what are people feeding babies for the first year?

[Deborah Haney]

In the few months that there wasn't much foliage I fed grass hay, plus a handful of grain to get them not to cry when I leave them in the morning and at night. It has worked well for us. We also started giving a half cup of BOSS and a half cup of beet pulp or alfalfa twice per day for added protein, calcium, and to help their coats look less dull. I have had no complaints (from me or the goats) about their diet so far.

I've heard a lot of opinions about castrating as well, some say wait at least 2 months, some say 3 months, some say 6 months. I think the common opinion is that waiting as long as is practical is best. The place I bought my babies from castrated my wether at 2 weeks. Now I'm not saying it's a good idea, but Max is big and healthy so far. It isn't the end of the world if you have to castrate at 10 or 12 weeks to allow your boys more time with their moms.

[Kat]

Resurrecting this older post, am still confused about how much grain to feed a kid during the first 6 months. Was following this article https://packgoats.com/feed-new-pack-goat-kid/ but it seemed to give my kid soft stool last week (9 weeks old now). Fecal showed negative for coccidia/common worms altho I was halfway thru a course of Albon by then.  Reducing the amount of grain by about 70% seems to have helped, he is now clumps of balls instead of more dog-like.

I feed orchard grass hay which is 5% alfalfa, and Chaffhaye (alfalfa) with the grain mixed up in the chaffhaye, the grain: Purina Noble Goat 3/4 with 1/4 Calf Manna. Plus 1 scoop of water-soaked orchard grass pellets in the evening. Plus a few "treats" carrot,apple,raisins, very small amount in evening.

Anyway, I'm thinking 1 cup of grain in morning and 1 cup in evening instead of free feed?  Try free feed grain not mixed in chaffhaye?  Do want him to grow as much as possible, he just looks bony to me.  At 9 weeks he is 23.5" tall and 47.8 lbs.   Breed 3/4 oberhasli, 1/4 alpine.

Thanks for any opinions...

[Nanno]

Is he still getting milk? I try to make sure our boys get milk until they are at least 12 weeks and sometimes 16 weeks if they are smaller or acting immature.

Your goat is getting a lot of different things in his feed so it might help to take him off everything but the hay for now and when his berries become normal, add in your other feeds one at a time and see how he takes them. It won't hurt him to go off concentrates for a few days to encourage his digestive system to normalize. Then you can add things back in one at a time and see which is the one that's giving him trouble. If cutting back the grain has already improved his digestion, that's probably the culprit. I suspect the Purina is the problem, but it could be the Calf Manna, so mess with your ratios and amounts a little bit and see if you can find the right balance for your goat. I almost never feed my babies grain because my kids are dam-raised they get enough calories from free-choice milk. But if your guy is a bottle kid he may need those extra calories from the grain. Does he have access to any fresh browse and/or pasture?

[Kat]

Is he still getting milk? I try to make sure our boys get milk until they are at least 12 weeks and sometimes 16 weeks if they are smaller or acting immature.

Your goat is getting a lot of different things in his feed so it might help to take him off everything but the hay for now and when his berries become normal, add in your other feeds one at a time and see how he takes them. It won't hurt him to go off concentrates for a few days to encourage his digestive system to normalize. Then you can add things back in one at a time and see which is the one that's giving him trouble. If cutting back the grain has already improved his digestion, that's probably the culprit. I suspect the Purina is the problem, but it could be the Calf Manna, so mess with your ratios and amounts a little bit and see if you can find the right balance for your goat. I almost never feed my babies grain because my kids are dam-raised they get enough calories from free-choice milk. But if your guy is a bottle kid he may need those extra calories from the grain. Does he have access to any fresh browse and/or pasture?

Following this advice (thank you!) I found that a half cup of the Purina Noble Goat in morning and evening is tolerable for his gut, and I am just doing a small sprinkle of the Calf Manna in the evening as a "treat."

He is indeed still on the bottle 2x day (not replacer but pasteurized goat milk),  will be taking him down to one bottle at the end of this month. He weighed 56 lbs last Sunday, 24.5" at the withers so he has been gaining every week. 

Of course after 3 weeks of pretty good gut behaviour this weekend his stool has gone soft again, this time I know it can't be food related as I have been following the same protocol. Unless he ate something he shouldn't have.  He doesn't have much in the way of daily fresh browse, altho I have been bringing cuttings to the pen as well as, he has been out on 3 hikes so far already in the last 3 weeks where they get lots of eating time.  I went ahead and started him on Albon again in case of Coccidia as I didn't want to wait for a fecal, hope that wasn't stupid...

[Nanno]

I'm glad he's improving. This time of year it's not unusual for our goats to get soft/clumpy stool from time to time because of the variety of plants they are eating.

Check your Purina feed because one of the Noble Goat types has a coccidiostat in it. I've personally never (yet) dealt with cocci and so far I've never used cocci prevention (I'm lucky enough to live in a dry climate where cocci isn't much of an issue), so I can't give much advice on that problem, but do check if you are using a medicated feed. Sometimes the bags are not very explicit and you have to read the label. If he's getting cocci prevention in his feed, then cocci is most likely not causing his soft poo. In fact, since you already treated for cocci and had a fecal test done, his problems are almost certainly dietary. What happens when you remove the Chaffhaye? A couple of my goats get very clumpy on alfalfa, and Chaffhaye is fermented alfalfa.