Methods and schemes for feeding the kids, a table for compiling a diet by day

The first days and hours of life of kids is a special stage of development, on which the formation of immunity, future productivity and health in general depend. Diet is an important part of care. The method of feeding is chosen for the kids depending on the breed, the characteristics of the content and possibilities. Consider how to feed young goat, what should be introduced and what should be excluded from the diet.

Before the first feeding

Correct behavior during and immediately after lambing will preserve the health of the mother goat and young animals. What should be done:

1. If the kid's umbilical cord does not fall off by itself, it is cut off. The cut is treated with iodine or brilliant green.
2. Wipe the eyes, muzzle, body of the newborn from lubrication. To do this, use old soft rags or paper towels.
3. They give a kid to the mother - licking increases the immunity of the baby, protects against infections. When licking, the lactation process starts, colostrum arrives at the udder. Tactile contact is also important for a goat and a kid, mother and baby remember each other's smell.
4. The kid is wiped again, transferred to a warm place (in the winter to the house).
5. Wash the udder of the goat. The first batch of colostrum is decanted and drained, as it may contain contamination from the udder and dangerous microbes.
6. The kid is fed with warm colostrum. It is important to feed the first feed while the milk is still hot.

It takes half an hour to manage postpartum care and feed the kid with colostrum. If the baby does not receive warm colostrum within 30 minutes, the risk of postpartum complications increases several times. Immune protection will not be formed in a timely manner without feeding, from 40 to 60% of young animals die.

If the goat does not have milk or the amount is too small, experienced people recommend:

• give the animal some sweet water to drink;
• try to milk, massage the udder;
• introduce the hormone oxytocin.

The reason for the lack of milk is usually - untimely start before childbirth, complications during lambing, lack of juicy food when feeding.

Feeding methods

The goat is able to feed the baby itself; human participation in the preparation of the diet is not necessary. But many keep a goat herd to get milk, so they are interested in weaning the babies from the udder and feeding them artificially. Consider the features of each feeding method.

Under the uterus

Natural feeding is chosen if there is no need for milk, the animals are bred to obtain offspring, wool and skins. After lambing, the kids stay with their mother, eat when they are hungry. Advantages of the method:

• little kids do not need food rationing and tedious re-feeding;
• young animals develop and learn faster from the goat;
• kids have stronger immunity;
• milk does not lose nutrients when poured into a bottle.

The kid sucks the udder at will, the owner does not need to monitor the feeding, which reduces labor costs. After 3 weeks, mineral supplements are introduced into the diet - 10 grams of bone meal, chalk. When the kid turns 3 months old, the rate is doubled. When growing on natural feeding, the owner should monitor the condition of the goat's udder, donate milk residues to prevent mastitis.

Artificial feeding

From dairy goats, cubs are taken immediately after lambing and fed artificially. You also have to feed the kids if the goat is sick or milk has disappeared.

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The advantages of artificial feeding:

• preservation of commercial milk for consumption or sale;
• the ability to control the diet while feeding.

In the early days, colostrum and goat milk are used for watering, later - cow's milk, special mixtures, mixed feed. The norms are calculated according to the age and state of health of the kids.

Disadvantages of this type of feeding:

• labor costs for the formation of a diet, time for feeding the kids, washing dishes;
• weakening of immunity and developmental delay in young animals.

For kids who do not receive breast milk, it is important to introduce complementary foods according to age, use vitamin supplements. First, the kids are watered from bottles with nipples, if there are a lot of babies, the nipples are attached several pieces to the drinking bucket. Youngsters are transferred to the troughs later so that the kids do not choke and eat more than the norm.

Important: the nipples need to be replaced in a timely manner, as the rubber gradually deteriorates, the size of the channels increases, the babies swallow milk in large portions, and choke.

Combined feeding

To feed young dairy goats, it is better to use combined feeding. Features of the method:

1. For the first few days, the kids feed from their mother. This allows you to lay the foundations for strong immunity - fresh milk contains everything you need for the development of the baby.
2. After 4-7 days, the kids are weaned from the udder. The goat is transferred to a dairy herd.

The kids eat in accordance with the developed diet, they switch to artificial feeding. Complementary foods are received early, mineral supplements and milk formulas are combined to strengthen bones and immunity.

How many times a day to feed?

