Raw Goat's Milk

[Tugaudzius]

Need your advise. I was able to find only raw goat's milk. Do I need to boil it before using? What recipe do I use with raw milk? Add baby rice cereal? Anything else? Thanks.

 

[Tugaudzius]

I don't seem to find of how much should I feed my baby chins. They are 8 days old today. I have a feeling that 1 ml is not enough, but I've seen so many warning not to over feed them...

 

[Riven]

I've never had a kit over eat, usually they get bored quickly, just feel their tummies, when they feel round and slightly firm but a little swishy they're full. If they have hard full bellies, that's too much.

Did you check any farm supply or feed stores for lamb and goat milk replacer?

In general the raw would be okay, maybe even better in some aspects, but you do run the concern of microbes. Raw milk separates naturally, so be sure to shake it or stir it well before feeding.

 

[tunes]

I agree with Nicole. I highly doubt you will overfeed them. They usually let you know, quite strongly, when they are full.

As far as raw milk, I've never used it, so I'll defer to Nicole on that since she's out in the armpit of farm country.

 

[Riven]

WOO HOO!! I moved from the butt crack to the arm pit! Oh yea... moving up in the world!

People lived for a very, very long time without pasteurizing their dairy products, in this time they gained immunity to the microbes that lived in it. Today if someone drank raw milk ( although many people still do, especially in other countries) they'd probably get the biggest belly ache ever. With that said, they are baby animals that would be getting similar microbes from their mothers milk to an extent. If the goats are clean and parasite free I would not worry too much. In fact if I had raw milk to hand feed with instead of replacer... I'd probably use it personally.

I also know that some ranchers actually use vit D milk, like you buy at the store, as a supplement to moms with large litters.

Most people use replacers and canned milk because it's more accessible to most people and stores well. We used to hand milk, my mom and stepdad still have four jersey's if I wanted to go milk something I probably could, lol. We had people who would drink the raw milk, and we would mix it in for our puppies "puppy mash" when they raised weimaraners as well.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Thanks for your advise, guys. I found a store that sells pasteurized milk and I'm using it for now. They seem to like it and some feeds they take 2 ml while the others only 0.2-.05; I'm guessing that happens if they are still full. I still feed them every 2 hours. They gained 3 grams each during the day that we fed them goat's milk, let's hope this weight gain will continue.

 

[Ash]

It probably will. Goat's milk has more nutrients that the kits can use. There's not much they can do with nutrients for a carnivore's diet, I would think, such as are in kitten milk. At least, that would be my guess...

 

[Riven]

Pasteurized goat milk? What you want to know is what the fat content in it is. Because if it's skimmed, they won't be getting enough. Usually they don't skim goats milk much though. You are ideally looking for around 30% fat content. Lamb or goat milk is an ideal replacer.

Ash totally lost me and I have no idea what carnivore milk has to do with anything in this thread, did I miss something?

 

[Tugaudzius]

I am buying full fat milk. Is milk on it's own enough?
Ash was relating to another one of my questions in thread "Raising Chins without mom".

 

[tunes]

You can add a small sprinkle of baby rice cereal if you like. It's a filler/binder kind of deal and helps weight gain. It seems to also help with the kits when they get a bit of runny stools. Not all kits do, but some do because the goat's milk is fairly rich.

 

[Riven]

Second that. I'm not sure how old they are. Ususally I don't add anything until they're about 2 weeks or so, unless they seem to need it.