The Joy of Bottle Babies

People are constantly asking me "How do you do it? or Why do you do it?" My answer....I love goats!!! Yes, bottle raising goats is a lot of work, it's expensive, and it's time consuming, but the pride you feel in knowing that you raised those beautiful animals is worth every bit of time, money, and frustration you might feel.

My bottle kids are now five and six weeks old, they are from two different dams, which means I have at least six more weeks of bottle feeding. I follow a pretty simple routine that has always worked for me, so why mess with perfection. I give each girl 15 ounces of goat milk in the morning, 15 ounces in the evening, and 11 ounces at bedtime. They also get free choice hay and 16% goat ration from my local Co Op. They are growing like weeds so I must be doing something right. I also vaccinate my kids because, unfortunately, I've lost kids in the past to enterotoxemia. Therefore, all bottle babies receive C & D Antitoxin every two weeks until they are 12 weeks old, then they get their CD/T vaccination. If the kids are from a doe that has been vaccinated with CD/T three weeks before she kidded, and the kids got adequate colostrum from the doe, then I do not give them the C & D Antitoxin because they received the antibodies from their dam. At 12 weeks old, they are also vaccinated with a pneumonia vaccine. These are the only two vaccinations I give my goats and this health regimen has always worked for me.

My bottle baby girls are healthy, happy and spoiled, which is all that matters to. We had a chilly, but beautiful weekend so I cleaned out the barn and of course, they had to help. I piled up the wasted hay and they scattered it back out for me, they kept the cats busy by butting and chasing them, and they occasionally tripped me, so we had a blast! In conclusion, all I can say, if you have the time, the resources, and the will, bottle feed those babies.....you won't regret it!