you are feeding it milk replacer Please  follow these simple instructions:  Remember! Baby Goats Cannot wait- their tiny systems are so fast that even a few hours of not treating a sick baby can mean life or death.

A sick baby holds it's tail down, holds it's head down , usually will not eat, is not playful, may cry out, and  may grit or grind it's teeth in pain.

The best way to change from replacer to milk is to give electrolytes with a tsp per bottle of karo syrup or molasses  in the baby's bottle for 24 hours- then add 1/2 of the total bottle in milk and half in electrolytes, the following day, add 2/3 milk to the total bottle and 1/3 electrolytes on the third day you can give all milk - This allows the baby goat to adjust to the change gradually and reduces the chance of further gut upset.

Read my article on bottle feeding baby goats for detailed instructions

In addition when you have a sick baby goat from using milk replacers the first thing you want to do is to get a bottle of CD Antitoxin and start injections ASAP-  You also may have to give the kid an enema to get the bad stuff out- many times they scour  but many times they get constipated- Here is how to give a baby goat an enema.

Comparing Milk to Kid Replacers for Baby Goats

Reference: American Dairy Goat Association
Sav-A-Kid
MannaPro
LandOLakes
Purina
Advance
Merricks

Compare these Nutritional Values and you tell me which is closest to goat milk for your kids-

Effect of goat milk, cow milk,  milk replacer and partial substitution of the replacer mixture with whey on artificial feeding of female kids

The objective was to study a feeding system for female kids that could utilise whey from goat cheese making or a milk replacer.

Six feeding groups were tested:

one using a commercial  milk replacer,

three using 20%, 35% and 50% whey in the water needed for the milk replacer mixture;

another study compared whole cow milk with whole goat milk provided during nursing.

Fifteen kids were artificially fed in each treatment. Kids were Alpine, Saanen or Toggenburg separated randomly among treatments. Kids were born from November until January weighing an average of 3.3 kg at birth. Results showed an average

daily weight gain (DWG) of 153 g for commercial  milk replacer;

for whey and partial water substitution DWG values were 152, 168 (P < 0.05) and 152 g for 20%, 35% and 50% whey mixture.

Kids fed whole cow milk gained 170 g day⁻¹ (P < 0.05);

those fed whole goat milk had a DWG of 167 g (P < 0.05).

When 35% whey was employed, DWG was similar (168 g) to those obtained with whole goat or cow milk. Of the six treatments, kids fed whole goat milk, whole cow milk or milk replacer mixed with 35% whey did not show significant differences in growth (P > 0.05). Kids fed only  milk replacer in 20% mixture with whey performed significantly less well than the others (P < 0.05). Kids fed  milk replacer in 50% whey had comparable growth at the beginning, but severe diarrhoea affected most of the kids resulting in significantly lower DWG values (P < 0.05); 12 of the 15 animals had digestive disorders at least once during the study, but only one died, so growth was irregular.

Our results showed that whey could enhance the nutritional quality of a milk replacer probably due to protein enhancement. However, whey offered in larger percentages in the water mixture promptly produced diarrhoea in the kids, leading to lower growth performances. Kids showed comparable results when cow or goat milk was offered.

Some breeders were asking for nutritional informaiton on canned evaporated milk for use in emergencies for baby goat bottles.  Dilute the evaporated milk half with water- and make sure you read the labels of the canned milk you use- I am showing Carnaiton as I know it not to have soy in it and is safe to use for baby goats.