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Our jalapeño plants did very well this year and now we have a couple hundred to eat and pickle! Try this simple recipe (with just 6 ingredients) for classic delicious pickled jalapeños. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Pickled jalapeños go with just about everything for me 😏 I love all things spicy and boy are our homegrown pepper spicy! The vinegar will dilute the spiciness the longer they sit, but if they start mega-spicy they will always have some heat. This pickling recipe is super easy and just requires a jar with an airtight lid. No fancy jarring or canning equipment necessary 🌶️ Depending on how sweet you want your jalapeños, you can add to the amount of sugar or sub some apple cider vinegar for the white vinegar. I like the classic pickled jalapeños so this recipe (as-is) will not be too sweet (think ballpark nacho toppings) ‎️‍🔥 PICKLED JALAPE‎️‍ÑOS RECIPE Yields: 1 quart sized jar Time: 45 minutes Instructions: Clean and slice off the stems of all the jalapenos. Then slice them into about 1/4" slices. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of the knife blade to release juices. In a saucepan, combine garlic, vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling and the salt and sugar have dissolved, add the sliced jalapenos and remove the pan from the heat. (Make sure all the jalapenos are submerged in the liquid). Let sit for 15 minutes. Transfer the jalapenos to a clean jar and then ladle the juice over the sliced jalapenos to fill the jar. Let the jar cool to room temperature before securing with an airtight lid and placing them in the refrigerator. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it What's your favorite thing to pickle? Tell me in the comments!

English muffins are a favorite in our house for breakfast, little sandwiches and even dessert with a little cinnamon sugar and honey 😏. This english muffin recipe using sourdough starter is simple and delicious, and the best part -- no oven! Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. These english muffins are easy, light and fluffy! Make the dough the night before, then cut the dough and make them the next morning. Our favorite ways to eat them are with butter and fruit preserves, with honey and cinnamon sugar, or they also make great bread for little finger sandwiches (our favorite is ham and swiss). To keep them fresh and soft for about 5-6 days after making, I keep mine wrapped in a tea towel on our cake plate covered by the glass lid. Being covered keeps them moist, and the tea towel keeps them from getting soggy. I make some kind of sourdough recipe every weekend so my routine is to take Sergio (my sourdough starter) out of the fridge Friday morning so he gets all warmed up and bubbly. Then I feed him Friday evening and leave him covered with a tea towel overnight. By Saturday morning he is all active and ready to use. For this recipe, I make the dough Saturday evening, let the dough proof and rise overnight on the counter, and cut and make the muffins Sunday morning. Don't have a sourdough starter yet? Learn How to Make Sourdough Starter from Scratch. SOURDOUGH ENGLISH MUFFINS Yields: about 12 muffins Cook Time: 12 min. Instructions: Two Days Before Cooking Remove starter from fridge the morning before making dough. Feed your starter that evening and leave on the counter overnight covered by a tea towel. (Remember to feed according to how much you will use to make sure you don't run low on your starter 😉) Day Before Cooking The next evening or late afternoon, make the dough by mixing the starter, honey, milk, flour and salt in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix until all the flour is off the walls of the bowl and all ingredients are incorporated into the dough. (I use my hands to mix) Cover with a tea towel and rest for 1 hour. Knead dough by hand or in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 5-7 minutes. Place dough back in it's bowl, cover the bowl with tea towel and place on the counter to rise overnight (about 14 hours). Cooking Day Turn dough out onto a floured surface and use floured fingertips to press the dough out until it is roughly 1/2" thick. Cut the muffins out into 3" circles. You can use a biscuit cutter, but if you're like me and don't have a biscuit cutter, you can lightly flour the mouth of a mason jar and press firmly down on the dough to cut out the muffins. (remember to re-flour the mouth every 2-3 cutouts. Place your muffins on parchment paper lightly dusted with cornmeal and sprinkle more cornmeal on top of each muffin. Cover muffins with a tea towel and let rest on the counter for 1 hour. Heat a non-stick skillet over low heat. Once heated, place muffins about 1" apart on skillet. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the muffins over, cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Cook 1-2 more minutes as needed on either side until the center of the muffins are 200°F. Remove muffins from skillet and place on rack to cool for 10-15 minutes before enjoying. What are your favorite ways to eat english muffins? Tell me in the comments.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I especially love decorating for spooky season! I stick to mainly black and white for my Halloween decorations so it doesn't clash with our neutral farmhouse style. 