Yep, I agree with Free. My doe, June, is CAE positive, and I was pretty darn bummed about it when I first found out. I, too, wanted to dam raise, especially after working in the dairy industry and having to pull calves away from cows. I was really excited to have my goat raise her kids, but it's really not that bad pulling them right away. I don't let her even lick the kids, but I let her lick ME. She bonds to me and calls for me like she would her kids. My doe is asymptomatic, and her dam lived to be 13 and was fine. If June starts getting arthritic and having problems, I'd euthanize her. Her doeling is going to be tested this fall (when I send in blood to preg check everyone) and I feel almost positive she'll be negative. Not quite sure if I'll let her dam raise or not, even if she is negative, simply because the goats all live together and I don't want to take any chances. I may change my mind later though.
We drink the milk, and there has never been any study showing it might be bad for humans to drink. CAE is definitely manageable. If you're just starting out, you may want to consider starting with a clean herd though. It'd be one thing to buy a positive doe if you already have a positive animal or animals, but you may not want to knowingly start out with positive animals. It's totally a personal decision though. I don't regret buying June, though I do wish I'd known to test before buying.
but I have my work cut out for me this weekend getting everything together for her...
