how long to keep a FF milking?

[MamaDee]

HI.

I thought I read that someone had said to be sure to milk your FF's a full 10 months....so they will have long lactations later on.

Well, we have an Alpine Nubian cross who kidded 4 months ago. I don't know much about her milking potential--we got her from a friend cheaper than our other purebreds. (We have pure Nubians who we did more research on who I expect big things from come January......anyway)....

Lightning is giving us about 4 pounds of milk a day right now, at best. At four months. I don't know if it's b/c she's a FF or she just isn't going to be a record milker. But......must I keep her going for 10 months? Will that make a big difference in how she does the next times? I cannot imagine her giving us much milk at all in a couple more months.

Dee

[southerngurl]

4 lbs of milk isn't that bad, yea it's because she's an FF, may give more like a gallon next year. Keep feeding her well (is she getting alfalfa?) and milking her out completely, she should continue to milk for you.

[Freeholder]

First of all, two quarts of milk a day is not bad for this time of year. They will all drop off some in the winter. It's partly because of the cold weather, partly because of the lower light levels. I would be glad to have a FF milking 4 pounds a day at this time of year!

My advice is to keep milking her through the winter, no matter how low her production falls. It probably won't fall a whole lot lower than it is now in any case, but even if she goes down to a cup at a milking, keep going. As the light levels start to increase, her milk production should slowly rise back up, and when the weather warms up, and green things start to grow again, you should see a pretty good rise in her production. If she's four months fresh, that must mean she kidded in late July? So you have a doe who is breeding quite a bit later than most goats will, and that's a VERY GOOD THING when it comes to stretching out your milk supply and minimizing dry periods. Take advantage of it! If you can keep her going (so she doesn't get used to a short lactation), next year she should give quite a bit more milk, and you can again keep her milking through the winter for your winter milk supply. Make sure she's well fed, and has plenty of water (not ice, LOL!), and be thankful for her!

Kathleen