💀 Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. I always focus more on indoor decorations for holidays because we get to enjoy them more in the house. In our household during the fall months, October is for Halloween decorations, November is for Thanksgiving, and December is for Christmas decorations. No Christmas decorations are allowed to encroach on our Thanksgiving festivities 🙃 When decorating for holidays, I try not to move too much of our existing home décor and just cover or supplement -- mainly because I'm too lazy to find places for our everyday items and move them back and forth. For Halloween, I decorate with mainly black and white décor so that it doesn't clash with our home style. That means bats, skulls, ghosts, spiders, webs and black crows and cats. 💀☠️👻🦇🕷🕸 There are so many options ranging from super spooky to cute! (we fall a little too much on the spooky side for my husband, but I disagree🧛‍♀️). Black candles and black roses arranged in vases make a big impact without adding any more gory or scary décor -- so simple 🖤 Shop my budget-friendly Halloween decorations below. Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it What is your favorite Halloween tradition? Tell me in the comments! 🦇

Do yourself a favor and make these prickly pear margaritas! Not only are they beautiful, the subtle smell and flavor is a fun addition to any traditional marg. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. If you ask me, tequila goes with everything, and for me, that most of the time means margaritas -- and this time of year in the Texas hill country, that also means prickly pears! Prickly pears are the vibrant pink fruit on cactus that are everywhere in the Texas hill country in the fall. Read my blog on how to harvest prickly pears and process them for their juice. Prickly pear juice makes these margaritas a gorgeous vibrant colored pink and adds a subtle taste that's neither bitter or sweet. It smells just like watermelon to me. Because the flavor are pretty delicate, I do not normally salt or sugar the rim, but if that floats your boat -- go for it! Cheers! PRICKLY PEAR MARGARITAS Yields: 2 drinks Time: 10 minutes Instructions: Juice the limes Measure equal parts tequila, triple sec, prickly pear juice and lime juice into a shaker (learn how to make prickly pear juice here) Fill shaker with ice and shake well Pour over ice in glass, stir and serve or blend in blender for a frozen prickly pear marg! Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it What else do you add prickly pear juice to? Kombucha, iced tea, vinaigrettes? Tell me in the comments!

Prickly pears are the vibrant pink fruit on cactus that are everywhere in the Texas hill country in the fall. Harvesting prickly pears and processing them for juice sounds daunting, but it is actually pretty easy! Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Prickly pears have a subtle flavor and very fresh smell -- they smell like watermelon to me. But most notably, they are such a beautiful color! Harvesting and processing these cactus fruits is a simple 5 step process. What you will need: Gloves Bag or Basket Colander Knife Spoon Cutting Board Blender or Food Processor Cheesecloth Bowl STEP 1: HARVEST First thing's first, pick your prickly pears! We have plenty of cactus on our property so we usually put on boots and gloves and walk around the pasture. But if you don't have any, just drive down the highway and keep an eye out for the bright pink bulbs. Remember to bring gloves and a bag or basket that you don't mind getting little prickles in. The prickly pears themselves don't have the large spines like the paddle of the cactus, but they still have small little prickles that will stick in your fingers. You are looking for prickly pears that have a deep magenta color. The darker they are the more ripe and flavorful they will be. If you harvest a couple that still have some green, that is perfectly fine and edible too. STEP 2: RINSE Next you need to rinse the prickly pears to remove all the small prickles. They come off pretty easily. I place them in a colander and swirl them around under a steady stream of water. Rolling them around in the colander is key to get every last prickle. STEP 3: SEED & PEEL (optional) Now it is time to cut, seed and peel. Cut the top and bottom off each prickly pear. Then cut them in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. The seeds are edible so don't stress too much about getting them all out. You could leave all of them in and strain them out during step 5 if you would like. Peeling the prickly pears is also an optional step, but if you would like to peel them, I found the best way is to use a spoon to scrape the flesh of the fruit away from the peel (like scooping out an avocado). Shop the post! @nettie_schmidty on LIKEtoKNOW.it STEP 4: BLEND Once you have seeded and peeled your prickly pears (or not because that step is totally optional :)), put all of them in a blender or food processor. Blend the fruit until it is liquified. STEP 5: STRAIN And finally, strain the blended mixture with a cheesecloth into a bowl. I drape the cheesecloth over the bowl and pour in the mixture. Then squeeze and twist the cheesecloth until you have squeezed out all the juice you can. Compost or discard what remains in the cheesecloth. Your bowl should be full of a vibrant pink liquid that has a slightly syrupy consistency. Congratulations -- you have made prickly pear juice! My favorite way to use it? Prickly Pear Margaritas! Get the recipe here.

