What quantity per milking?

TSYORK · #1 04/01/08, 08:05 AM

I know there are a lot of variables like, diet, age, milkability, etc.... but just wondering how much milk (quantity) should I expect out of nubians per milking. I will leave the kids on during the day and will separate at night, then I will milk in the morning before the kids have a chance to get a drink. Two are multitime freshners and one is a ff. Should I expect roughly two quarts at milking? That is what I was hoping for. If the kids are boys they will be pulled off altogher and sold as bottle babys. Just trying to get a rough guesstimate.

jimandpj · #2 04/01/08, 08:39 AM

I had one nubian that would give me 2 cups. I had another nubian that would give me 2 quarts. No way to tell...

I sold the first one for meat

PJ

TSYORK · #3 04/01/08, 05:14 PM

bump, anyone else care to comment? please

MamaDee · #4 04/01/08, 05:32 PM

My FF Nubian, who has a great milk line, is giving me about 3 pounds in the morning and 2 pounds at night. So about 2 1/2 quarts a day. But she is only 6 weeks fresh. I was wondering how this was.....it seems alright to me since she is a FF. And....our hay is not great right now. It's supposed to be alfalfa, but it's half sticks and they waste a ton of it. Some bales are better than others and I can tell when they get a crappy one--it affects their production pretty quickly--even though they get free choice alfalfa pellets.

Is 5 pounds a day for a FF eating bad hay decent? She's supposed to have a good line....and I read everywhere about gallon a day milkers. But is that the norm? Really?

I'm curious as to the other responses you get. I don't have any experienced moms to compare her to.

Dee

DQ · #5 04/01/08, 05:41 PM

my ff nubian/lamancha gave me 1/2 gal every morning last year till I stopped when it got real hot. I have a ff nubian in milk right now and she is giving me about 2.5lbs in the morning she is about 4 weeks freshened (if I don't let the little orphan have it) I don't milk in the evening. if you are planning on only milking in the morning and seperating the kdis at night I wouldn't pull any kids. those kids keep the doe producing throughout the day. she will make less milk. leave at least two kids on her to stimulate production during the day and then you will get max milk when she keeps producing and it builds up at night.

topside1 · #6 04/01/08, 06:25 PM

TS, I have two full blooded Nubians.
1. FF gives roughly a tad more than a 1/2 gallon per day.
2. Multi F gives one gallon per day for about a week, then slows to 3/4 gallon for months on end...hope this helps.

BlueHeronFarm · #7 04/01/08, 07:03 PM

This will be our first year milking FFs - I would be perfectly happy with 5 pounds a day their first year.

steff bugielski · #8 04/02/08, 05:10 AM

I have a nubian with some very nice blood lines, she gives me about 4 lbs a day.
I also have a few mutts. No milk in their blood lines for generations, they are giving me 12lbs day.
Go figure.

MamaDee · #9 04/02/08, 07:27 AM

I also have a few mutts. No milk in their blood lines for generations, they are giving me 12lbs day.
Go figure.>>>

12 pounds a day per goat? As in 6 pounds each milking? Geesh!

Dee

jimandpj · #10 04/02/08, 08:14 AM

Yeah - it was my purebred nubian from "very milky lines" that gave me 2 cups. I was fed up and sold her for meat as I couldn't pass those "very milky lines" on.

PJ

ChickenMom · #11 04/02/08, 08:58 AM

I have an Alpine/Spanish with triplets that I milk in the morning and get 3/4 gallon.
I have a registered Nubian from very milky bloodlines with one doe on her that gives less than a quart in the mornings.
I bought the Nubian to up my milk production (go figure).
The mix breed is a 4th freshener and the Nubian is a 2nd freshener that was not milked as a FF, the mix breed was not milked as a FF either.
They both get the same diet.

steff bugielski · #12 04/02/08, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaDee

I also have a few mutts. No milk in their blood lines for generations, they are giving me 12lbs day.
Go figure.>>>

12 pounds a day per goat? As in 6 pounds each milking? Geesh!

Dee

yes indeed. And she usually milks great right into her 10th month. Now if she would only give me a doe.

happygoatfarms · #13 04/02/08, 02:33 PM

Steff:

Pretty good for mutts! Keep up the good work. Maybe I should trade in my registered Nubians for some mutts, eh?

Patty0315 · #14 04/02/08, 03:40 PM

I expect at least 3/4 of a gallon out of my FF and over a gallon for 2nd. I have Saanens

Patty

ozark_jewels · #15 04/03/08, 11:14 AM

Nubians are *not* Saanens, Alpines or Lamanchas and probably will not give you as much. Nubians are the breed known for their high butterfat, not their milk quantity.
For a FF yearling Nubian, 5 lbs a day is very acceptable. She *should* certainly give more than that as a mature doe. I like to get a gallon a day from all my Nubians, but I don't always. Some more some a little less.
They also tend to go up and down with the weather a bit. Right now we are in the middle of constant RAIN and their procuction is down a bit. But it will go back up with the sunny warmer weather and will really go up when I get them out on browse.

cjb · #16 04/03/08, 11:33 AM

My ff Nubian gave me about a gallon per day for the first few months than slacked to about 3/4 gallon.

My Ober/saanen gives about a gallon a day throughout. She has been freshened 3 times.

DownHome · #17 04/03/08, 11:51 AM

Great thread because I was wondering about mine too

Both are American Obers 2nd F is giving 3/4 of a gallon at 4 weeks fresh, FF is giving a quart at 3 weeks fresh. Not too impressed with the FF but I'm going to give her a little longer I think.

downhome

TSYORK · #18 04/03/08, 11:57 AM

Thanks Cliff and everyone else for the info. My herd is all nubians, except for one boer cross doe. They are all bred to a lamancha buck with good milk lines, or so I am told. Hopefully, if I get any doe babies and they freshen out, being part lamancha, I should have some decent milkers by then.

ozark_jewels · #19 04/03/08, 05:27 PM

General rule is to never cull a FF because of her production her first year. Especially if you bought her not long before freshening or if you don't have a set feeding schedule.
I have had FF double or even triple their milk production by their second freshening.

Sheila in Ca · #20 04/04/08, 11:32 AM

I'm not sure how my does are doing. I have 2 Nubians FF that are both nursing twins for 2 months now. I started milking them in the mornings about a month ago and penning the babies up at night, letting them nurse during the day. I get about 2 - 2 1/2 lbs per day from each doe and it seems to be slowly increasing, I think as the babies eat more hay/grain. One doe has wethers and they will be weaned this weekend when they go to their new home, so I'll see if that doe starts giving more milk then. The other mom has does so they will stay on her during the day. They are both eating 2 1/2 lbs grain/day plus alfalfa. Does this sound about right?
Thanks, I'm new at this!
Sheila