Chat
05-27-2022, 03:15 PM
I am just getting to the tail end of my first ever breeding season so I'm no authority on this topic but from my limited experience, a hybrid method is great in theory but the individual kids will determine if it will succeed or not. I have 9 kids. I have not tried to force a bottle on all of them but the 6 that I have at least offered a bottle to have been 50/50 on whether or not they are willing to take a bottle while mom is still in the equation.
All three are boys coincidentally (I have 6 boys and 3 girls). The first one to take a bottle refused a little bit at first but then decided it wasn't so bad and would take it after just a day or two. His brother (from a set of triplets) figured things out about 5 days later after I "plugged him in" for a few days. If I just opened his mouth and stuck the bottle in he would drink it but he wouldn't just latch on on his own for the first several days. Now he does. The last boy is one of my youngest and all I did was stick a bottle in his face and he latched on without any effort from me at all and he does so every time I offer a bottle. His twin won't take a bottle and fights me.
One thing I "think" is that dam raised kids are just bigger and healthier than straight bottle raised kids. I've had bottle babies in the past and these kids birthed her and left on their moms are huge compared to my bottle babies. I have a really big not quite 15 month old buck (33" and 187 lbs) that was bottle raised. I checked my records and he was 37 lbs at about 7 weeks old. His kids (and the kids from my other buck) have all blown past 37 pounds by 5 weeks old while being left on their moms. That includes bucklings and doelings. The dam raised kids are still very bonded to me, jump all over me and come to me for attention. I don't think anyone could tell the difference in my bottle babies from the past and my dam raised kids when they were all the same age.
All three are boys coincidentally (I have 6 boys and 3 girls). The first one to take a bottle refused a little bit at first but then decided it wasn't so bad and would take it after just a day or two. His brother (from a set of triplets) figured things out about 5 days later after I "plugged him in" for a few days. If I just opened his mouth and stuck the bottle in he would drink it but he wouldn't just latch on on his own for the first several days. Now he does. The last boy is one of my youngest and all I did was stick a bottle in his face and he latched on without any effort from me at all and he does so every time I offer a bottle. His twin won't take a bottle and fights me.
One thing I "think" is that dam raised kids are just bigger and healthier than straight bottle raised kids. I've had bottle babies in the past and these kids birthed her and left on their moms are huge compared to my bottle babies. I have a really big not quite 15 month old buck (33" and 187 lbs) that was bottle raised. I checked my records and he was 37 lbs at about 7 weeks old. His kids (and the kids from my other buck) have all blown past 37 pounds by 5 weeks old while being left on their moms. That includes bucklings and doelings. The dam raised kids are still very bonded to me, jump all over me and come to me for attention. I don't think anyone could tell the difference in my bottle babies from the past and my dam raised kids when they were all the same age.