If the baby grows up without a goat, receives feeding from a person, it is important to know the qualitative and quantitative norms. The following frequency of feeding by age is recommended:

• 1-4 days - 5-6 times a day;
• 5-30 days - 4 times;
• 1-3 months - fed 3 times.

In the first days, only milk is included in the diet, by the end of the third month they drink only once a day, the rest of the meals consist of solid feed.

What can you give to kids?

Immediately after birth, the only food for the kids is milk. Drinking colostrum is required to activate the body's defenses. The immunostimulating power of colostrum weakens after 3-5 days. How the diet changes over time:

• 1-10 days - colostrum, milk;
• from day 11, complementary foods are introduced - oatmeal or semolina porridge (1 spoonful of cereal per 500 grams of water), diluted with milk before feeding;
• from a month they give carrots, cabbage, beets;
• mandatory components - bran, mixed feed;
• corn;
• hay.

At home, the following products are used as a dairy component:

• goat is ideal;
• you can give cow's milk in the absence of maternal milk from a goat;
• whole milk powder;
• substitute for "Felucene".

Gastric enzymes of babies digest goat's milk better, so it is better to choose mother's milk for early feeding. The substitute is made from herbal ingredients, which makes it cheaper.

Young animals should be transferred to a mixture gradually (within 4-5 days), replacing natural food with artificial ones in small portions.

How to make a diet for kids

It is important to feed the newborn kid with colostrum for the first hour. This stimulates the immune system, helps the release of feces, saturates the body with microflora from the mother.

In the future, the feeding scheme is as follows:

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The main features of feeding according to age:

1. From the first days, the kids are fed every 3-3.5 hours using rubber teats. Better to use breast milk. Colostrum of the first days in goats should be expressed, frozen, further warmed up in a water bath and given to water the babies.
2. Oatmeal chatterbox, jelly is given from 10-11 days.
3. By the age of two weeks, the milk volume is brought to 1.2 liters per day and is no longer increased. The rate for 1 time is 300-350 milliliters. At 2 weeks, youngsters are introduced to hay or herbs. Grass food is kept in the feeder constantly, so that the kids gradually get used to constant food, first they lick, then eat at will.
4. In the third week, young animals are taught to concentrated feed, starting from 30 grams.
5. In a month, milk for feeding is diluted with water, you can add mashed boiled potatoes, bran to it. Monthly kids are taught to coarse food, gradually introduce root crops in small portions. The young are released into the pasture, where the young are trying to get their own food.
6. At 2 months, roughage and grain become the basis of the diet. The share of milk does not exceed 30%. It is economically unprofitable to feed two-month-old animals with milk.

Changes in the diet are carried out slowly, new food is given in a small portion, the baby's condition is monitored. Several new components should not be introduced at the same time. When switching to roughage, babies sometimes experience a decrease in weight gain, indigestion. They choose high quality compound feed, including premixes.

At 3 months old, young growth is transferred to adult food, the period of childhood ends. Feeding - twice a day according to the diet for goats:

• hay, fresh grass, silage;
• branches;
• vegetables, fruits and root crops according to the season;
• cereal components - crushed wheat, oats, corn;
• legumes;
• compound feed;
• vitamin supplements, premixes.

In drinking bowls, animals are constantly kept clean water, the temperature of which is not lower than 12 °.

What can not be fed

All baits must be introduced in small portions and in accordance with age, otherwise the gastrointestinal tract of babies will not be able to digest food.

Goat milk substitutes are less useful, so it is better to feed young animals for 1-2 weeks. Not all components of fragrant herbs are equally useful for goats, and even more so for kids. There are many harmful and poisonous plants. Dangerous are:

• plants poisonous to goats with the possibility of lethal outcome - hellebore, wolf bean, fern;
• severe poisoning - nightshade, wild rosemary, string, burdock, red clover, feather grass, thistle.

Babies are not given food that is classified as spoiled:

• old, stale hay;
• hay infected with insects;
• fermented silage;
• vegetables, roots with signs of decay.

Such feeds cannot be fed to goats during natural feeding, given to grown-up kids.

A well-thought-out diet and strict adherence to the rules of feeding help the kids quickly gain weight, grow up cheerful and vigorous. After the appearance of the young, the farmer has more worries. It is important to take care of the kids in the first months in order to get highly productive and healthy animals.