When you live with animals you quickly realise that they have distinctive personalities and that goats have
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| Super-mum Acorn with three kids |
strong personalities.The two who kidded ten days ago, Hebe and Acorn couldn't be more different. Acorn is quiet, gentle and motherly, Hebe is a bit weird, flighty, playful and not at all interested in her kid. Several times a day I have hold her while Clover the kid suckles. Still it beats mixing milk and giving bottles up to six times a day.
The kids have a pretty good life, eating, sleeping and playing but tonight things change, they are old enough to be separated from their Mums at night so that I can milk Mum in the morning then put them back together. This way, milking
once a day, I get milk, they get milk and I don't have to wash feeding bottles. during the night they'll have access to some coarse mix ( starter feed) and hay. The sooner they start to eat solid food the faster the rumen develops and they can be weaned probably at about ten weeks old.
There is a slight drawback to this system of rearing, the kids don't become nearly so tame and friendly as when you are bottle feeding them. this can be overcome by spending time with them in their pen, they quickly become friendly but you have to spend the time on them.
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