Milking while nursing?

[Zookeeper]

I have been milking our nanny, who is feeding twins, once a day and I get what I get...usually about a pint. I have not been separating her from the twins, so they get what they need. I have been feeding it to the orphan kids from the other nanny we had that died.

My question is about whether or not I could stop milking her for a day or two if we needed to go out of town. Could I just decrease the amount of milk I take from her for a few days leading up to the day or two we'd be gone...then start milking again when we get home? I have people who can feed the animals but they have never milked and I don't want to leave them with someone who might be unsure that they can do it.

I didn't think it would be hard to eliminate my milking for a couple of days since I'm only getting a pint or less anyway when I do milk. I am thinking I could probably even stop cold turkey but I don't know...I would rather decrease over a couple of days first.

Also...this would be the end of March (another 6 weeks?) and the kids would be about 9 weeks old by then...when should I expect them to wean? This would all hinge on whether or not they're still nursing by then...

[dkdairygoats]

You should be fine to skip a few days, with kids on she will be fine. You can wean the kids at 9 weeks if you have to but I prefer that they stay on milk for 12 -16 weeks.

[Zookeeper]

I didn't want them to wean that early, but these are our first ones and I was curious whether to expect them to still be nursing by then...I know it's better for them to go longer but it would also make things very convenient for our being able to leave for a couple of days

How long will she milk after they wean, and do we need to wean them by removing from her when it's time? I've read that they can continue nursing for 6-7 months? We want some milk too!

[christij]

They will nurse as long as they have access to mom. I had two last year that didn't wean until they left the farm. Mom was no help. If they were in adjoining fields she would back up to the fence for them. Even being seperated a few weeks if they had a shot at her they would try to nurse.
It did make life easy when it came time for summer vacation - no milking required -- they took care of the job!

[steff bugielski]

If you want milk for yourself I would suggest milking her at least once a day when you come home from vacation. I would also separate the kids at night so you get more milk. If you need to leave again just leave the kids loose. Not the best for consistency in production but it is do-able. If you leave the kids with her night and day and do not milk her yourself by the time they are weaned she will have no more milk.