Got a goat, happy happy joy joy! Got questions too!

[bbbuddy]

Wow, we got a 3 yr doe and one of her female triplets with out even planning to.
We were driving, saw a goats for sale sign, said "oh lets go look" and this very nice lady at a very nice place (clean, well kept) was getting rid of all her goats because the children made pets of them. Her plan had been eating and milking.
Well they did the milking but not the eating.

We weren't ready for goats, but the deal was too good to pass. Doe is very friendly, had no problem with me milking her. She jumps right onto the stand. We got her and the doeling AND perfect metal stand (that I see online for $255) all for $200 plus a pot belly piglet in Sept when mine gives birth. Also a goat book, wormer, powdered colostrum, minerals, and strainer pads.

The doe is an "almost" Kinder, she is 1/2 Nubian, the other half is Pygora (Pygmy/Angora) but the Angora part really doesn't show up. She says she gets a bit more hair in the winter than the others, but not much.

Funny, because I had thought if we ever got goats, the Kinders would be for me!

So now, I need to start looking for a Kinder breeder in northern AZ to breed her to later!

OK, I DO have a question that I can't find in the book she gave me...she was not milking the doe, (drying her up) and her kids were born late April. Seem to be pretty well weaned.

I have milked 3/4 quart yesterday am and 1/4 qt evening, and 3/4 quart this am. How long does it take for milk production to start to increase due to milking now? She is getting a sweet feed grain mix (1lb yesterday, 1.5 lbs today) with alfafa free fed.

Also, owner was worming with a scoop of "Optimum" wormer pellets (Rumatel (Morantel Tartrate)) once a month, but I wondered if this stuff was any good.. What good wormer can be used while milking, or do I have to throw the milk out for a while after worming?
Her milk is DELISH!

Thanks much!
maddy

oh....we DO have other livestock, (horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, rabbits) have had for years, just never goats or cows. So we aren't totally clueless AND we do have a place for them so even though it was spur of the moment, it's not as bad as you might be thinking, haha.

[tinetine'sgoat]

I'm not the best one on here to answer all of your questions, so I'll leave that to the others, but congrats on your new goat. I'm glad you are enjoying her!!

[havenberryfarm]

Congrats.

I have a doe who gives plenty of milk in the morning, but none at night also. That is because she is still nursing her kids during the day. They ought to be weaned, but Mom loves them and never says "no". You can separate them, but they will cry all day for each other. Or you can just keep milking her out and let them wean when she is ready to lay down the law. Some does are more motherly than others. It seems that you are unlikely to ever have any problems with this doe being a good mama.

If she is a kinder, she is more than likely giving around 1 1/2 to 2 quarts a day. Feed her accordingly. If she starts getting fat, cut back a little. I would guess her at about 2 to 2 1/2 lbs. of grain a day, depending on her weight and the quality of your hay. Is she about 80 lbs? If you have horses, then I imagine your hay is pretty good, so you can go with less goat grain. Be sure to use goat grain that is 16-17% protein. Offer baking soda and goat minerals free choice.

I'll let someone more knowledgeable answer your wormer question.

[Idahoe]

Welcome to Goatworld. I was confronted with a good deal after contacting a local goat owner who was downsizing due to his age and health. When I went to pick up my seven goats I ended up coming home with two extra does and an 8 wk old wether to boot.

We were "unprepared" as well . . . we had half the neighborhood over to throw up a fence and simple shed in about a day and a half . . . after I came home with them .

There's a fairly recent thread about increasing milk production, use the "search" function, or page back a few pages. What I did myself was to milk regularly on schedule, gave about 3 pounds of concentrate (grain) with as much alfalfa pellets as they wanted at milking time, and really thoroughly milked them until their udders were wrinkly bags. The prev owner said each gave close to a gallon each (they are LaManchas), but I only got less than half each b/c of the move, new environment, inexperienced milking technique, etc. Now I'm getting about a gallon and a half from both, which ain't too bad considering they both freshened in February . It took me a month to get here . . . just in time for estrus! Oh well.

Best of luck. Will you breed her this fall?

[bbbuddy]

Idahoe, I'm glad you had such success with increasing your doe's milk, hope I can do the same.
I would like to breed her to a Kinder buck, but don't think there are any around here.
havenberryfarm I am giving her 2 pounds of grain a day.
First day I got 1 qt, next day, 1 1/4, today so far only 1/4 qt. Up until today most of the milk has been in the am...
I'm sure she's homesick, she seems pretty upset...lost all her companions but one doeling.
I just need to gove her some time I guess.

[Idahoe]

THis is from that other thread . . . sometimes they don't let their milk down for a while until they get used to you. One of my does did this and was fighting me daily over milking, I got maybe a quart and a half from her for about a week. Then she just started "cooperating", and as soon as I wiped her udder with a baby wipe and pulled the first squirt, I could feel the lower part of the bag and teats get tight. Then she went up to about a half gallon or just over.

The yearling ex-bottle baby I milk lets down as soon as she sees me round the corner, she can barely walk and her teats feel like water balloons at first. She lost her buckling so she loves you if you milk her.

So perhaps in the move I lost some production "permanently" for this season, so instead of increasing as you said I actually salvaged. If I had a large family, the lower amount would probably bug me but it's just me and DH as the only humans.