Bringing a doe back into milk?

[joyceb]

If a doe has been left to raise her kids & is about to wean them (6-8 weeks)- can you start milking her a few times a day and keep her producing? I figure that the milk production will have decreased as the kids are weaned. With consistent milking can that production be brought back up?

My understanding of human lactation is that more milk can be produced if the demand increases (assuming the nutritional requirements are being met). Is this the same for goats?

Thank you for any information/advice.

JoyceB

[backtotheland]

I brought my milk goat home about a month ago and was in the same situation. I just started graining her twice a day on the milk stand while milking her. I started out the first few times with maybe a pint, of course that might have been us getting used to each other, and now am up to over a half gallon a day.

[joyceb]

Thank you so much!

I'm hoping to purchase the kids with her (Nubian w/ Boer cross kids) but if not I'll have to wait till they're weaned & the whole purpose is for us to have some nice fresh milk.

You've made my day!

JoyceB

[Alice In TX/MO]

Yes, milk her at least twice a day.

(Isn't six to eight weeks young to wean?)

[joyceb]

Thank you, Rose.

I was just going by the weaning information in Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. It says that weaning age on average 8-10 weeks, but to go by weight not age - 2.5X birth weight. It also says that some folks let kids nurse as long as 6 months. But that 2 month old weaned kids have "a reticuloruminal capacity five times as large as a suckling kid of the same age."

But in my case, the weaning age will be decided by the owner of the goats depending on how they are grazing & growing. I just gave that age as an average to give an idea of how long the mother will have been nursing the kids before I bring her home.

JoyceB

[Alice In TX/MO]

Our Alpine doe had declined in production, and when she didn't breed back, we increased how many times per day we milked for about ten days. Her production increased. She is now 15 months post kidding, and still making about 1/2 gallon per day.

Milk her as often as you can, within reason.

[joyceb]

Thank you, Rose. That is wonderful to hear! I hope we have similar luck

JoyceB

[Jan in CO]

Not to hijack the thread, but if you haven't milked a doe you were drying up for, say, two months, can you start milking her and bring her back into production? Jan in Co

[Goatguy]

Jan, Two months is too long, the doe will be completely dry by then. You'll likely have to breed her to bring her back into milking

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

I was just going by the weaning information in Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. It says that weaning age on average 8-10 weeks, but to go by weight not age - 2.5X birth weight. It also says that some folks let kids nurse as long as 6 months. But that 2 month old weaned kids have "a reticuloruminal capacity five times as large as a suckling kid of the same age."
.......................

Yes this is excellent information to give to the folks so they wean them kids before she has dried up , then when you get the goat home, you will never want to go by this information for your own stock. Weaning young sets kids up to be stunted and small, especially when they are weaned to pasture (well being meat goats and destined for the freezer this makes little difference) big difference in a commerical meat goat operation, and a much bigger difference is a dairy goat herd.

Make sure you have much better basic information than in this book though for her coming to your farm. Worm her, trim her feet, vaccinate her. Milking her 3 times a day and slowly giving her a better diet...calcium and protein from alfalfa, real grain for her calories and fat...she should be milking well quickly. It's supply and demand to a point. And milking well is also alot of genetics in Nubians, there are bloodlines that simply don't milk. Vicki

[joyceb]

Vicki -

Thank you for the advice. We've already been trimming hooves, worming & vaccinating the does we have, using the info from Storey's guide. Do you have other recommendations for books I should use?

JoyceB

[Alice In TX/MO]

This is a link to a board that is totally goat related. Read Goatkeeping 101.

http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php

[joyceb]

Thank you, Rose, I'll check it out.

I love this forum - you all have been so helpful.

JoyceB