Formula or whole milk or whole milk/evap milk/buttermilk on kids?

I have two Nubian doelings outside >1 week old, and I’ve been hearing mixed things about using goat formula. Things like, they don’t do as well or they tend to bloat and die on formula.

(Firstly yes they’ve had 48hrs of goat colostrum from their mother, but their mother was needed to nurse extra lambs and I wanted doelings so I got them.)

It isn’t my first time having goats but it’s been over a decade. I did bottle feed a kid or two on occasion, but I can’t for the life of me remember what I did. I think I had a generous milking doe that I just got fresh milk for free off of.


There is a milking doe outside right now with 1 wk old triplets on her. I noticed she’s really full so I took some milk off her (into a premeasured bottle to 3oz per kid). I think she will keep pace or outpace these extra two for a little while, but I’m not sure what I’ll do once consumption surpasses supply. I estimate that she’ll do 2 quarts on a morning milking if I separate her kids from her overnight once they’re old enough.

Last year one of our Boer does had quads! (she's like 1/8 nubian)
We pulled 2 off her and bottle feed with sheep milk replacer.  They did fine.
This year we had 2 sets of twins, each doe had a kid who was not doing well, for awhile we had 2 bottle kids, until one passed.  
Right now I am milking both does (the one that has nubian blood makes almost no extra milk, the one that is presumably full Boer is a decent milker in one teat - her kid suckles on the other).  If I am short milk, I just add the 2% cow milk we have in the fridge to top off the bottle.  The kid is growing fine - he's behind his sister, but he had a rough start and we did not think he would make it, but he runs around like a baby goat should now.

We have a neighbor who swears my just using whole milk from the store if she needs to bottle feed a kid (after colostrum - they need that if possible!)

Just ideas.  I think it's great if you can pull a bit from your other doe... but just offering a few options for when/if that is not enough.

Thanks Thomas! I appreciate the ideas and knowing what has worked for you.

My inclination is to start doing cows milk for the kids, once they need more than the doe can produce. My instinct is to keep the high calories high fat content the younger they are and to slacken as they get nearer to weaning and can eat real food. Maybe at first I’ll make a recipe of whole cows milk plus evaporated milk plus buttermilk for a while then taper off as they grow.

I might still try lamb formula. It is easier to get than goat. I’m not sure which way works out cheaper, fresh cow or formula. A gallon of milk at Walmart get costs $2.83 and I don’t know how much it costs for a gallon’s  worth of formula.

It’s possible that she’ll be able to raise the lot for what the first month? I think she’ll not have enough for all five kids long term.

I think I originally posted that the doe was a Nubian mix with Alpine; that’s what I was told but I’ve had a chat with my goat loving aunt, who thinks she’s not an ounce Nubian and probably 50/50 Toggenberg/Alpine. I think she’s right.

She’s definitely the best mannered goat I’ve ever had and I can milk her without any restraints. My only complaint is she has the world’s tiniest teats! I had to look up how to milk mini breeds. This is a goat that takes one finger and a thumb.

I think it depends on the doe.  Our one doe makes just a sip of milk "extra" at each milking (but I keep milking her to try to increase production), the other seems to make almost a quart beyond what her kid needs 2x a day.  If we only had the former, we could not feed our bottle kid on just her milk, but the 2 does make about the right amount for our kid right now.  This morning I actually did not add cow milk to his bottle, as last night he did not drink the whole bottle right away.  He's been eating hay, and I think he's eating a bit of grain too.  

Good luck.  

Forgot to note, we filter the milk from the goats (coffee filter), then pasteurize it by double boiler: big pyrex measuring cup in a pan of water on the stove.  Handle of the measuring cup hangs over the side of the pan, stabilizing it.  Candy thermometer in the milk, heat it to 162-ish  

My suggestion would be to try and get unhomogenized whole milk if you can. Baring that, you can try using heavy cream diluted to be 3.5ish MF with some water.

What i did was i had a goat i had been milking thru for 1 year or so. Than one doe died right after birth. Kids got colostrum from mom, I think i had to pump it out of her udder while dead. Anyways.

Afterwards they got a mix of milk from the nubian doe who i was milking through. I would put her on the stand and than me and my girlfriend would hold the two kids under the doe with milk. They loved it.

The rest of the time they got formula.

For the first 2 weeks they got whole goats milk. Some from us and some from neighbors with goats. They grew up fine.