Blueberry cobbler is one of my go-to, from scratch summer desserts. It is pretty easy, fresh and comforting all in one. Top with vanilla ice cream for a simple, yet decadent crowd pleaser! Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Blueberries are everywhere in Texas during the summer and my favorite way to eat them is blueberry cobbler. The lemon juice in this recipe brightens the blueberry's natural sweetness so the cobbler is less heavy and crazy sweet. You can really taste the fresh blueberries. Serve with Homemade Vanilla Bluebell Ice Cream (or another vanilla ice cream if you aren't as Bluebell obsessed as all us Texans) Enjoy! BLUEBERRY COBBLER Yields: 4 servings Time: 1 hour Instructions: Preheat oven to 375°. Combine blueberries, 3 tbs of sugar, 3 tbs of brown sugar, lemon juice, corn starch and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Gently stir and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients (flour, 3 tbs sugar, 3 tbs brown sugar, baking powder and salt) In a pastry blender or large mixing bowl, start to cream butter, gradually adding in the dry ingredient mixture until fully incorporated. Add 3 tbs of boiling water while blending until mixture becomes crumbly. (I boil more than 3 tbs of water and then just spoon out 3 tbs) Spoon blueberry mixture into small baking dish. Spoon dough mixture over blueberries. Use damp fingers to spread mixture evenly to cover all blueberries. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. (...I know this is so hard, but if you serve early, the filling will be less thick and more runny. But if you don't mind that, serve it up 😉) What is your favorite summer dessert? Tell me in the comments!

Chickens don't love the heat and these Texas summers are brutal for them. They stop laying eggs and can even die of heat stroke. We have learned a few tips to keep them cool when it is 90°+ outside. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Once the weather starts creeping up above 80°F, chickens think it is heckin' hot. Our first summer, we lost our young production red to heat stroke and have been religious about checking in on them throughout the day since. While my main goal is to keep them comfortable (and frankly alive) with these tips to keep them cool, they can also help up your egg production in the warmer months of the year. Tips to Keep Your Chickens Cool SHADE Make sure your coop and/or chicken run have plenty of shade for your flock to escape the harsh afternoon sun. We have some oak trees that shade the chicken run and a smaller structure in the coop yard with a roof to provide some shade above where they like to take dust baths. BREEZE Air circulation can make all the difference when it is 100°F outside! Our coop has a pretty consistent natural breeze, but if you need to artificially get your chickens a breeze, a box fan right outside the coop works great! FRESH COOL WATER Not only does your flock need clean cool water to drink, they also cool themselves by standing in water to cool off their little dino feet 😊. Make sure you have several water bowls that are large and shallow enough for them to stand in. For under 10 hens, we have 3 shallow water bowls. I change them every morning and then place two frozen water bottles in each bowl around lunch time when the day is starting to really heat up. My girls like to drink the fresh water, stand in it and lay beside the bowls of cool water to cool off. Some people use ice to cool off the water mid-day, but I like water bottles because we always know we won't run out of ice (I think it cools the water for a little longer too). It is just part of the summer routine to bring in the bottles and put them in the freezer after locking the girls in their roost for the night. COLD SNACKS Whether this is frozen fruit like bananas or watermelon, an ice block of treats or a bowl of treats in ice water, cold snacks offer a fun cool off for my ladies in the late afternoon heat. My girls love spinach and kale so around 3pm I will take them a bowl of ice water with spinach or whatever other veggie I have floating on top. Other ideas are using a round bundt pan to freeze their favorite fresh treats in water and place in their water bowl. It will cool the water and release cold treats as it melts. COOL GROUND In the morning or early afternoon, I spray down their favorite dust bath spots with water to cool it off. While it dries almost immediately, I've heard this helps keep it a little cooler 🤷‍♀️. Another tip I have seen but have not tried yet is to freeze a gallon jug or large hard ice pack and burry it under their favorite dust bath spots. This way they can lay on top to keep cool in the heat of the day. Happy Cooling! What else do you do to keep your chickens cool in the summer? Tell me in the comments.

