I'm thinking making an ebook specifically aimed at bottle reared goats. We recently lost a doe, Sage, just 2 days after she kidded. As a result her 2 babies are now being hand reared by the Handy Helper and myself. I've had a few questions from new homesteaders around bottle rearing and it can be tricky. The videos online show healthy babies running for bottles and drinking easily. It's a bit deceptive as a lot can go wrong. I would love it if you could post any questions you might have around bottle reared goats? Anything, there are no "dumb" questions. I want to cover as much as possible to give homesteaders all the info. Pictured is Cookie and Cream, who are now 3 weeks old. The second picture is just after I found them in the paddock. They were nearly a week premature and I really did not think Cookie would make it, but he is a fighter.

I thought you might like this chart showing the qualities of different milking goat breeds. Keep in mind the amount produced is when they are full time milking and not feeding kids. I co-share with the kids when milking. I only milk once a day, after locking the kids away from the doe's overnight, I milk in the morning and then the kids go into the paddock with their mum all day. Bottle feeding kids is a full-time job, and it also produces extra health complications for the kids. Breast is best if it's possible to raise strong healthy kids with excellent rumen function. @Michelle Illig on thinking about it, Nigerian Dwarf would be the best option for you regarding butter, but because goats are herd animals and its best to keep 2, you could maybe have a high milk yielder also to give you the quantity of milk needed for your family.

As August is nearly over, kidding season is about to start here in Southern Australia. Our Northern friends have already started but August is still to wintery for me to be up at 4am milking goats. Stay tuned for the podcasts and blog over the next 2 months, which will be all about goats and the photo bombing of baby goats. Like this one from last year of Luna the Maremma with Lucy's twin boys, Bill and Ben.

Let us know how many and what breed of goat you have. We currently have 7 Angoras, 7 Anglo Nubian does and 8 meat goats who are at varying stages. I have 4 does due to kid this summer who will be used for milking. We co-share with the kids, so I don't remove the kids but milk around them.