How to wean kids from the udder and why do it? how to wean kids off udders how to wean kids off nipples

Those who keep goats have to make a choice - leave newborn kids under a goat or feed them from a pacifier or bucket.

Immediately after birth, kids are easily accustomed to both the nipple and the bucket. But after a couple of days from birth and up to about a month old, it becomes very difficult to retrain a kid from one way of feeding to another.

There are situations when it is required to accustom a kid kept under a goat to self-feeding from a pacifier or bucket. This is my second year in this situation.

For example, you bought a goat, and he sucked his mother all his previous life and still doesn’t know how to eat from a bucket. Or the mother goat does not give enough milk, and the kid needs to be fed.

Some kids, having starved a little, begin to drink milk from a bucket without any problems, others do not drink from a bucket, but willingly take a nipple. But there are some shots that only need a goat with an udder, otherwise the sucking reflex does not work. They will not start drinking from a bucket, no matter how hungry they are.

I adapted to deal with such goats in the following way.

I heat the milk in the bottle to a temperature of about 40 degrees, put on the nipple.

I catch a goat, squat down and hug the goat with my back, so that it cannot back away.

I gently open his mouth with my left hand, and with my right I put a nipple in his mouth.

Milk begins to flow into the mouth little by little, the goat in a favorable case swallows it and gradually begins to suck. In an unfavorable case, milk flows from the mouth along the chin and neck, the goat does not swallow, and the sucking reflex does not turn on. Then you have to do the following.

I let the kid go to the goat (any one that comes across, it is desirable that the goat is calm), I hold the goat.

Usually the goat quickly realizes that the source of milk is somewhere close and begins to look for the udder. He arches his back, starts wagging his tail often and often, and pushes the goat with his head.

That is, the sucking reflex is turned on. If the goat is milking, then you can give the goat to drink milk from the udder.

Then, while the goat is in the mood for feeding, I repeat the nipple trick, that is, force the nipple with warmed milk into my mouth. Usually the kid makes several sucking movements and some of the milk from the nipple enters the stomach. Already good. Let it be 30 ml at a time, it's not scary, he will not die of hunger in a couple of days.

The next feeding is repeated. First a goat, then immediately a nipple.

After several such feedings, the goat begins to take the nipple itself, and the presence of the goat becomes unnecessary.

If the kid ate little during the retraining from the udder to the nipple, then, after he begins to willingly take the nipple, the amount of milk drunk should be added gradually, not allowed to overeat, so that there are no problems with digestion. Overfeeding is more dangerous than underfeeding.

After a week or two, you can begin to retrain such a kid to feed from a bucket.

Any goat owner should know how to properly feed newborn and grown kids. Animal health and life expectancy depend on nutrition, so farmers take a very responsible approach to formulating a diet and choosing a method of feeding.

Ways to feed goats

There are two ways to feed - with and without the mother. The first is suitable for those cases when the goat gives a small amount of milk. If the animal is very productive, newborns are taken away and fed artificially. They do this in order not to lose the volume of milk yield, because during the feeding of babies and during the recovery period after they are weaned, the goat gives much less milk.

When choosing a feeding method, one rule should not be forgotten - the goat must receive maternal colostrum in the first hour of life. With it, newborns receive antibodies that are necessary for a weak immune system. Colostrum kicks off the digestive system.

Feeding goats under the uterus

This method of feeding is the easiest. With him, newborns stay with their mother and independently suck her milk several times a day. Thanks to this method, healthy and productive animals are obtained.

Natural feeding is suitable for goats with low productivity. Cubs are left with their mother for up to 4 months. After 3 weeks, feeding is introduced into the diet of babies. These include bone meal (6-7 grams), salt (5 grams) and some chalk. As they grow older, the amount of top dressing is increased. The grown goats are given concentrated feed.

The main advantages of growing with a mother:

• cubs rarely get sick;
• well developed;
• quickly gain weight;
• the milk that the goat receives directly from the mother contains a greater amount of nutrients.

With natural feeding, livestock breeders constantly check the condition of the udder. On the first day, milk is removed to exclude mastitis. Kids often suck on non-working nipples, if this happens, the feeding method is changed to artificial.