Having fresh baked bread in the house is one of my favorite things! This loaf is simple and a delicious way to remove one more packaged item from the grocery list :) Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. This traditional sourdough loaf recipe is simple and guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. Always crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with those beautiful sourdough bubbles. This pretty much gets eaten up every week, but even if somehow we don't eat it fast enough, I use the last pieces to make french toast on Saturday morning! *drool* I bake some kind of sourdough loaf every weekend so my routine is to take Sergio (my sourdough starter) out of the fridge Friday morning so he gets all warmed up and bubbly. Then I feed him Friday evening and leave him covered with a tea towel overnight. By Saturday morning he is all active and ready to use. Depending on my schedule, I either make the dough early Saturday morning, let it rise all day and then bake at night, or I make the dough Saturday afternoon, proof in the evening and do my second proof overnight in the fridge, pull out the dough Sunday morning for several hours and then bake Sunday afternoon. Don't have a sourdough starter yet? Learn How to Make Sourdough Starter from Scratch. SOURDOUGH SANDWICH LOAF Yields: 1 loaf Bake Time: 45 min. Instructions: Remove starter from fridge the morning before making dough. Feed your starter that evening and leave on the counter overnight covered by a tea towel. The next morning, make the dough by mixing the starter and water in a glass bowl. Once whisked together, add salt and flour. Mix until all the flour is off the walls of the bowl and all ingredients are incorporated into the dough. Cover bowl with damp tea towel and place in a warm place to rise. (On warm sunny days, I place mine on the back porch in the sun. If it's chilly outside, I place in a sun-soaked window sill) After one hour, perform the first round of lift and tucks. Lift one edge of the dough and pull it across the top, tucking on the opposite side. Turn bowl 90° and repeat until all 4 sides have been lifted and tucked. Re-cover with damp tea towel and place back in warm place for another hour. This process helps add volume to the dough. Repeat two more rounds of lift and tucks each after another hour of proofing in a warm spot covered by the tea towel. After the third round of lift and tucks, place the dough, covered in the tea towel, back in the warm spot for about 5 hours or until the dough has about doubled in size. Preheat oven to 450°F. In a dutch oven, place parchment paper in the bottom. If you are like me and almost always out of parchment paper 🙈, you can coat the bottom with a generous sprinkle of corn meal to keep the bread from sticking. Pour the dough onto a clean surface. You do not want to flour the surface because you will use the surface tension between the dough and the counter to create a tight ball. Do one more series of lift and tucks on the counter to create a ball. Place the ball seam side down on the counter. Cupping your hands with your fingers tightly next to each other, tighten the dough ball by placing your hands on the dough opposite your body. With your pinkies flush against the counter and gently drag the sides of the dough toward your body and tuck it under itself. This should tighten the ball using the surface tension with the counter. Repeat this cup and drag motion until you have a tight ball. Transfer the ball to the dutch oven. Score the dough by slicing into it about an inch deep with a sharp knife. You can score in whatever pattern you like. Once the oven is preheated, bake the loaf for 25 minutes with the lid on the dutch oven. After the 25 minutes, remove the lid of the dutch oven and bake another 20 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven, pull the bread out of the dutch oven and let cool on a grate. Wait at least 1 hour before slicing into your loaf. What are your favorite sourdough recipes? Tell me in the comments.

This sourdough sandwich loaf is a twist on a traditional sourdough loaf with less flour, a softer crust and smaller bubbles. I make this in a loaf pan so it makes for perfect little sandwich slices. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. This softer loaf uses about half the amount of flour as my regular loaf so this one is super moist! The little bubbles rather than giant holes hold up as sandwich bread much easier. It also makes for a really great side with soups. I love this with the Half Baked Harvest Cream of Mushroom Soup! *drool* I bake some kind of sourdough loaf every weekend so my routine is to take Sergio (my sourdough starter) out of the fridge Friday morning so he gets all warmed up and bubbly. Then I feed him Friday evening and leave him covered with a tea towel overnight. By Saturday morning he is all active and ready to use. Depending on my recipe, I either make the dough early Saturday morning, let it rise all day and then bake at night, or I make the dough Saturday afternoon, proof in the evening and do my second proof overnight in the fridge, pull out the dough Sunday morning for several hours and then bake Sunday afternoon. Don't have a sourdough starter yet? Learn How to Make Sourdough Starter from Scratch. SOURDOUGH SANDWICH LOAF Yields: 1 loaf Bake Time: 45-50 min. Instructions: