Raising Chins without mom

[tunes]

I also have to question the advice of your vet. A 100 gm kit at 4 weeks should not be weaned off of milk. I suppose it's possible they can survive after being weaned, but I would guess they are going to be small and possibly not the healthiest adults because they weren't given proper nutrition as kits.

Maybe your vet is questioning the use of the fresh goat's milk. I myself have concerns about milk that goes bad in 3 days time. It makes me wonder if it was pasteurized or what the deal is. As I said above, my fresh goat's milk has an expiration date of almost a month out, and it stays fresh smelling the entire time. I can't imagine what kind of milk would go bad within 3 days.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

Tunes I wonder if the OP should just change to the Carnation milk instead. I know one should really not change foods but if the goats milk he has isn't really good and he can't find any other goats milk then wouldn't the Carnation milk be better than nothing???

 

[Tugaudzius]

Well, that's the question that I have as well. Here is the link of what I'm using. I'm using it for the first 3 days after opening (4 max) and then get a new carton.
http://www.glenisk.com/our-products/goats/goats-milk/
I try it myself every time & take care that they would not get a spoilled one. But I always fear. I'll be going to Chicago for 2 weeks at the begining of Sept and my brother's girldfriend will be looking after the kit, I'm affraid to leave her with the goat's milk. What should I do?
If you get a regular (cow's) milk here it is usually good for 7 days after opening.

 

[tunes]

The link you show "should" be okay to use. It's pasteurized, which would have been my big concern.

It's just hard to believe that the goats milk would be causing issues. I've used it many times (the fresh) with absolutely no problem and wonderful growth rate in the kits. Some have lost their mom's, some have been from large litters that mom couldn't support, and some from first time moms who either didn't know what to do or didn't get her milk in right away. None of them have had a problem with the fresh goats milk.

This is the fresh that I use: http://meyenberg.com/index.php?page=whole-milk. If anything it looks like the milk you use is much LESS "potent", for lack of a better word, than what I use.

And I still cannot understand why it would go bad after 3 days. That just doesn't make sense. From the description that your goat's milk give, it's a little stronger than water.

I suppose you could give the Carnation a try, but still think the goats milk is a better choice. I'm at a loss here. Maybe Claire will pop in and think of something else that might work on your side of the ocean.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Thanks, Tunes. We will stick to the Goat's Milk then. Can you advise me about the room temperature that they should be in now?

 

[Tugaudzius]

Guys, I need your advise, again. The kits are growing; today they weight 124, 118g. There are days that they gain 6-7 g and days when only 1-2g. In the last two days though I've noticed that there are some feeds that they don't take any milk. Like for example now. I saw them nimble on pallets and hay minutes after refusing to take a sip of milk. I should feed them after 3 hours but that doesn't seem to be fair to keep them without milk for so long. What should I do? Should I start feeding them every 4 hours?

 

[greychins]

As they get older, they will start trying some solid foods more often... My kits are now going on 8 weeks, but when they were younger, at some feedings they'd eat a lot of milk and at others they'd eat just a few drops. Same with the weight gain like yours - some days more, some days less. I personally kept them on feedings every 3 hours, regardless of whether they ate or not. If they didn't eat, the next feeding was still at 3 hours. Sometimes they'd eat at the feeding, sometimes not, and sometimes they didn't seem to even want the milk at the 2nd feeding in a row (where they didn't eat at the first). As long as they're gaining, in general, they should be ok.

 

[tunes]

I agree with Greychins. I would keep up the feedings until they put on some more weight. They are still really small for their age. They aren't always going to be starving for the formula, but I always offered it anyway, just in case.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Thanks, guys. I'll keep feeding every 3 hrs. I guess I worry much more after loosing one of them so now every little thing scares me. I really appreciate you input and advises. Good to know what is normal and what is not.

 

[tunes]

Death happens. People who breed need to realize this. It always comes as a shock to people when they lose a kit. Every breeder loses kits. It doesn't make it any easier, but if we lost our mind with worry every time we lost a kit, we wouldn't be able to function.

Relax and take a deep breath. You're doing well with them. What happened with the one you lost could have happened whether it was hand fed or not. It might have just been her time to go. We've all been there. Despite our best efforts, it just happens.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Hi guys, I need your advise once more. Kits will be 2 months old on Monday and weight 200 gr. I need to strat taking them off milk, but don't know how to do that. Could you please advise me? How long does this process takes? Thanks.