Ksenia Napalkova, expert

How to feed a goat without a mother

With the method of feeding babies without a mother, newborns are carried away immediately after birth. You can not let goats to the mother and then take them away, this will cause anxiety in the animal. Feed babies from a bottle with a nipple, often use bowls. Milk is heated to a temperature of +38 degrees.

In the first few days, the goat gives colostrum instead of milk. It must be collected in clean dishes and given to newborns. The first jets are not fed, they contain a lot of microbes.

An approximate diet for kids without a mother:

1. For the first weeks, babies eat 5-6 times a day every 3-4 hours. During this period, the basis of nutrition is milk.
2. 20 days after birth, the kids are transferred to a two-time diet, but usually they are fed three times a day.
3. Up to 10 days, the cubs feed on milk alone.
4. On day 11, they begin to introduce additional food, starting at 20 and bringing up to 200 grams.

For food, only enameled dishes are chosen.

Feeding plan for newborn goats

In the first days after birth, newborns are fed up to 6 times a day with an interval of 4 hours. Feeding starts with 100 grams of milk. As they grow, the rate is increased, and the number of feedings is reduced. At the age of 3 weeks, the cub eats about 1.2 liters of milk.

When the kids reach 40 days, the milk rate is reduced, replacing it with juicy, coarse and concentrated feed. Hay is introduced into the diet 2 weeks after birth. Animals daily drink warm water.

Concentrated, juicy and roughage in the nutrition of kids

Concentrated feed is introduced into the diet when babies are 3 weeks old. These include a mixture of bran, crushed cake and oats. Gradually, bone meal or chalk is added to the feed (up to 10 grams per day).

In the diet of grown-up kids, oatmeal is sure to be included. Porridge is boiled before feeding, add a little salt, cool and filter. The feeding includes finely chopped vegetables and root crops. New types of complementary foods are introduced within a few days, they do this in order to avoid indigestion.

A month after birth, the kids are released to pasture to adult animals. By this age, babies do not recognize their mothers, so there are no problems from joint walks.

The scheme of proper nutrition of goats

In the first weeks after birth, animals drink milk 4-5 times a day. The first feeding is carried out at 5-6 o'clock in the morning, the last - at 8-9 pm. At a time, a newly born kid drinks 200 grams of milk. Every day the norm increases and in a week it reaches 300 grams.

At the age of 3 weeks, oatmeal is introduced into the diet, starting with 200 grams. Porridge is replaced first with one feeding with milk, and then the volume is gradually increased and other feedings are replaced. By the month they give 300 grams of oatmeal at a time, when the kid reaches the age of 60-65 days - up to 800 grams.

Concentrates are added to the food of monthly babies, starting from 30 grams per feeding. Every week, the volume of concentrates is doubled, and by 3 months the kid eats 200 grams.

Before feeding, root crops are first ground into minced meat, and then cut into small pieces. They are added to food when the kids are 1 month old. They start with a volume of 40 grams, after 10 days the baby eats 60 grams, and by 3-4 months - 250 grams.

Approximate scheme of artificial feeding of goats

1. The first week the animals are fed 6 times with 80 grams of milk.
2. By day 11, the number of feedings is reduced to 4, in one meal they give, grams: 300 milk and 200 oatmeal.
3. After 3 weeks, feed at a time (in grams): 300 milk, 300 cereals, 30 concentrates and 40 grams of root crops.
4. At the age of one month, the kids are transferred to three meals a day. In one meal they give, grams: 350 milk, 500 cereals, 50 concentrates and 50 tubers.
5. After 40 days, the amount of milk is reduced by adding porridge and root crops. At one time, 250 g of milk, 700 g of oatmeal, 100 g of concentrates and 60 g of root crops are fed.
6. At 2 months, a kid is given (in grams): 150 milk, 800 porridge, 150 concentrates and 100 tubers.
7. By 3 months, porridge is removed from the diet, one meal accounts for 100 g of milk, 300 g of concentrates and 250 g of root crops.

Do not forget that hay and grass should be in the feeders all the time, water is always freely available.

How to teach a goat to eat from a bowl or pan?

Most farmers prefer to feed babies from enamelware (pots, bowls). This method is more convenient than bottle feeding, because such dishes are easier to disinfect and wash.

