The best feed for baby animals comes right from their mothers. At times, farmers need to or want to step in and hand feed the little ones. In commercial dairy production, almost all calves, kids and lambs are bottle fed. All of our kids are all bottle fed along with some of our ewe lambs.
We prefer to feed up to 20 percent of the animal’s body weight per day in whole milk. We use our own pasteurized colostrum and goat milk for this purpose for the first few days before switching to a pasteurized whole cow milk.
Concerned about CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis or Johne’s disease) or want to raise your kids on a CAE Prevention Program? Pasteurize both your raw colostrum and raw milk before feeding to prevent transmission of these diseases. Do not let kids or lambs drink from their dam or others.
In 2019, we started feeding store bought pasteurized whole cow’s milk to our bottle babies after they were on pasteurized colostrum and pasteurized goat milk for a few days. They developed wonderfully. In our area, we can buy a gallon of whole milk from Lidl or Walmart for $ 2.30 a gallon (2024 Price). This is a cheaper option than purchasing commercial mixable milk replacer, it supports local NC dairies and we have less problems with bloat and scours. Plus, there is no mixing required. The only drawback for us is that at times, we have 20+ gallons of milk in a dedicated refrigerator for kids that only last one day with daily trips to the market!
If you don’t want to use fresh or pasteurized goat’s milk or a ready mixed store bought pasteurized cow’s milk, you can purchase a mixable commercial milk replacer. We recommend Premium Blend Doe’s Match Kid Milk Replacer by Land O Lakes for goats. Doe’s Match is 25% protein and 28% fat with the Architect Formulation System. This system contains a combination of protein, fat and carbohydrates. This helps to grow bigger, more vigorous kids.
We have also used Premium Blend Ultra Fresh Lamb Milk Replacer by Land O Lakes for bummer lambs or ewe lambs. The lamb milk replacer is 24% protein and 35% fat for maximum performance in lambs. The Ultra Fresh milk replacer is formulated with complex carbohydrate Beta glucan to promote gut health and lead to stronger immunity protection.
Land O Lakes’ products can be purchased in our area from Southern States, a farmer owned cooperative since 1923. They normally stock the smaller weight buckets and bags (8#); however, we have special ordered 50 pound bags which are also medicated to prevent scours and coccidiosis. Larger bags are less expensive per pound than smaller quantities. Milk replacer is still quite expensive being approximately $130+, in our area, for a 50 pound bag.
If you use any other brand of milk replacer, look at the tag to ensure that “milk” is the first ingredient NOT “soy”. Cheaper brands often contain little or no milk and are a recipe for disaster.
Feed babies smaller milk rations often throughout the day instead of giving them one or two big feedings. Whether you use a bucket with nipples attached (lamb bar) or a bottle, use nipples appropriate to the animals size. Keep all equipment squeaky clean!
While bottle or bucket feeding, start the babies on dry food immediately. Offer a small flake of hay and some grain or whole oats for them to begin munching on along with water.
And, don’t forget that colostrum must be received from the baby’s mother within the first 24 hours of life. It jump starts the baby’s immune system. If the mother’s colostrum is not available, feed pasteurized colostrum you have frozen from other animals in your herd or purchase powdered colostrum from a feed store. Cow colostrum can be used for other species in a pinch. Make sure you are purchasing “colostrum replacer” and NOT a “colostrum supplement”.