Any one milk Boers or Boer crosses???

[HazyDay]

We have a Boer doe we got last year as a kid for $60 pretty cheap, but we diddn't know any bloodlines. So it was a little risky! (But then again all Boers around us are all the same bloodlines.) Well she was a little brat all winter, Mom let her live outside in the front of the barn! And she got crap every wheres! But she is now living with the herd, but doesn't really like other goats. she won't bite like my Alpine doe, but she is just a BIG happy fat Boer. Now back to the milking part. Mom put her in with my buck in Aug, just after I sold all his pen mates. and well 5 days later he came in rut and bred her (she was in to! ) So well now she is due in 50 some days and is starting to get her muscles in her udder tigher. No milk yet, but it feels like any day she will start blowing up! I fell all the does udder once a week to see if any one is starting to milk agian (Had a HUGE problem with a doe who I dried and just came into milk every few weeks. )

And of course all of our Boers HATE IT! but Molly doesn't care.
So I was wondering if I kept her milking after she weaned what is the butterfat content??? I know shw won;t milk nuch, but our FF doe weaned kids and I had to keep milking her once a day for about 1 month. She maybe milked 2 pounds once a day and this milk was YELLOW! no colostrum just very fatty! She does any one know the %????

Yet just anything crazy idea from me!

[Terri]

I have always wondered how much milk a boer gives: since they often have multiple births it might be worthwhile!

If you DO end up milking her, why don't you let us know how much milk a boer gives?

[firefly81]

i had a boer this last spring that had twins and wouldnt take care of them, she was a very wild one that my dad gave me, i was mad at her for not taking care of her kids so we started milking her twice a day ( yes we, it took two people to hold her while i milked) but after awhile she got used to it and after about a month i was able to take her to the stand and milk her all by myself (she decided the extra feed was worth having to put up with me milking her) but she was a 100%boer (with papers) and she gave a almost a whole gallon a day and it was her first freshing

[Jcran]

Boers have higher butterfat and good milk! The amount does depend, like any good goat, on the breeding line. I get as little as a quart a day from some does, and as high as an almost gallon from others. I just milk for the pig, when we're out of coffee milk (everyday milk is the fat free but my coffee milk needs to be CREAMY! LOL) My neighbor makes some darned tasty cheese from her boers...

[LomahAcres]

We've been milking 2 boer crosses (crossed with dairy breeds) this year. They peaked at about 6 lbs each, and are now giving 2-3 lbs day @ 5-6 months fresh. These are FF and from 'unknown' lines. I must say their milk has a wonderful taste & I just love it! The boer crosses do have a calmer disposition then most my milking breeds. I've also noticed their milk, like my kinders', tends to have some cream come to the top if you leave it sit a few days undisturbed, which I also like. And yes the milk is sometimes yellower and the colostrum THICK!

It is my understanding that boers can milk a lot but usually have shorter lactation periods then dairy breeds?

[HazyDay]

Originally Posted by LomahAcres

We've been milking 2 boer crosses (crossed with dairy breeds) this year. They peaked at about 6 lbs each, and are now giving 2-3 lbs day @ 5-6 months fresh. These are FF and from 'unknown' lines. I must say their milk has a wonderful taste & I just love it! The boer crosses do have a calmer disposition then most my milking breeds. I've also noticed their milk, like my kinders', tends to have some cream come to the top if you leave it sit a few days undisturbed, which I also like. And yes the milk is sometimes yellower and the colostrum THICK!

It is my understanding that boers can milk a lot but usually have shorter lactation periods then dairy breeds?

calmer what!!!! What?!?!?!?! The does I have milked are crazy! Even does who are 1/2 Boer and have always been hand milked! I agree if a Boer can dam feed 4 bucklings then for sure she would milk alot! I may take 1 boers babies away and hand milk her! That would be fine with me if she dired up quick ,as I only like to have one heavy milking doe in milk this time of year when it is cold in the AM.

[Freeholder]

I milked a 3/8 Boer doe and at her peak she was giving nearly two gallons a day. I'm milking her 3/16 Boer daughter now (FF) and she's a good milker, and a persistent one.

Boers do have much higher butterfat than the dairy breeds -- I think in the same range as the Kinders (I'd gotten the 3/8 doe because I needed low fat milk for my grandmother, who drinks 2% from the store, and even at that low percentage of Boer her milk was too rich for Grandma).

The Boer crosses I've had (and have) really are calmer than any other goats I've ever had, which I really like. Also, they tend to be very easy keepers, which is definitely an advantage.