 

[tunes]

I usually just wean them off with a buddy. I don't do it a little at a time. When it's time to wean, I take them from mom and put them by themselves. In your case, I think I would consider giving them milk a couple times a day yet, since they aren't very big for 2 months old. Not a set number, like every 4 hours set in stone, but maybe 3 times a day for a little while longer yet. I like to see 2 month old kits at 300+ gm.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Tunes, should I mix milk with water( half & half) or do I just change freaquency of feeding? At the moment they get fed every 4 hours. Since they are on the milk they do not drink water and mostly every feed they do take 6-8ml, I guess they are thirsty.
water bottle is there fr them but they don't really use it yet. They love hay and feed on pellets as well. Please advise.

 

[tunes]

Leave the mix the same, just change the frequency. Three times a day would even help. Are you able to provide the dry formula? The powdered milk mix will work just as well as the liquid in kits at this age.

 

[Tugaudzius]

No, we still on regular Goat's Milk. I will reduce freaquency. Do you think they'll start drinking water once I reduce milk freaquency?

 

[Tugaudzius]

I've reduced freaquency of the feeds but they still don't drink water from the waterbottle. Last night my alarm didn't go off so I skipt the feed and when I finally went to feed them they were frantic. Not hungry since they eat lots of hay and pelets but I assume they were thirsty. At the moment try to feed them 4 times (in 24 hrs). I am still driving them to my brothers every day and bring them back every night, I don't think they like it anymore and I will stop from next week. But I need to see how they are if I feed them from 6 pm till 7 am. I know that during the day they sleep and if they hungry they'll be able to munch on hay. How should I teach them to drink from a waterbottle? Please help...

 

[Claire D]

They are a decent weight now so I would try to get them drinking from a bottle if you can. I have used the bottle technique very successfully over the last few years so my approach to weaning hand/bottle reared kits is slightly different to Peggy's. Either approach works but I found that diluting the milk down over a period of a couple of weeks or more is effective.

This is taken from my website (which some lovely person has hacked so I am sorry I cannot link to the current page ATM). The cached page is here though - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:20U0NMC8aScJ:www.davidson-chinchillas.co.uk/pages/hand_rearing_chinchilla_kits___alternative_approach.php+davidson-chinchillas&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

Weaning kits from bottle feeds:

Once the kits reach 8 weeks old and have achieved at least 200g in weight it is a relatively simple process to wean them from bottle feeds. In fact, some kits will wean themselves given the choice. Personally I do not begin to wean any kit who has not achieved 200g in weight at 8 weeks old - these "runty" kits may need continuous bottle feeds for longer (10-12 weeks).

Gradual increase in the dilution of the formula encourages the kits to wean themselves. From a formula of 2:1 (cooled boiled water to evaporated milk) it can be diluted to 3:1, 4:1 5:1 etc over a period of a couple of weeks (the other ingredients are gradually reduced in a similar manner). Usually by the end of the fortnight (or longer if necessary) the kits have lost interest in what has essentially become water slightly flavoured with milk.
It is also possible to decrease the amount of time the bottles are attached to the cage so that the kits begin to increase their pellet and hay intake. For example, bottles can be removed from the cage every few hours and only put on for feeds - the intervals between "feeds" is then increased slightly each time.

It is important to note that during the weaning phase the kits should still be monitored daily to ensure there is continuous weight gain. A decrease in weight may mean the kits are not yet ready for weaning and the formula should be strengthened again and left on the cage for longer periods of time.

Like you, I am out at work all day (I take small kits to work with me usually) & the one thing I absolutely ensure is that the bottle is really well sterilised - I also don't warm the milk when I am weaning them because they tend to drink it cold during the day so not warming it means less bacteria.

Hope that helps?

 

[Tugaudzius]

These kits have never taken to drinking from a bottle. I feed them with the syringe & a little "nipple" attached to it. The water bottle is still there (has been there for the last month) even if I fill it with milk, they don't seem to like the feel of the metal (I'm guessing). I tried (& still try) sticking their noses to it and they taste milk/water but afterwards they just go by it and wait to be fed by the door. They eat a lot of hay and a bit of pellets. I've noticed that they haven't gained a gram since I reduced milk feed freaquency. I will keep on weighting them to see if that will change, but now for the last 2 days it had stopped. One of them weights 198gr while the other one 206gr. Yesterday they turned 2 months old. I do warm up the milk since it's kept in the fridge during the feeds. How to teach them to drink from the waterbottle? They okay with food but I do not want them to dehydrate.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Hi, I've started weaning them of the milk. Last Tuesday they turned 10 wks they weight about 250g. Wanted to ask your advise (again). We have a grown male chinchilla around 3 yrs or so we were told, he looks older and doesn't move a lot. I was wondering if it is possible to move baby kits into the cage with him? I hope that he'll teach them how to use a water bottle, cause at the moment they just sniff an run away.