Do You Bottle Feed or Dam Raise Kids?

[A@VT]

I am starting this thread to see if you dam raise or bottle feed your kids and why. What do you believe are the benefits of raising kids each way? In the past I have always raised my kids on a bottle but I am thinking about dam raising this year. I raise goats so my family can have fresh milk and then we butcher the kids in the fall for meat. Please give me your opinions. Thanks, A@VT.

[deineria]

I CAE test and am negative, so I let the dam's raise the kids, but we had to pull the last kids because the doe developed mastitis, and I enjoy bottle-feeding them. We've bought 2 others in the past and bottle-fed them. They are MUCH more in your pocket if you bottle-feeding, but I like things the way nature intended them best, if possible.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I always dam raise my kids. I think it's just all around better for the kids. I'm not really sure if bottle feeding would make ours an more friendly since we spend so much time with all our goats. We have people come back a 2nd time for more becuase they are such nice friendly kids usually.

Plus I don't want to bottle feed them if I don't have to or have them in my house for that length of time.
I have 3 ducklings in here now that I am enjoying but still wish they were big enough & it was warm enough for them to go outside & they can get there own feed out of the dish.

[bloogrssgrl]

We raise our goats for meat and fiber so, unless there are dire circumstances (ie. orphaned kid, too many kids for one mom, etc.), we let the mothers to the work. We did have one orphaned kid last year and it will be too soon if I never have to bottle feed a kid again! This little girl reminded me of why I don't don't want any more children.

Some of our does are dairy cross and I will periodically milk them if they are only raising one kid. So far, that has been enough milk for us as we also buy raw cow milk from a farmer at the market. I do sometimes get the thought in my head that I would like to have a dairy goat but, unless I am somehow able to make ends meet without having to go off the farm for income, I don't know how I could fit the milking into the schedule.

[farmmom]

I bottle raise all mine for a couple of reasons. One is CAE prevention (not that I have CAE, I just haven't been able to get everyone tested yet) and the other is so that they bond with me and are gentle, know their boundaries (not jumping up on me), and are accustomed to being handled which makes it easier to medicate, do routine maintainance and milk.

[Wags]

We dam raise unless we don't have another choice. All of the babies are loved on daily so they know they are accustomed to being handled. Last year we had to bottle raise two, and I would be willing to bet you couldn't pick them out from the dam raised ones.

We also choose to wait until the babies are 3-4 months old before weaning. I think that gives them a much healthier start on life and I like only having to milk once a day.

[Pony]

Aw, Rose, are you still waiting?

Bummer.

[A@VT]

Thanks for all the replies. My goats have tested CAE negative for 2 years now, they were born from CAE positive mothers and raised on cows milk. I would like to dam raise because I feel it is more natural and healthy for the goats, and the kids might be a little meatier in the fall. The reasons that I am thinking about bottle feeding is because both my does are first fresheners and I am curious about how much milk they will produce. Both their mothers were alpines that produced well, their sire was 50% alpine and 50% angora his mother was an alpine that produced well and his sire was an angora. So my does are 75% alpine and 25% angora, I am curious at how much the 25% angora will decrease their milk production, and concerned that I will not know with the kids nursing. The biggest concern for me would be with the kids nursing, and me not monitoring how much milk they get, there would not be enough milk for my family. I guess I will keep thinking about both ways, I still have some time to decided, they are not due until April 9th and 10th. Thanks for letting me know how you do it.

Editing to add that my whole herd has tested CAE free for two years now, I butchered the positive animals. And have only gotten back negative CAE test results for all my animal since then.

[Alice In TX/MO]

We test for CAE also, so we dam raise. Have one older doe that we supplemented her kids last year, but they were also dam raised.

Have raised a couple of outside kids on the bottle, but it's such a hassle.

Lost one bottle kid to entero, and that's a heartbreaker.

[madness]

We bottle raise too. Most of the arguments I've seen against it are:

It's a hassle. I have to agree that it does take more time to bottle raise. But I think it's fun and we use a lambar so all the kids get fed in about 5 minutes once they figure it out (which CAN be a hassle!). Then its just washing up. You never have to worry about triplets not getting enough either or fighting over a teat since you provide for each.