The one issue I've had with the Boer blood in milkers is that they seem to have thicker skin on their teats, leaving less capacity for milk and making them take longer (and be a little harder) to milk. I've talked to a couple of other people milking Boer crosses who said the same thing. Other than that they give very good milk, and can be good milkers. I think eventually the ADGA is going to have to stop being such snobs about what kind of goats they'll register, because a lot of Boers will make very good dairy goats, and so will a lot of Kinders (which ADGA won't register because of the Pygmy blood in them). Not that I care who or what the ADGA registers, but their attitude stinks a bit.

Kathleen

[GoldenWood Farm]

My boer cross (she was a 88%) milked great when I milked her. She was a FF and she was the calmest thing on earth. I kept a half sister of her's out of her mother whom also was easy to hand milk. The sister I kept is more LaMancha than boer so that should work out nice for milking.

I have no clue as to how much Tidbit milked though . But it sure tasted good.

Justine

[HazyDay]

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

Boers do have much higher butterfat than the dairy breeds -- I think in the same range as the Kinders (I'd gotten the 3/8 doe because I needed low fat milk for my grandmother, who drinks 2% from the store, and even at that low percentage of Boer her milk was too rich for Grandma).


Kathleen

Time to buy a Saanen milker! Low fat and high milk!

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by HazyDay

Time to buy a Saanen milker! Low fat and high milk!

LOL! No, I don't want any white goats (we pack, and I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb in the woods). But I am going to get a reg. Alpine doe in the spring.

Kathleen

[HazyDay]

then go stable!

[Goat Servant]

Hmmm.....Now you all have gotten me to thinking maybe I SHOULD start milking my Boers!! I didn't know they had a high butterfat content!
One of the 88% refuses to dry up after around 6 mo after I've cut out her grain. None of them have great teats for humans to be working with, but it's worth a try next year!

[Jillis]

Huh! Well, how come this has all been one great big secret?
If they have such good milk, I would have liked to know about it.

[susanne]

Originally Posted by Jillis

Huh! Well, how come this has all been one great big secret?
If they have such good milk, I would have liked to know about it.

jillis there is a reason that boers are not kept as dairy goats. they do have higher butterfat, but, they might milk for about five month, as long as they need to raise a kid. after that there will be a big drop in milk production, and they dry up. some boer breeder like to keep some nubians to have extra milk to raise the kids
they also would need special attention in their diet i guess
there are always the exceptions, i guess

[susanne]

Originally Posted by HazyDay

Time to buy a Saanen milker! Low fat and high milk!

or buy a cream separator and make ice cream and butter with the surplus.
higher butterfat is ideal for making cheese

[homesweethome]

Here's what I found when I googled it....

Lactation length is shorter for meat breeds compared to dairy breeds. And milk solids are
generally higher in meat breeds. Milk production during the first 12 week of lactation ranged
from 1.8 to 2.5 kg/day in Boer goats (Ratts et al., 1983). Milk fat (6.4 to 9.4 %), protein (3.9 to
4.5 %), and lactose (4.6 to 4.9 %) contents were also reported. It led to the conclusion that milk
fat content in Boer goats were twice of that observed in dairy goats. However, in a more recent
study, milk yield ranged from 1.91 to 2.32 kg/d, fat from 3.4 to 4.6 %, protein from 3.7 to 4.7 %,
lactose from 5.2 to 5.4 %, and somatic cell count from 4.8 to 9.6 x 105 during the first 8 weeks of
lactation (Tambajong et al., 2000) (Figure 4). It seems that the milk fat content is higher in Boer
goats. But it should not be surprising given the fact that no real peak was observed in milk yield
during the course of study. In general, milk yield peaks at 6 to 8 weeks postpartum in lactating
dairy goats
(Lu, 1989).
(Raats et al., 1983).

[goatkid]

My friend used to run a commercial dairy. She milked one FB and a few percentages along with her dairy does to up the butterfat. She sold her milk to a cheese plant. The Boers make more butterfat than the other breeds. I have one doe who is 1/4 Boer, 1/4 Spanish and 1/2 La Mancha who I milk with the dairy does. Dhe gives good milk and lots of it, but her length of lactation is not as long as the does who are all dairy breed.

[ozark_jewels]

Yep, great milk, a decent amount of it if its a good doe, but short lactation. Boers, gotta love them!!

[HazyDay]

Originally Posted by ozark_jewels

Yep, great milk, a decent amount of it if its a good doe, but short lactation. Boers, gotta love them!!

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I hopw our Boer X Nubians looks just like her! But with out the ink! hehe! How come she has it on both sides? When mine were done, he only put it on one side.

[homesweethome]

Herd prefix in right ear, animal id number in left.