Here are the main rules for training and feeding kids from a bucket or pan:

• milk is heated to the desired temperature (37-39 degrees);
• all utensils must be very clean;
• at first, bowls are used for feeding, and over time they are replaced with deeper dishes;
• the muzzle of a kid is dipped into milk, after which he begins to drink on his own;
• make sure that the animals do not put their legs in the pan.

Some farmers have problems with natural feeding. Galina from Kharkov writes that the kids, being with their mother, did not seize the nipple on their own. The first day I had to help the kids, lubricate the nipples with milk and slip them to the muzzle. After a couple of days they ate on their own.

Livestock breeders note that mixed feeding is completely undesirable. If the goat is constantly taken away from the cubs, and then brought back, in the end she refuses to feed them. Farmers are advised to choose one method of feeding and strictly adhere to it. With natural feeding, kids are not taken away from their mother, and with artificial feeding, any contacts are excluded.

Many breeders freeze milk and colostrum. Some farmers do not feed the kids according to the norms, but as much as they eat. They note that with this method of feeding, animals grow more actively and gain weight, but there is also a minus - the scar develops more slowly, the kids get used to roughage longer. Well-fed babies do not eat hay and vegetables, but only play with them.

Owners of a large number of animals build feeders for them, which facilitate the feeding process. Each cub is given a personal bowl in a separate cell.

Proper rearing and feeding of goats will allow you to grow a healthy and productive adult animal. Each farmer chooses a feeding scheme that is convenient for him. Babies are given only high-quality and fresh products, it is better if they come from their own garden.

Have you raised goats in your own backyard? Share your experience on how to feed newborn kids - be sure to tell us about it in the comments!

From the first day of life, newborn babies need care and attention. Feeding goats is a process that requires special knowledge and responsibility. After all, the health of the offspring in the future depends on proper nutrition.

The first feeding of newborn kids is carried out no later than 1 hour after birth. A goat's teats can become clogged with milk plugs, making it difficult to feed offspring in the early days. The udder of the goat is thoroughly washed and several streams are expressed, after which you can let the kids under the goat or milk the colostrum into a clean container: an enameled bucket, a saucepan.

Is it possible to do without colostrum? In newborn kids, the protective functions of the body and resistance to bacteria are reduced. To increase immunity, which fights dangerous infections, you need to start feeding with maternal colostrum. It contains substances and antibodies necessary for the body. Colostrum also cleanses the goat's intestines from primary feces.

The choice of feeding method for kids depends on the productivity of the uterus. Dairy goats are kept separately from offspring. In goat breeding, there are 2 ways of feeding:

• growing kids on suction, in which the kids are near the goat;
• feeding goats without a uterus.

Growing up near the mother

The most convenient way is to grow offspring under the uterus. It is easier to feed goats with a mother. This method is used for goats with low productivity. Babies are left with the uterus for the first 3-4 months. They freely suck the udder: at any time and as much as they like. The first week is characterized by active growth of kids.

With natural feeding of offspring, you need to monitor the condition of the goat's mammary glands. Teats should be washed regularly. Newborn kids do not completely suck out colostrum. The accumulation of milk for a long time can cause the development of mastitis. Therefore, a regular inspection of the udder of a goat is carried out. In the presence of colostrum residues, the goat is milked.

A goat can lamb at any time of the year. When the babies are 10 days old, they are walked with their mother in the pasture in good weather. They can suck the udder and for a walk.

3 weeks of age involves the introduction of top dressing: 5 g of salt and bone meal per day per kid. From 3 months, this rate is increased by 2 times. Bone meal can be replaced with crushed chalk. As the babies grow, the amount of feeding also increases. They are given concentrated feed: a mixture of oats and bran.

From 3–4 months, the offspring are gradually weaned from the mother within 8–10 days.

You can let them go to the uterus every other day. Babies painfully endure the transfer from natural to artificial feeding. They become restless, refuse formula milk. After weaning, you can not drastically change the diet of goats. The transition to independent nutrition should be gradual. Milk is replaced with oatmeal, mixtures of bran and flour.