It's not natural. Ok, sure it's not! But I think most people use this argument when bottle feeding also means using milk replacer. We feed momma's milk back to them. It's like a working mom who stores her breastmilk for bottle feeding. While not 100% natural, it's an excellent alternative. And of course feeding is different with less frequent but larger meals. We haven't seen any problems with it.

The doelings don't grow up with good maternal instincts. I've yet to personally experience this, but I can certainly see it being an issue. However, if you always plan on bottle feeding, then it shouldn't really matter! Actually, two of our 4 dam raised does have rejected a kid (we let them nurse for 3 days so we don't have to do midnight feedings). We haven't had a bottle raised doe freshen yet, so I don't have anything to compare to.

So for us, bottle raising works. I'm not saying it's better than dam raised by any means though there are arguments for that too. It does prevent CAE spread if you pull at birth and pasteurize, but we are negative and haven't felt the need to do that. I've also heard that udder health is improved by not having big bucklings bump the udder and fight over teats. I don't know if that's really true, but I've sure seen some rough goatlings! And you certainly have a better grasp on milk production if you are the only one getting the milk out! And there are arguments that you will only ever get the best production by pulling kids and milking twice a day. I'm not sure how exactly you can really compare that to what is being produced when the kids are nursing though!

So A, it's truly a personal decision. Generally, you can pull kids pretty easily from their moms until they are about 2 weeks old. After that, you will find it REALLY difficult to get them going on a bottle and their growth will probably be checked during the transition - something you would surely want to avoid since you are butchering. So you can take a little time ever after they kid to decide. BUT, if you pull them early and then decide it's too much work, you could be in for trouble as the dams may have moved on and don't want anything to do with the little scrappers anymore. On the other hand, we had a doeling separated at a young age suckle on her mom at 5 months after she was weaned! Goats love to throw you curve balls!

[crazygoatgal]

A@Vt- call me if you want. I have some ideas on both methods and a third one as welll but have to leave here now. 802-673-6738

[QoTL]

Last year's baby was dam rasied by a standoff-ish mother. Despite making time every day to sit with them, holding the baby, getting her used to being kissed on the head , and just generally being a part of the 'herd', the baby was always as standoffish (if not more) than mom. It kinda stunk, really. Mom came here very wild, and it took me MONTHS to get her to the point where I could even pet her. She still can be a bit of a pain, sometimes, although thankfully she's very milkstand trained, so once she's up I can do whatever I want. Baby liked me, but she certainly didn't think I was anything special.

I have my first bottle kids right now and I have to say what a difference! They recognize each member of my family, and in particular remember who has fed and played with them. They get along very well with the cats and dogs, and aren't afraid of anything except the dark lol. One actually tried to jump into my arms from the milkstand the other day. I've also noticed that I am gradually teaching them to be patient, which is something sorely lacking in my doe. One loves kisses and hugs, and both think my kids are fellow goat kids, so love to chase and play with them. They are much more dog-like than goat-like right now. When company comes to visit them, they are very openly curious and friendly, instead of suspicious and scared.

The drawbacks for me are: I'm chained to the bottle. Even if that means I'm exhausted or don't feel like getting up, I still have to do it. They don't have anyone to cuddle with on nights like tonight that are below freezing (so they sleep in a cool room in my house), and I'm terrified to completely meld them into my little herd, since without me there no one will protect them. Without a mom, for all intents and purposes, that is MY job, and being mom to baby goats is thrilling and sweet, but a bit stressful, too. I have one baby to burn horn buds on and I'm dreading it, since she's the one I secretly love the most. Hopefully she doesn't hate me after!

I would do it again, although it would be much easier if I had a way to leave them with the herd 24/7, and go up to bottle feed. There is a lot of shifting around right now to make sure they have time to hang out with everyone else, and yet stay warm and safe when I can't watch.


And- this isn't because the doe rejected them, which perhaps makes a difference. My two were bought from another farm, so there wasn't a choice about how it would go.