For the Love of Goats

My word for kidding time is ‘intrepid’, a combination of bravado, audacity and joy!

There’s something about goats. They are charming, endearing, smart, engaging. They are also testing, frustrating and, frankly, at times exasperating. You either get them or you don’t. But if you do then you are blessed for sure.

It’s goat kidding season right now. This year we have 5 does in kid and they will birth across September. Five isn’t a lot on the scale of things but as we have goats for our personal needs only – milk and cheese – then that’s plenty. Each doe will likely have 1 or 2 kids, although it is not uncommon for there to be more. Not that we want that. 2 kids is perfect – goats only have two teats so anymore and life gets complicated. And two means that they will play together, sleep together, do everything together. It’s a joy to watch the bond between siblings and between kids and their dam (mother). Some dairy goat breeders ‘catch’ the kids at birth and bottle feed them but that’s not our way. We love seeing the kids and the mums mixing together, getting to know the rest of the herd, learning how to be goats and socialise. We do bottle feed all of our goat kids though, usually just once a day. This is by way of ensuring they will stay people-focused, which is important because as a domesticated animal they will have a life-long relationship with humans. Besides, who doesn’t like to bottle feed a baby goat, right!?

I’m writing this whilst on goat birth-watch actually. Our two maiden (first year to give birth) does are due to kid in the next few days but I have a feeling they are going to come early.

We choose to be at the birth of all kids, to reassure the does and in case of complication. Our bond with these goats is strong; when you milk an animal by hand a robust relationship forms. They also put a lot of trust in us and so we like to be there with them. But back to our two pending first-time dams, Rose and Tilly … typical of their Toggenburg bred they are cheeky and robust. These girls are 2 years old and it being their first kidding, we don’t really know what to expect. We’re not anticipating any complications, they are both healthy and in good birthing condition but it’s best to be sure. Mothering doesn’t always come naturally either, it depends a lot on their heritage. These does were both dam-raised though so we anticipate that they too will be good mothers. Good luck Tilly and Rose, we’ve got you!

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