First time milking a FF...

[mygoat]

And boy is it horrid! LOL

I milked out a measly pound of colostrum (think there was more there but she wouldn't let it down) which I managed to ruin in an attempt to heat treat it. Thankfully I'm feeding her buckling powdered colostrum.

Gee, milking my FF alpines is like milking a pygmy. I was so used to my 5 year old and my 2 year old that I milked last year with lovely, perfect sized teats for milking.

It doesn't help that this doe could use better teat placement, which resulted in my squirting of colostrum every which direction 'till I got her figured out.

*sigh* hopefully her teat size increases a bit with production, or this is gonna be a horrible 10 months, haha.

[wstevenl]

May I ask... why would you "heat treat" it. Doesn't this really mean pasteurize it? Also, I'm more familiar with cows than goats but why didn't you let the kid take the colostrum before you started milking?

[RiverPines]

Once colostrum is heated, dried or anything else, its dead and useless.
I don't know why anyone would want to give a kid dead colostrum.
The kids immune system is at risk.

If its disease your worried about, get some fresh stuff from a tested and clear doe.

[mygoat]

Heat treating isn't useless, it's a proven way to help prevent the spread of disease. My doe (and entire herd) is tested, but all my stock are still raised on strict prevention, as are most reputable dairy herds. Heat treating isn't pasteurization which is at 145* OR 165* for either a 1/2 hour or 15 seconds. Heat treating is heating the colostrum to a temperature that kills mainly the CAE virus for an hour. The temp is 135*, not high enough to destroy the colostrum but enough to destroy the viruses. Any higher than 135* and the colostrum DOES cook, resulting in pudding-like gunk... which I seem to be a pro at making, lol.

[Blossomgapfarm]

How much do you usually get from your first freshners? After a few days, after a couple of weeks , after a couple of months? This is my first year with a first freshener so I am curious what others see.

[Zone]

Originally Posted by mygoat

Heat treating isn't useless, it's a proven way to help prevent the spread of disease. My doe (and entire herd) is tested, but all my stock are still raised on strict prevention, as are most reputable dairy herds. Heat treating isn't pasteurization which is at 145* OR 165* for either a 1/2 hour or 15 seconds. Heat treating is heating the colostrum to a temperature that kills mainly the CAE virus for an hour. The temp is 135*, not high enough to destroy the colostrum but enough to destroy the viruses. Any higher than 135* and the colostrum DOES cook, resulting in pudding-like gunk... which I seem to be a pro at making, lol.

This is very true. Heat Treating is NOT pastuizing. They are different. Heat treating colostrum is a very good CAE prevention practice. And it does not kill the colostrum.

I just thought I would add my agreement here for what it is worth.

[sungirl]

Originally Posted by Blossomgapfarm

How much do you usually get from your first freshners? After a few days, after a couple of weeks , after a couple of months? This is my first year with a first freshener so I am curious what others see.

Very hard to say, some come from milking lines others from show whos jobs is more in the ring then in the stand. I like to see my FF Alpines & Saanens milk about a gallon aday as FF's. I have one now who only milks 3-4 pounds. Her dam & grand-dam were poor milkers as FF but peak around 1 1/2 gallons by the time they are second freshners if not more. (All depends on the buck they were sired by. )
Patty.

[mygoat]

After colostrum production, milk production kicks in. My doe just gave me 2.5 lbs of milk this AM - pretty good, I think! If she gives me that again tonight, I'll have gotten 5 lbs on the 2nd day from her. Took my 5 year old a week to do that well, lol; Then again, she only peaked at 7-8 lb per day.