Remove starter from fridge the morning before making dough. Feed your starter that evening and leave on the counter overnight covered by a tea towel. The next morning, make the dough by mixing the starter and water in a glass bowl. Once whisked together, add salt and flour. Mix until all the flour is off the walls of the bowl and all ingredients are incorporated into the dough. Cover bowl with damp tea towel and place in a warm place to rise. (On warm sunny days, I place mine on the back porch in the sun. If it's chilly outside, I place in a sun-soaked window sill) After one hour, perform the first round of lift and tucks. Lift one edge of the dough and pull it across the top, tucking on the opposite side. Turn bowl 90° and repeat until all 4 sides have been lifted and tucked. Re-cover with damp tea towel and place back in warm place for another hour. This process helps add volume to the dough. Repeat two more rounds of lift and tucks each after another hour of proofing in a warm spot covered by the tea towel. After the third round of lift and tucks, place the dough, covered in the tea towel, in fridge to proof overnight. The next morning, pull the dough out and place again in a warm spot for at least 3 hours. Preheat oven to 450°F and place large pyrex container of water in the oven. This will help to steam the loaf in the oven. Spray or grease your loaf pan with oil and coat with corn meal. This will keep the bread from sticking to the pan. You could also use parchment paper, but I always use cornmeal :) Pour the dough into the greased and cornmeal sprinkled loaf pan. Slice about an inch deep line in the center of the dough to score. Once oven is preheated, bake loaf for 45-50 minutes. Leave the pyrex of water in the oven with the loaf for the duration of baking. After 45-50 minutes, remove the loaf from the oven, pull the bread out of the loaf pan and let cool on a grate. Wait at least 1 hour before slicing into your loaf. What are your favorite sourdough recipes? Tell me in the comments.

This whiskey sour is rapidly becoming one of my go-to cocktails this summer! The fresh citrus and foamy egg white make for the most refreshing summer sips. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. My husband is a big bourbon guy and we always have at least half a dozen different kinds in the house. I am not the biggest fan of drinking it straight, but a good bourbon or rye cocktail is definitely a favorite of mine! I have always like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds around the fire or for fancy winter nights, but this summer I was craving a fresh bourbon recipe and this whiskey sour is definitely that! TIP: The addition of the egg white lightens the cocktail and makes it a bit more creamy. Plus I'm a sucker for that photogenic foam on top :) The egg white is totally optional and the drink still tastes great without it! Cheers! WHISKEY SOUR Yields: 1 drink Time: 10 minutes Instructions: Juice one lemon Separate egg white from one egg Add bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white and bitters to shaker Fill shaker with ice and shake well until egg whites are foamy Pour over ice in glass If desired, spoon extra foam left in shaker onto top of drink Garnish with maraschino cherry What is your favorite summer cocktail? Tell me in the comments!

Repainting cabinets is a pretty easy DIY to save some money and make a big impact! In just a few steps (clean, sand, prime, paint) you will feel like you have brand new cabinets! Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. Our built in bookcases as well as all our bathroom and kitchen cabinets were a dark brown stain when we moved in. We decided to paint them to match our white trim and doors around the house. The white brightens up the room and helps everything feel lighter and cohesive. We started with our built in book shelves and are moving onto the kitchen and bathroom cabinets next but the process is the same. STEP 1: GET YOUR SUPPLIES First thing's first, pick your paint! We chose to match our trim so we took our paint can to Home Depot and had them color match the white for us to ensure it would match perfectly. Typically you want to go with a semi-gloss paint so it is not too shiny or matte showing scuffs and making them hard to clean. We got our paint and primer for cabinets and trim. Other supplies you will need: Paint Primer Painters key Painters tape and pen Screw driver or small drill Multipurpose cleaner & rag Sand paper Paper or plastic sheets for covering (I used a roll of butcher paper) Brush or roller and tray (we used a brush on everything because I like that texture look better) Painters pyramids STEP 2: LABEL & DISASSEMBLE Next you'll want to label and remove your drawers, doors and hardware. Use small pieces of painters tape to mark doors and drawers and their hardware (A, B, C, etc) so you make sure to put them back in the same place. This will save lots of headaches when reassembling later. STEP 3: CLEAN Now you will clean off all the surfaces you will be painting with a multipurpose cleaner. You need to get off any grease or dirt that would keep the paint from sticking. Let the surfaces dry before moving on to the next step. STEP 4: SAND Now it's time to sand. Using sand paper, lightly sand all surfaces that you will be painting. Be sure to get into all the corners. You