We’ve got some new goat kids on the homestead that were recently added to our family, and we’ve been so happy to have them bouncing around.
We haven’t had any baby animals around in so long, so it’s been really nice to have them and be bonding with them.
The other day, though, the mother goat was taken to the vet for a routine check-up, before we realized the kids had no milk without her there.
I had to think on my feet as they were getting restless, so I wondered if I could give them ordinary cow’s milk.
So, can baby goats drink cow’s milk?
Yes, cow milk is fine for baby goats in a pinch—although goat milk is, naturally, always the better choice. If you’ve nothing else to give them, it will be suitable, whether it’s store bought or from your own cows. Just don’t make a habit of it, and you’ll have no problem.
If you’ve nothing else to give them, then, cows milk will do just fine and is certainly miles better than just letting them go hungry.
Again, though, cow’s milk is far from ideal, and could complicate matters if taken on a long-term basis.
Let’s look further into this.
Can I give baby goats cow milk?
Yes, is the simple answer.
They can have cow milk, it is nutritious and a good food source for them, in a situation where they have no goat milk available.
It won’t do them any harm and is certainly better than letting them go hungry if you have nothing else.
Cows and goats are fundamentally similar animals, and so this does allow them to share milk.
Again, though, the important thing is that you do not make a habit of it.
If you, as I was, find yourself in a situation where you have no choice, then feed them the cow milk.
In general, though, a newborn that is still suckling has very specific dietary needs, which are really only met by consuming the milk of its own species.
Cow milk is lower in protein, fat, potassium, calcium, and higher in sodium and carbohydrates.
There are big differences, then.
Where possible, only give your goats goat milk—in the case that it’s cow milk or going hungry, choose the cow milk.
Is cow milk good for baby goats?
It is not bad for them, in the short term.
The nutritional differences could, to an extent, be beneficial to the goat.
The additional sodium and carbohydrates can, to a degree, be beneficial.
Having a somewhat more mixed diet can be of help to a baby goat.
More processed, store-bought whole milk may be even more palatable to goats than their mother’s milk.
Again, though, any large amount of cow’s milk on any longer time scale and you’re almost certainly doing more harm than good.
Let’s look at why.
Is cow milk bad for baby goats?
The simple answer is yes—though maybe not in the short term, you should still be aware that it is not providing the extract nutritional cocktail that they need at this early stage.
As I mentioned, there are a number of key nutritional differences between goat and cow milk.
Goat milk is much higher in protein and fat, and is richer in vitamins like A, and minerals like potassium and calcium.
It’s also lower in salt and carbohydrates.
While there may be, as I said, one or two benefits to this, in the long term it is going to be detrimental to their health.
This stage of development is a vital one, until they can eat solid foods it’s really important that they get exactly what they need from the milk.
After all, in the wild, a goat would obviously only have access to its mother’s milk.
Thus, the goat’s milk is formulated in precisely the correct way.
Can baby goats have raw cow milk?
Yes, raw cow’s milk is generally the better option if you can get it.
What many homesteaders like to do, finding themselves in the situation that they have no goat milk for a kid, is get some from a cow of their own to share with the goats.
This is the most natural way, though it is obviously not possible for everyone.
In any case, goats can drink raw cow’s milk no problem—again, though, only in moderation.
Can baby goats have store-bought cow milk?
Store bought is likely to be the more reasonable solution for most people.
Baby goats can drink store-bought cow milk without issue—whole milk is going to be your best choice.
Indeed, they may even, at first, prefer the richness of the pasteurized milk.
The same rules apply, though.
Don’t think you can just buy milk in bulk from the store and your baby goat will get through its whole infancy on cow milk.
Even store-bought goat milk would be a better option.
So, the simple answer is yes.
The more complicated one, though, is that you really shouldn’t feed them cow milk if you can avoid it.
While the two milks seem quite similar to us, they do have very different nutrient profiles.
This is understandable, give the anatomical differences between cows and goats.
Cows are much, much bigger, and their milk accounts for this—baby cows have a lot more growing to do than goats.
So, in a pinch, it’s better than nothing—once they’re fed, though, you should get more goat milk as soon as you can.