Been doing it wrong...

I realized this year that I have been doing this whole goat/kid/kidding thing wrong for a long time. I used to spend a lot of time and energy on this part of the year with baby goat watching, bottle feeding, milking, and the like. This year I got super busy (AKA "lazy") and decided to let the goats do their own thing and take care of their own kids. I have been present for the kiddings to help out if needed. I got smart and took the whole week off from work since all three goats were due at the same time. Normally I spend days at work fretting over if the goats are in labor and what I am going to find when I get home. This has been nice to have my schedule clear so it's all goats, all the time.

This year I decided to let the kids stay with their moms. Normally I bottle feed to make the kids friendly. It was me up every three hours for days feeding and cleaning up after the kids. Just like a human baby, yuck! So I left all the kids and moms together. They are all doing amazing! The kids eat when they want to and the moms are happy to have their kids with them. I have Alice and Fiona together in the big pen with their four kids. It works pretty well and the kids have been quick to learn to stay away from the wrong momma. The only issue is that Alice will attack Fiona's kids if she is not in the pen. There's no problem if Fiona is in there too, it's only when she is gone. I think Alice gets worried that she will be stuck with four kids to raise and is like "Oh hell NO!".

Dam raising isn't a disease issue this year because I finally have all my bred girls CAE negative. That was another reason I used to bottle feed. My girls tested negative in September so it is game on for dam raising!

I do still have to milk but right now it is only just to even out the udders. Soon I will start separating moms and kids for a time so I can get some milk for me. Luckily, these are all high producing dairy goats so there should be plenty of milk for everyone.

I feel like I have been doing it all wrong because this year has been pretty easy so far. I don't have any baby goats in my kitchen, I don't have to worry about being a little late for milking time, and I don't have to worry that the kids aren't getting enough to eat.