If you raise goats, having a chilled and/or rejected kid is somewhat inevitable. We select carefully for good mothering ability, but still wind up with 1-2 bottle kids every year in our 30-50 kid crop. While the inclination seems to be to bring these kids inside and raise them up, it can create a host of problems down the road.
House raised kids are psychologically completely different than kids raised with the herd. If your goal is tightly bonded house pets that feel like a part of the family, raising them indoors can make sense, but if your eventual goal is that they will be living full time outside with other goats, it’s important to start them out that way. Here’s how we care for bottle kids so that they can grow up to become well adjusted members of their goat society. Continue reading “Caring for Chilled or Rejected Kids”