I also suggest using only freshly bought forumla. It most likely has a date on the package somewhere.

jordan barton wrote:I also suggest using only freshly bought forumla. It most likely has a date on the package somewhere.

Agreed.  We bought a bag of sheep replacer last year, not sure how many pounds (40?) and it was more than enough for 2 kids up to weaning.  We gave the rest to my brother-in-law (he has sheep) rather than keeping it for the next season.  I'm not a stickler for expiration dates - I sort of think a lot of them are a scam... but with something that makes up 100% of an animal's diet, if one nutrient degrades, that means that animal is not getting that nutrient at all.  

Thanks everyone!

It would be horrible to lose a momma goat right after kidding. I’ve lost one to dust pneumonia about 5 weeks after birth, and that was hard enough. She was my prettiest goat, too. Blue roan front, white band middle, solid black butt. I adored her and she kicked it on one of the few weekends I was away.

The expiration date checking might be why some folks complain about formula, perhaps theirs was out of date. I don’t think the stores check it reliably, and goat formula can’t be something in high demand.

As an update, I’ve been kept busy. One side of the doe’s udder was looking hard and angry, and so I had to really ensure she’s been milked out. I think she was producing more than her kids were taking, and for the first day or two I was still working out how to milk her. She’s the polar opposite of the Nubians I had before her, which had big, or in one instance giant, teats. Then it’s been years since I’ve hand milked and I had muscle fatigue.

This doe milks kind of funny, in the flow. It’s this steady stream that doesn’t seem to slow down until it’s just done. And then five minutes later, her kids are nursing again and wagging tails so I still think they’re somehow getting more? Unless they’re just happy to be going through the motions.

About the same time I got decent at milking her, one of the Unloved (which is what my brother started calling the two kids which aren’t hers) began to take advantage of the milking situation. That doeling now chases down the doe, and I think the doe both isn’t THAT fussed and is a like confused which kids are hers, so at least one Unloved kid is getting milk on her own. The other Unloved doeling seems a bit scared.

My ultimate goal is to get both Unloved to nurse and take directly from the doe. It’ll help out even if it isn’t enough for them.

I found my old milking stand; it’s not fared well, so I need to see what I can do to make another one. I’m not super keen on woodworking only because the lumber prices are something to marvel at. I’ll see what I can find in the junk yard. There’s some cattle stuff and lots of metal bits. I think there might be something made for sheep in there but goodness knows if I can find it!

The kids meanwhile are happy. This morning I came to feed the bottle babies, and the momma goat looked out of the goat house, saw me, went back in, and butted out the two kids I needed. In retrospect she’s done this before, but I thought she was being mean, and now I think she just knows I want those two kids. I think this Toggenberg/Alpine doe is the smartest goat I’ve had yet.

I tend to favor whole fresh pasteurized goats milk for bottle babies.  But higher priority is keeping the kids alive.

I have a great doe who begins weaning her kids VERY early.  At 10 days they are eating a little hay and grass.  From what I understand this is normal for all kids, but before the kids are a month old, she barely allows them to nurse, she moves away or brushes them off with her leg.

I have come to believe it doesn’t hurt the kids to transition off milk as a major source of food— maybe a bottle with a few ounces of milk a day around 6 to 8 weeks.  Thus avoiding all the expense and worry about what to feed them, and how much.  If they begin to fall off, I supplement with more milk, but the fact that they WANT it is no indication the milk is necessary for survival and good prognosis for strong healthy robust goats.

Right now the kids from the doe I mentioned are not yet a month old.  They are probably on 80% hay.  I don’t supplement with concentrates, but I do provide Redmond salt, as much as they want, and the last month inutero, the doe had free choice kelp.  I am about to buy another bag of kelp so that we can continue with that.

I think culling for the individual goats that can flourish on the conditions I provide them is also an important part of kid survival.  I make sure all my kids survive, if it’s in my power, but, mothers who don’t raise their babies don’t get another breeding season with me.  Babies who are weak, needed lots of extra careand protection are sold,  does who fall off on “pasture” and free browsing, and hay, need and deserve people whose style is more along the lines of concentrates, supplements, vaccinations, boluses and what have you.  Plenty of people WANT to nurture them beyond the level I provide.  

When I want to sell a goat, I think about why I don’t want to keep her, then try to find the home that will provide a perfect fit.

That may have something to do with my kids tolerating “early” weaning