What did you do today?

[Nanno]

Everyone has their own opinion and experience on bottle vs. dam-raised. If you have a lot of kids and/or not a lot of time, you want to bottle raise them or they're going to be wild and it will take a lot longer to get them to trust you (if they ever do). You're also more likely to notice health problems early since you must interact with the kids several times every day. On the other hand, bottle kids are a lot more work and can take on some annoying habits like jumping on you and chewing your fingers, hair, clothing, and everything else. Not that dam-raised kids won't do this if you play with them, but bottle kids do it on a whole different level.

Dam-raised kids, on the other hand, can be perfectly delightful if you are able to spend quality time with them. Goats are curious and social creatures who love to play, and they quickly learn to adore the one who gives them attention as much as the one who gives them milk. In general, dam-raised kids are healthier and grow more quickly than bottle-raised kids. They are also a lot less work since they don't require one to milk, pasteurize, and feed throughout the day. One important aspect of dam-raising is to make sure that the mother is CAE-free since this disease is transferred to the kid through the milk. I get my herd tested every year before kidding season starts to make sure it is safe for the kids to drink straight from the udder.

Only one of my dam-raised kids so far has turned out skittish, but I'm pretty sure he would have been this way regardless. Everyone thinks all the other goats we've bred must have been bottle-raised, but they would be wrong. Our two most skittish goats were bottle-raised before we got them. One of them regularly causes trouble for anyone who comes to feed for me because she won't let strangers come near her. So as far as I can tell, quality time spent handling them is really more important than who feeds them.