The scheme of feeding kids under the uterus has a number of advantages:

• milk that babies get naturally contains more nutrients than milked into dishes;
• goats have good immunity, they get sick less often;
• with natural feeding, young animals develop better and gain weight;
• being near the mother, babies quickly get used to feeding;
• this method of feeding is simple, labor-intensive and less time-consuming.

Raising offspring with a nursing mother has its drawbacks:

• babies completely suck milk from a goat;
• they dissolve the rudimentary nipples of the uterus, as a result of which they become swollen and painful.

Rearing without a queen

The artificial method of feeding is more troublesome, it requires constant monitoring and attention from the farmer. You need to know how many times a day to feed the offspring and how to care for them. Feeding goats without a mother is used when growing goats of highly productive dairy breeds.

After lambing, the kids are immediately taken away from their mother. Colostrum is milked and fed to babies. Before feeding, milk must be heated to + 38 ° C, you can drink from a cup or from bottles through rubber nipples. It is better to immediately teach a newborn kid to drink from a bowl: bending his front legs, he is dipped in milk with his muzzle. At first, the baby has to give a finger, but after a couple of days he begins to drink on his own. Feeding utensils must be sterile to prevent infection of babies with pathogenic microbes. The drinking bucket, bottles and nipples are thoroughly washed, treated with boiling water and stored in a clean place.

When growing babies without a mother-nurse, instead of goat's milk, its substitute (WMS) is used. An artificial feeding method is used for goat mastitis. Also, offspring are fed with a substitute in the absence of a mother. Milk replacer for kids consists of powdered cow's milk, fats, vitamins and emulsifiers. The substitute contains all the useful components necessary for the full development of the body.

How to feed goats with a substitute? Milk replacer before feeding is diluted with hot water and stirred well so that there are no lumps. The mixture is then cooled to the temperature of fresh milk.

The amount of substitute is gradually increased.

Artificial feeding has its advantages:

• the farmer himself controls the diet and the feeding process;
• obtaining high milk yields from a dairy goat.

Feeding offspring without a goat also contains negative points:

• babies are more susceptible to infectious diseases;
• the development of the offspring fed by the substitute is slower;
• the method of raising babies without a uterus is more laborious and requires financial costs.

Nutrition during the milk period

From highly productive goats, young animals are grown separately. In the first month, you need to feed the kid 5 times a day, then 4 times a day. Start with a small amount of food, gradually increasing the portion. One newborn kid can drink 800 g of milk per day. It is important to know how much food to give at a certain age.

Table "Scheme of feeding goats up to 3 months without queens"

Not many people know what diet should be in goats of different ages. The information contained in the table shows how many times and what they need to be fed. Hungry babies begin to give a loud voice, drawing attention to themselves. Kids that are reared without a queen need to be fed regularly. Eating and drinking should be given at the same time.

In the first 3-4 days, you need to feed the goats only with colostrum. Then, until the age of 10 days, they are fed with milk, starting with 200 g and gradually increasing to 300 g in one feeding. From day 11, goats are given liquid oatmeal. It is added to milk in 1 tbsp. l., gradually increasing the amount. Oatmeal must be boiled and filtered, salted a little, allowed to cool to the temperature of fresh milk. A kid needs to receive 4–6 g of salt with food per day.

When the kids are 2 weeks old, roughage and fresh grass are introduced into their diet.

Young growth begins to try to chew hay, brooms. Accustoming to concentrates occurs at the age of 20-30 days. Start with 30 g and work up to 300 g per feeding. Kids can already eat a mixture of rolled oats, crushed cake and bran. To concentrates add 10 g of crushed chalk or bone meal per day per head.

Toddlers aged 6–10 weeks are allowed outside for 2–4 hours in warm weather. When they are 1 month old, they go for a walk in the pasture. The kids start eating fresh grass. Crushed root crops should be present in the diet of young animals. At this age, they can eat about 250 g of vegetables in one feeding.

From 5–7 months, young animals are transferred to a stall. Their diet should include products containing all the substances necessary for growth: 300 g of concentrates, 1.5 kg of hay and 1 kg of root crops. Feeding kids according to this scheme provides a monthly increase in body weight up to 3–4 kg, and at the age of 6 months, the weight of a kid increases to 28–30 kg.

