Dam Raising or Bottle Feeding Baby Goats
What's the best way to raise goats?
Reading Time: 6 minutes
There are almost as many ways of raising goat kids as there are goat breeders. Dam raising, bottle feeding, milk-share, lambar-style bucket (nipples at the top), nipple bucket (nipples at the bottom), bowl or pan, goat milk, cow milk, replacer, etc. Some will argue endlessly that this way or that way is the best.
In my opinion, as long as the kids are growing well, their health is good, and it works well for the breeder, there’s no “wrong way.” It depends on what you expect from your goats.
I manage my herd of LaMancha and recorded-grade dairy goats in a way that suits me and my schedule. My way is just one of many, and it can change a bit from year to year.
I have my goats mainly for milk, meat, and sales. I do show, but very little. Most important to me is that my does know how to live like goats. They browse on 30 acres daily. I don’t strive for top milk production. I want a sturdy, dual-purpose doe that averages just over a gallon of milk daily and does it on fewer resources than a lot of dairy goats. I breed for quality confirmation, solid udders, and ease of hand milking. I want a solid, all-around good doe that will produce milk and kids until 11 to 12 years of age with little issue. If she also brings home a few ribbons? That’s just the cherry on top.
My Methods to Raising
My methods are a hybrid of dam raising, bottle feeding, fostering kids onto other dams, milking, and just letting my does raise kids. I run between 35 to 50 head, usually kidding out around 20 to 30 does a year.
Doelings are generally pulled at birth and bottle-raised. A few of the best bucklings will be pulled away at birth if they have deposits on them already and if the buyer wants a bottle-raised buckling.
What are my reasons for bottle-feeding baby goats that are destined to be future breeding stock? I have more than a few goats, beef cattle, a full-time job, and a part-time seasonal job. I don’t have much time to spend with my goats, except at milking time. Keeping a large number of dam-raised kids friendly takes more time than I have to spare right now. So, the breeding stock kids are bottle-raised and guaranteed to be friendly to me and my buyers.
How do I bottle feed?
They’re started onto individual bottles and given all of their mother’s colostrum they want at each feeding for the first 48 hours. After that, they transition to all the fresh, warm goat milk they want at each feeding three times a day.
They transition from bottle feeding to the lambar by a few days of age and, after that, receive milk three times a day until 2 months of age. Then, they get milk two times a day until 4 months of age. After that, they’re dropped to one feeding of milk a day. They’re given as much milk as they want at each feeding until completely weaned between 5 and 6 months, depending on their size. Once they’re old enough, one of the milk feedings a day will contain a coccidiosis preventive. I like big kids who are well started on their adult size at weaning. They’re introduced to an alfalfa grass hay mix at one week of age and start getting a small daily grain ration at 2 months old.
How Do I decide Who to Let Dam Raise?
If a mature doe gives birth to two bucklings and they aren’t destined to be herd sires, she’ll keep and raise them for the freezer in the fall. If a mature doe has one buckling (either a single or twins/triplets/quads with doelings), I’ll pull him and keep him for bottle feeding until another doe has just one buckling in a birth. Then, I’ll foster the first buckling onto the new mother, along with her own son, so she has a matched pair. My does give too much milk to raise one kid, and I’d like their udders to stay even. A doe can raise two meat bucklings or be a milker for me for the year. I don’t let mature does raise just one buckling.
Sometimes, if I don’t need another milker, I’ll foster two baby bucklings onto a doe who has just given birth to twin doelings. All does take turns year to year, either raising kids or being milked for the year. This way, I also keep track of the maternal instincts running through my herd. Maternal instincts are an important aspect of my breeding program.
I’ve had good luck fostering kids onto my does if I have the kid waiting in the wings and can present him, covered in her birthing fluids, to the doe who just gave birth. She may favor her own newborn kid at first, but with time, as the kid starts to smell like her, she should accept the foster kid completely. I keep the does with foster kids in small pens until they’re a solid family unit, usually about a week. A few have taken up to two weeks to bond fully. By the time I let them out with the herd, they’re as solid as a natural-born family. I’ve also used this method and fostered Katahdin hair sheep lambs onto my does. I’ve had a few fosterings fail over the years, but not many.
The does raising kids get grain rations daily, just as my milking does do. They’re doing an important job, raising meat kids to feed my family. I take good care of them, and they take good care of their kids. I wether the bucklings by 6 weeks of age. They’re terminal, so there’s no need to wait to castrate.
When Do I Wean the Dam-Raised Kids?
I don’t wean butcher kids. They remain with their mothers, nursing and roaming 30 acres of brushy pasture, have a mix of alfalfa and grass hay at night and on rainy days, and free-choice loose minerals with fresh water until the day I process them. They don’t need grain feeding to achieve the size I need by fall. By 7 to 10 months of age, they’re 95 to 120 pounds, milk-fed, fat, and healthy. Because I process them at home, they never have stress or fear. They’re here one minute and gone the next. Not even one bad day. I love feeding my family this way.
What About Vaccination and Deworming?
While I vaccinate my herd with CDT, I don’t vaccinate my meat wethers. If possible, I prefer my freezer meat to have had zero shots or medications. They usually don’t get dewormed, either. Every once in a while, I’ll have a meat wether who requires deworming or an antibiotic. Of course, I’ll administer those if needed, but it’s rare.
Do What Works
So, when asked how I raise my goat kids, my answer can be confusing, but it works for me. I get milk and meat with the best growth. I have friendly does with great maternal instincts that are easy to handle. Some years, my does have the fulfillment of raising their kids. Other years, they mother me and have the easier job of only being a milking doe. It works for me and for what I expect from my herd.
Wether your bottle feeding or dam raising, as long as the goats are well cared for and well-grown, there’s no wrong way. And no one should tell you that you aren’t doing it correctly, as long as the results are good.
There is no ONE right way.
EMILY DIXON lives in the Ozarks of southern Missouri. She started with a hodgepodge of goats in 2000 before quickly focusing on LaMancha and Nubian dairy goats. She also kept a small commercial Boer herd for about 10 years and had a three-year stint milking a large commercial dairy herd. She now concentrates on registered LaManchas and recorded-grade dairy goats for milk and meat. She also keeps beef cows and an always fluctuating menagerie of dogs and cats. Her passion is her family, farm, animals, and humane, compassionate dairy and meat production.
Published in the March 1, 2025 digital edition of Goat Journal