do not need to scrub too hard, you are just trying to roughen the surface and get rid of the shine of the existing top coat or stain. Wipe away all sanding dust with a clean dry rag. STEP 5: TAPE & PRIME Before priming, tape off all surfaces you do not want to get paint on. For small areas, like the walls and inside of cabinets, use painters tape. For larger surfaces like counters and the floor, use plastic or paper sheets taped down with painters tape to protect the areas. Once everything is taped off and protected, it's finally time to grab your paint brush. Wipe clean the surfaces one more time with a clean dry rag to make sure all dust and particles are gone and paint a thin coat of primer. Use painters pyramids for the doors and drawers that have been removed to keep them clean and off your work surface. Allow primer coat to dry according to can directions (usually a couple of hours). STEP 6: PAINT After your primer coat has dried, it's time for your first coat of paint. Paint a thin layer making sure the get all the corner and nooks. Allow first coat to dry according to can directions. After your first coat has dried, paint a second coat. Allow to dry at least 24 hours before reassembling or putting any hardware back on. STEP 7: REASSEMBLE After your second coat has had sufficient time to dry, grab your screwdriver and start reassembling! Remember to match up your labels that you made in step 2. Use a manual screwdriver for all reassembling to ensure you don't accidentally scratch your beautiful new paint job with electric tools. Congratulations! You have beautiful new cabinets. Enjoy :)

Baby goats are one of my favorite things on earth and having bottle babies for whatever reason is a fun, yet very time consuming, way to get a special bond with the babies. Here is a guide for a feeding schedule for bottle babies. Disclaimer: My posts may contain affiliate links to products/services I recommend. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from these links. To start our Nubian herd, we got two sister bottle babies when they were 10 days old. Their mama was a first time mama and got spooked during birth and just wouldn't take them. So here we are with these teeny 6 lb babies to feed and care for. Because we are starting our herd with these two, we unfortunately don't have access to any fresh goat milk and have used formula. All milk should be heated on the stove in a pan (not in the microwave) to 103°. This is the temperature of a healthy goat, therefore mama's milk would be close to 103°. *I am not a vet, so I sought the advice of our large animal vet in choosing formula as well as developing this feeding schedule. I recommend consulting a vet when developing your feeding schedule. One thing to keep in mind is to not overfeed and not change anything quickly (if you are switching types of milk). In their first several weeks, their rumen bellies are still developing and react to stark changes. They also have their natural instinct to suck so they always seem hungry. Do not be fooled to overfeed them even though they are so dang cute and tiny. :) We tracked their weight on our bathroom scale while holding them to make sure they were gaining the appropriate amount each week for peace of mind that we were not underfeeding. What you will need: Bottles (we use glass Topo Chico bottles) Nipples -- I like these lamb nipples because many goat ones I have seen are too small. I also love these because they slip over the top of many bottles easily. I always use a sterile pocket knife to cut the hole a little larger in an X. You may not need to do this at the beginning, but often need to once they get a little older so that they can get enough out. Kitchen thermometer for heating milk Pan Whisk Funnel or ladel Goat Milk or Kid Milk Replacer (Do not get replacer/formula that is "all-breed" for different breeds or for lambs. Goats need a formula specific for them) Baby Goats 🥰 Milk Schedule DAY 1 Feedings every 2 hours. Kids must have colostrum in the first 24 hours of their life -- it is vital for their immune system and development. It is strongly preferred to have colostrum from their mom because it was made specially for them. If not, frozen colostrum if you have it or colostrum replacer must be fed in the first 24 hours. WEEK 1 4-5 feedings per day 10-15% of their body weight in each 24 hour period I fed first thing in the morning, in the early afternoon, late afternoon and just before bed. WEEKS 2-6 3 feedings per day 15-20% of their body weight in each 24 hour period I fed first thing in the morning, in the late afternoon, and just before bed (about 7 hours apart). WEEKS 6-8 3 feedings per day 20% of their body weight in each 24 hour period I fed first thing in the morning, in the late afternoon, and just before bed (about 7 hours apart). WEEKS 8-12 Start to scale back the amount of milk each day and the amount of feedings. You will do this as the weaning process until week 12. I went down by 2 oz from their afternoon feeding every 3 days for the first 2 weeks until they were down to 2 feedings per day. Then went down by 2 oz on each their morning and evening bottles. I fed a little over 12 weeks, but once they hit 12 weeks they should be reliable eating grain, hay and grazing so the milk will not be doing much for them. What breed of goats do you have? Tell me in the comments.