Each type of food should be introduced into the diet gradually.

At the same time, the daily amount of milk is reduced, then it is given every other day. Within 10 days, the kids are transferred to a dairy-free diet. To prevent beriberi, fresh needles and fish oil are added to their food.

With any method of rearing, the kid must be provided with clean and warm water in full. Drinking must be provided freely. After feeding, the dishes are washed with hot water and dried. Bottles, nipples, bowls and buckets are stored in a specially designated place.

It is very important to organize proper feeding of kids from the first days of life. They need to be surrounded by attention and care, to provide proper care and nutrition, a balanced diet. Only under such conditions can you get healthy and prolific offspring, which in the future will delight you with excellent milk and meat.

How calm the soul is when the animals on the farm grow strong and energetic. How to achieve this, we will tell in this article.

In order to make a good contribution to the future goat offspring, it is necessary to plan their birth. Namely, the season in which they will be born. And, perhaps, this is one of the most important components of their further development and maturation.

What time of birth and why, I will explain based on my own experience of raising kids. In order for the kids to grow up healthy, you need to try so that they are born in January - March.

This is a good investment in health. If the lambing fell in the winter, then the goat should have covered itself in August - September. Sukoznost at goats proceeds within 147-150 days. Summer and autumn kids go into winter, when there is already little light and limited opportunities to have a good walking (frosts), and this is the period of their active growth. Winter goats are stronger and, as a rule, are more active and grow more intensively.

Goats that are covered at the end of summer will soon stand up and receive the right amount of feed, hay, brooms, vegetables, chalk, salt. This means that the fetus will be formed full-fledged, receiving everything necessary for development and health, with the blood of a goat. That is why the proper feeding of goats is so important, already in the very first period of laying and forming the embryo of the future kid. But underfeeding, lack of walking in the fresh air, lack of constant access to clean water, leads to the fact that kids are born smaller and weaker. So it turns out that the laying of the health of kids begins in the womb.

WEANING METHODS

Looking back at our experience of rearing young animals, we saw three ways, three ways that we used.

The first is growing up to the 1st month of kids under a goat. This allows the kid to independently regulate the diet.
The second is part-weaned goat rearing.
The third is complete weaning from the moment of birth.

Growing up to the 1st month of kids under a goat

At the initial stage of goat breeding, it seemed to us that this method was more correct. The kid has access to milk at any time of the day, does not experience the stress of separation from the uterus, grows with physical and emotional contact. So everything would be fine. But, a monthly goat, weaned from the uterus, raises such a cry that only a stone will remain indifferent. This is stress, all stress is stress!

Our goats are dairy goats and after lambing they pour so much milk on their udders that the kids do not suck them out. And if this is the first lambing, then you need to milk the goat, but how !? Goats do not give milk and cause a lot of inconvenience with their resistance to milking. And when the kids grow up a little (1.5 -2 weeks) and are ready to empty the udder, the goat only runs around the cage from them, exhausted by the constant blows of their foreheads on the udder. In such conditions, the goat does not have to eat or rest normally, and even more so peacefully chew the cud. Often goats compete for milking and injure it with their teeth. In this case, it is necessary to treat milkings. That's how much hassle is added.

Partial weaned goat rearing

This is a partial withdrawal. Up to a week, the kids are inseparable from the goat, later we start to let the kids out of the mother's cage for half an hour, giving them the opportunity to run in a free enclosure and the goat to rest from them. Such walks become more frequent, the kids and the goat see each other, smell and remain calm. As soon as the kids get used to, by about two weeks, we leave the kids for the night behind the partition, after letting them suck under the goat. In the morning, you can take away excess milk from the goat, and during the day, let the kids go to the goat for feeding 3 times. At the final weaning, when the time is right, this procedure is much calmer than with the first method.

Complete weaning since birth

Weaning after lambing. There are some inconveniences here, for example, four meals a day feeding goats. And in the rest, we were more afraid for the kids. In general, we liked everything. We ourselves regulate the amount of milk we drink, by two and a half weeks we accustom them to dry and wet compound feed, to vegetables. Kids receive equal portions of milk, do not infringe on each other. They grow and play well.

