Improvising for the Cause

I feel like I"ve been bottle feeding critters since 2013.  I mean, every year, I feed the calves for nearly 3 months, and it does seem that every year, there is at least one goat emergency that requires somebody to be bottle fed, but usually it doesn't begin until February and I'm through with bottles by the first week of June.  At any rate, I'm bottle feeding two calves and two kids now.  Some time in the past decade goat bottles changed and when my last one wore out, I found myself back to using the little black nipples that used to go on soda pop bottles.

The plastic bottles held up for years, and I'm not complaining about the change, except, soda pop bottles have changed since I used lamb/kid nipples years ago.  I don't drink soda pop, so an idea occurred to me.  I figured I'd try a wine bottle.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!  It was funny to shop for wine according to the top of the bottle, and nothing else . . . well price, of course.  I didn't want to pay top dollar for something I didn't like, so I stayed in the Cabernet section and purchased sale wine, two with a cork then as an afterthought picked up one with a screw on lid.  I can already imagine what you're thinking, but it's a good thing I conducted this experiment.

I don't ordinarily buy wine with a screw on lid, except something about the rim around the cork looked like it might be a tough fit.  Sure enough, both work, but the threads from the screw on lid are much easier to work with, so . . . I'll have to buy another bottle of wine.  Fortunately Jacob's Creek is a pretty nice Cabernet.

Only One Week

This year has been a bit long in the bottle feeding and/or baby tending.  For those who follow along, I had twins in the house with a visiting mama for nearly two weeks in February.  The day they were born was beautiful and warm, but within two days, the snow was blowing and their mama was distressed and frantic, unable to get both of them to stay in shelter.  Realizing they were only a couple of days old, I knew if the mother, baby bonding was interrupted I'd be bottle feeding for 3 months.  So, I brought mama in three times a day for two weeks.  When the winds of March blew in warmer weather, they were all bonded, the babies went out and did beautifully.

The bottle calves arrive in March, so I no sooner sent the babies out, bigger bottle babies arrived.  They are three days old when they come to Goshen.  They also need milk for the first three months of their lives, so it's two bottles a day until at least June.  Since they eventually become the beef, I keep them on milk a little longer.  This year, it was August 3, when I finally decided I was just prolonging the inevitable.  I want them to be grazing well before winter hits.  So, I washed the bottles and determined I was finally finished with bottle feeding.  That was one week before beautiful little Zinnia came to Goshen.

In practical preparation, this year also involved training five milk goats.  They weren't all brand new to the place, this spring, but the stanchion was a new experience for each of them.  Between bottle babies and soap, the cheese has moved down the priority list.  I want to make more cottage cheese to have with fresh tomatoes before the tomato season ends . . . but cute little faces and tiny tummies have priority.

Here it is now, the end of August, and Zinnia just loves her bottle.  She's growing beautifully and I'm so glad I chose to disregard the advice that she was "old enough to wean."  The place where I got her gave me three different dates of birth, none of which are three months ago, yet!  I'm thinking by Yom Teruah, she'll be down to an evening bottle.  It was so tempting to make her a house goat.  Concern about bringing her in and out of the air conditioning and the heat, prevented me from yielding to the temptation.  Since she won't be fully weaned until October, that will make one week out of eight months, without baby tending.  I might as well give her a bottle through the High Holy Days.  She and I can be buddies in the sukkah.