The Baby Goat

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Lately I’ve been having a lot of people writing about my farm animals, my family, my kids, and asking a lot of questions. Recently, I went back to “The Land” to get more of my personal belongings that are very important for custody court coming up. When I arrived, a little baby goat came running up to me. David then began to tell me that the mother goat rejected one of the two the babies she gave birth to weeks prior to that. By rejecting I mean head butting the baby and not letting it get any milk!

How do you take care of a baby goat? We had a mutual friend that we knew of and she had some powdered goat colostrum, which is the first milk from the mom when she starts to breastfeed. You prepare a full 12 oz baby bottle with water and mix 1/4 powder into the water and shake it up. The milk doesn’t have to be warm. Once the baby goat finishes the bottle, you have to make sure to take the bottle away or the goat will chew it up.

Where does the baby goat sleep? I do NOT recommend having the goat inside the house. They cannot be trained like a dog and will just pee and poop everywhere. Our baby goat is kept outside in our building area to keep the mother and baby separated. The baby goat sleeps outside in our building, has her own little bed, and on cold nights she has a little electric heater. The mother and the other baby goat sleeps outside under the chicken coop with a heated lamp. The father seems to sleep wherever he wants. We do not have the father, mother, and male baby goat fenced it. The goats free-roam around 11 acres of land! They love it. Once the rejected baby goat gets older, she will also free roam.

What kind of goats are they? I have Nigerian Dwarf Goats and they are able to be milked as well. They are super sweet and don’t bother you, unless they are stealing the food from the container. They are really friendly around kids and haven’t had any incidents of the goats butting anyone in the family or company that comes over. When the females are old enough to milk, you can filter it and drink it raw, use it for goat butter, make some yogurt with your kids, and even make some really soft goat soap!

So should this animal be a pet? It can be if you want it to, but not for inside the home! The older goats that were not hand fed keep to themselves and you can’t really pet them. They are cool animals nonetheless and can have many healthy benefits to them using their milk. If you’re looking for more of a hands-on type of pet, this probably won’t be the best for you.

I hope this explains a lot about our baby goat and where she came from. Adding a lot of animals to your family can also add more responsibility so make sure you are prepared before getting goats. Do research about the different breeds of goats and pick which one suits your homestead the best!