Teaching A Goat Baby To Take A Bottle

By Deb Haines

Bottle babies can be frustrating at times, for not all goat babies are eager to take the bottle. This is not natural to them and the nipple is a foreign object. If the baby refuses to take the bottle you must work with the baby it can take some time.. Be gentle and patient.

Keep in mind this is a baby goat and they are designed a special way to intake milk naturally from their mother. You must provide this natural position when bottle feeding.. Goat babies have a

Ruminoreticular groove that is in the esophagus. This valve closes off the Rumen and allows the milk to flow directly into the Abomasum. Its important to feed baby goats in natural position.

Check babies that you see struggling….Cleft palates?…. Inspect your kid for a cleft palate if you see them having difficulty nursing/latching on or see milk from the nose after eating. The cleft is a ridge on the roof of the mouth and opens the oral cavity to the sinuses – this prevents a good suction and also means milk can flow into the sinus and possibly down the throat into the lungs. .

Getting started

Make sure you have the proper nipple depending on the size of the baby. GVC vets have found the Pritchard nipple

(Red nipple with yellow base) to work out the best.

There are others that work.. Keep trying a nipple that baby will take.

Check the tip of your nipple and cut the hole for milk flow by making a X.

Do not cut nipple to make a fast flow. You want the baby to be able to suck the milk from the bottle. The udder from the doe the goat baby has to work at getting the milk. Place the nipple on a clean bottle.

Bottles should contain warm milk 100 degrees like coming from the doe. You can easily check with a Thermometer if this is a new experience for you. Cold milk can cause digestive distress.

Find a comfortable place when starting to teach a bottle baby, where there is not a lot of distractions and noise. Make sure babies has a normal body temperature and not cold… they cannot suck on bottle when cold.

If possible sit down on the ground/floor on your legs… place the baby in between your legs where the rear of the baby faces your chest. This allow your legs to be a support on each side, keeping the baby in place.

Take your left hand and gently hold the babies face but not the restricting the bottom jaw. Take your right hand with the warm bottle and as you take index finger on left hand gently open babies mouth while putting the nipple from the bottle into the babies mouth placing on top of the tongue. If the baby does not start suckling keep trying but make sure you are NOT forcing milk down babies throat. You can also try a slow and gentle slight back and forth movement with the nipple inside the babies mouth to keep babies attention.

Many people have success in laying a goat baby over their lap. The main key is to have them in a position where the goat should be fed with his head tilted back, a natural feeding position that allows milk to flow to his abdomen.

Picture how the baby goat feeds natural on the mama goat.

Always keep in mind A baby goat is designed to drink from a nipple that is higher than his head so that the milk goes down the “right direction”, and is bypassing the rumen which is not functioning yet.

Remember……When you hold the bottle, you need to hold it up, at an angle so his head is pointing slightly up and his neck is slightly extended as he drinks

Tricks that sometimes work with difficult bottle babies

You can place a small amount of kayro syrup or pancake syrup on the nipple to gain interest.

Many times covering the babies eyes with a light wash cloth or small towel will give them the security of being up against the mothers udder . you can also use part of your hand if needed to cover eyes and sometimes the warmth of your hand feels like mama’s udder.hey let the air into the bottle much better than the lamb nipples while the kid is drinking, making it easier to drink from. No matter what type of nipple you use, you must cut an “X” in the end of the nipple. Make the X bigger than you think it needs to be. See examples in the photos to the left.

If the baby does not want to nurse, you must work with them. Sometime is it extremely (and I mean extremely) difficult to get a baby to take a bottle. Please be patient. . This baby has no idea what the bottle is and what you are trying to do.

Keep working with the baby. Keep calm and speak soft and kind to the baby.

Eventually the the baby will realize the bottle is food. It can take a little more time for some, especially if they have nursed from a real teat. Bottle babies are a lot of work, time consuming but through good nourishment, time and patience the reward in the end are priceless…

2nd option

Place Karo syrup on your finger and allow the kid to suckle your finger.

Using your finger while it is in the kid’s mouth, “lead” the kid into the appropriate position…..do not push the kid as that stimulates the “opposition reflex” and they will push back against the pressure, going in the wrong direction.

Align your finger (with the suckling kid attached), alongside the teat….pull your finger out of the kid’s mouth and put the teat in its place….the kid should suckle now.

Repeat this process as often as it.

A kid’s system is designed to drink from a nipple that is higher than his head so that milk goes down the “right way”, bypassing the rumen which is not functioning yet. When you hold the bottle, you need to hold it up, at an angle so his head is pointing slightly up and his neck is slightly extended as he drinks.

Note…If all else fails…dip tip of nipple in granulated sugar..not alot…it makes baby move mouth around…