Let’s talk about the importance of Colostrum to the health of your newborn baby goat.
Consider that colostrum, the first milk a doe produces after giving birth, is critical to giving newborn baby goats a strong start. Since baby goats are born without immunity, colostrum protects them until their immune system is fully functional. It provides antibodies that the doe is unable to pass on during pregnancy.
Note: Make sure your baby goat gets colostrum from Mom even if bottle feeding for the first 24 hours! It is okay to hold Mom for kids to nurse if possible or milk her and train them to take a bottle. If the baby isn't trying to suck your finger it's not ready to nurse. If the baby goat can't stand hold it up to nurse. Baby goats should eat every 2 hours around the clock for the first 24 hours. We have had many sleepless nights making sure the baby goats ate.
Helpful Hint: Freeze Colostrum in case you need it for another baby! You never know what might or can happen.
Homemade Colostrum Substitute Recipe:
2.5 cups of whole, vitamin D, cows milk from grocery story
1 cup Buttermilk
(1) 12 oz Can of evaporated milk
1 raw eggs (Farm fresh is best, when available)
Mix it all ingredients together and feed your newborn baby goat using the bottle feeding schedule. We only do this for the first few days. After that switch over to whole, vitamin D cow’s milk from the grocery store.
Note: We only do this if we have NO colostrum available fresh or frozen! If we have a sick baby goat we use the recipe as well. They need the extra calories to heal and grow. If we have a goat Mom who has a ton of milk we will store some in the freezer in case of an emergency.