When I first started in goats I had the line of thinking that dam raising most definitely had to be the best option. It would be less work for me and they of course had to do a better job than I ever could. I felt if I kept things clean and kept the does fed that the kids should thrive and I wouldnt have to milk and things would be fabulous. But I was very naive in that line of thinking. It ended up being way more work than I expected.
Now I do want to say this before I move on and say that there are those out there that have this management style and I do not want to discredit them in any way. Not every situation is the same and there are some that have different methods that work for them. Location is a very big factor in a lot of things and every farm is different. For us, though, this style absolutely led to way more problems than I cared to deal with every year.
Reason number one that we have gone to pulling and bottle feeding kids is that we can monitor every kid born very closely multiple times a day. We know exactly how much they are eating and can be on top of any changes quickly. We can administer coccidia prevention in their bottles and avoid the issues that come with administering it by syringe every day.
To elaborate more on the coccidia point, the more you have coccidia in your babies the more it becomes an issue for your entire herd. When does kid, its stress on their body and at that time they can be susceptible to things like coccidia. Yes even adult animals can get coccidia. It can hit them hard and fast so preventing it even being in the fields is most ideal for the general health of the herd. Coccidia can live in the ground for up to a year and babies are very susceptible to it no matter how clean your fields are.
The second reason that we bottle feed is we show and milk test our does. Unfortunately kids can do a number on their dams udders and make them uneven when they nurse more on one side over the other. Sometimes when they prefer one side over the other they can also cause mastitis. Unfortunately when you are not milking regularly the mastitis can go unnoticed which then leads to more problems for the does very quickly. If we are milking every day twice a day we can make sure the does are healthy and thriving and not overlook potential problems.
Slightly related to the last reason but certainly its own problem is that by pulling the babies at birth and milking our does they get into the milking routine. They settle right into it instead of fighting with us while being milked. The does instinctively guard their milk for their babies and it can be a real struggle with some does. It makes for a more enjoyable time for us and our does if they can just settle right into the milking routine. We get more milk because the does are happy. The does are fed on the milk stand twice a day their own personal ration and they stay at a healthier weight as well.
By pulling babies at birth we have a routine and the herd is in a much healthier and happier state. We dont find ourselves chasing problems and instead can enjoy our animals and get ahead of anything that may come up.