At the same time, if they are still in a neighboring cage with their mother and can see and sniff each other, then it is absolutely wonderful - the mother is calm, she gives milk completely and family relations are preserved.

FEEDING THE KIDS

In the first week we do not limit in milk. Why not the whole period, I will explain. Goats need to be soldered with pure milk for two months, and breeding goats for three months. This is at least if possible, and longer, but after these dates we will drink freely with the whey remaining during the manufacture of cheese. If the kids are not limited in milk, then they lazily, or even completely refuse concentrated feed, vegetables. And such feed is necessary for effective development. Yes, and hay is ignored for a long time. Therefore, we give goats to drink so that they get drunk perfectly, and after a while they are ready to gnaw something else.

Already at the age of three weeks, we drink from 1.2 to 1.5 liters of milk per day and leave the volume at this level in the future. Regularly, in addition to milk, you need to offer clean water to the kids from the first days. Previously, when they were drinking at one time according to the norm, established by someone, 250-300 ml. goats grew smaller.

We try to give compound feed freely, but with caution, limiting those who do not know the limits. Today we have a Czech goat on the farm, he is two and a half months old (January), and he eats 150 g of compound feed at one time. He masters this norm well and receives it twice a day. It is developing well and has caught up with its counterparts, who were born in early November.

As soon as the kids start eating roughage, they can be given besoms in addition to hay. We have abandoned gardens outside the village, where we prepare brooms from raspberries and cherries. From the forest we bring brooms of birch and aspen. These are medicinal trees and brooms from them have a beneficial effect on improving the intestinal microflora. You don’t need to be late with vegetables either - this is a vitamin complex. You have to work a little and accustom the kids to vegetables. But it's worth the time investment.

When animals learn and love to eat carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage, kohlrabi, pumpkins and zucchini, when they know the taste and eat compound feed with pleasure, feast on brooms, eat high-quality hay and drink milk, then such kids will definitely be healthy. It is also worth putting love and care here, knowledge about animals, and here the basis on which the health of the kids is based appears. And also fresh ventilated air in the goat barn, clean bedding and a place for walking under the sun and success is guaranteed!

Goat farming is a great option for those who like to drink milk, but the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe plot does not allow to have a cow. If you start a large herd, then goat breeding will become a good business. In addition to selling goat milk, you can make cheeses and feta cheese. Many goat breeders are engaged in breeding goats and sell young dairy goats.

To form a strong herd, healthy kids are needed, therefore, from the first minutes of life, young animals are given colostrum, which is very important for the further development of the immune system of kids.

It is necessary to feed goats for breeding breeding in a special way. These goats are given milk for 4 months. They are fed bran and ground beans with the addition of corn and barley. Goats are very fond of such food, but legumes are added in small quantities so as not to cause them an upset stomach. This feed contributes to the rapid gain of muscle mass and the healthy development of the breeding herd.

Weaning goats from the udder

If the kids will receive milk from their mother for a long time, then it will be impossible to wean them from the udder. When grazing together, kids will drink most of the milk. Therefore, after three weeks, together with the goats, they must be gradually weaned from the udder. First, the young are placed in a separate room only for the night. During this period, you can start milking the goats. About half a liter of milk is milked from each. Every morning, the kids are brought to the udder, they are given milk to drink, but this portion is not enough for them, so they are supplemented with plant foods. During this period, the kids are given oatmeal steamed with bran. It is diluted with warm water to the consistency of liquid sour cream. After a week of such maintenance, the kids are transferred to a separate enclosure, where they are fed only with plant foods.

Artificial feeding

At this time, kids intended for breeding are taught to drink milk from a common bowl. In goat breeding, there is a practice of feeding goats with the help of a pacifier. This method of feeding is not effective, since you need to monitor the cleanliness of a large number of bottles. In addition, each kid needs to be fed separately, which takes a lot of time. If you teach kids to drink from a common bowl, the risk that they will begin to suck milk when grazing together is reduced.

Some kids don't want to drink milk from a bowl. In this case, the goat is brought to a container of milk and a finger is dipped into it. The kid will take the human finger for an udder and begin to lick the milk. Gradually tilt your finger towards the bowl. In this way, even the most stubborn kids can be accustomed to the total capacity.