Decreased milk?

whinnyninny · #1 06/02/08, 07:17 AM

When we brought our goats home a week ago, we were getting 8 lbs a day between the two of them. Usually we get 4 lbs at a milking, and then we started getting 3 lbs at some milkings. Suddenly we're down to 5 lbs a day... I got about 2.5 lbs total at each of the last 3 milkings.

What could be causing this?

We milk them at the same time every day, 6:30 am and 6:30 pm. The goat who was giving 2 lb/day is getting 1.5 lbs of feed (1/2 dairy goat ration, 1/2 alfalfa pellets) per day, split up between the milkings, and the goat that was giving 6 lbs/day gets 3 lbs of feed. We give them a flake of bermuda hay in the morning and a flake in the evening. I'll have to weigh the flakes and see exactly how much that is. They get plenty of fresh water every day.

Am I not giving them enough feed? We dewormed them with ivermectin on Friday (we've been dumping the milk since)... could this be a factor? It's also been hot lately, can the heat make them give less milk somehow?

whinnyninny · #2 06/02/08, 07:33 AM

Oh yes, I forgot to say- they both freshened at the end of February.

Alice In TX/MO · #3 06/02/08, 08:11 AM

I would add free choice alfalfa pellets during the day.

I've only been doing this a year and a half or so, but our Alpine is going on her second year of milking.

whinnyninny · #4 06/02/08, 09:48 AM

Thanks! I just took some alfalfa pellets out there and they hopped right on it. (I put 2 lbs in the feeder... I don't want them to gorge themselves or something. I can check later in the day and see if they need more).

nappint · #5 06/02/08, 10:57 AM

The same thing happened to me when I brought my goats home about 1 month ago. Two of the does only decreased a little the third went from 5-6lbs per milking to 7-15oz

It's just the stress of moving to a new place, new people, new surroundings - the person you bought them from should have warned you it was going to happen

.

They should be back up to normal in a couple of weeks after they settle in...although my "stress queen" doe (the 15oz'er) is just now starting to increase again.

HTH

whinnyninny · #6 06/02/08, 11:12 AM

So, it can take a few days for the stress to cause their production to decrease, then? Because for the first couple days they were giving their normal amounts.

It's not *that* big a deal right now, as we've had to dump the milk for the past few days anyway, due to their deworming... but I would like it to go back to normal soon!

jBlaze · #7 06/02/08, 11:33 AM

I don't weigh my grain, so not sure about weights.
For a doe giving me 3-4 cups a milking, she gets 2-4 cups of 16% goat ration at each milking.
For a doe giving me a gallon+ a day, she gets as much as she wahts while i milk her. This is 8-12 cups of grain prob.

more grain usually means more milk as long as the doe is capable of it. Bu sure you are milking them ALL the way out each time. (some people don't realize the need to milk all the way out..)

Dreaming2Loudly · #8 06/02/08, 11:35 AM

Is your goat a full sized breed or a mini/dwarf breed. I raise nigerian dwarfs and the amount you are feeding .75lb of grain and .75lb of alfalfa pellets per day is about the amount I feed my dwarfs. I know many large goat breeders who go by the rule of 1lb of grain for every 3lbs of milk produced and 3lbs of alfalfa pellets per day.

How much were the previous owners feeding?

I also agree that the stress of a move will decrease milk output.

whinnyninny · #9 06/02/08, 11:41 AM

I have an Oberhasli and a Nubian (both purebred). The previous owner was giving them a 2-lb coffee can full of DuMor goat feed and sweet feed mixed, and they were pastured.

How do I know if I'm milking them out all the way? I stop when it takes a few seconds for teats to refill (and they're sort of empty and shrivelled-looking) and I'm squeezing out only a little bit at a time.

jBlaze · #10 06/02/08, 12:02 PM

I massage the udder to be sure I get all the milk, sounds like you are close. If you watch the kids, they but the udder pretty thoroughly to get that milk, I just massage.

nappint · #11 06/02/08, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whinnyninny

So, it can take a few days for the stress to cause their production to decrease, then? Because for the first couple days they were giving their normal amounts.

It's not *that* big a deal right now, as we've had to dump the milk for the past few days anyway, due to their deworming... but I would like it to go back to normal soon!

Yes, it took a couple of days to notice the milk decrease. I also think it has to do with a change in water (different taste) and them not drinking enough because of that.

They will sort themselves out soon - Do they look relaxed? Do they spend time just laying around? I noticed my does milk production going back up when they started relaxing during the day and not getting up and down a lot and jumping at every noise etc.

whinnyninny · #12 06/02/08, 01:42 PM

They appear to be settling in pretty well. They spend part of the time laying in the shade, and part of the time relaxing in the sun. I see them drinking water several times a day, so the taste doesn't seem to bother them (the lady we bought them from has the same municipal water supply we do). So maybe their milk production will start going up again.

Alice In TX/MO · #13 06/02/08, 05:43 PM

It will help if you'll milk three times a day for a few days. Up to a week. That's how I brought Orange's milk back up.

DQ · #14 06/02/08, 08:05 PM

.75lbs of alfalfa pellets (what your does are getting) will have approx 4 g of calcium. A good milking doe requires somewhere in the neigborhood of 15g of calcium per day (of course depending on your resource for the info). how much calcium does your dairy ration have in it?

whinnyninny · #15 06/02/08, 08:41 PM

I don't know how much calcium it has, since DH dumped it all into a large rubber storage bin and threw the bags away.

The one goat was getting .75 lbs of alfalfa pellets, and the other was getting 1.5 lbs. I gave them 2 lbs of alfalfa pellets to munch on today, and this evening during their milking they each got another 1 lb. I'll have to find out how much calcium the dairy goat ration has per pound.

I got 3.25 lbs of milk at tonight's milking.

manygoatsnmore · #16 06/04/08, 12:53 AM

It sounds like you need to gradually increase the alfalfa pellets and grain. Call the feed store and ask them to read you the calcium off the bag tag. As far as the ivermectin, you don't have a milk withdrawal time with that particular wormer, so no need to dump the milk.

I do tend to see a decrease in the output during hot spells, especially early in the year when it's been cool and then suddenly gets really hot. They come back up when it either cools off or they adapt to being hot. Just like a move, a change in the weather can upset some goats more than others.

Rose had good advice for you - milk an extra time a day for a while...milk production increases with increased demand.

Good luck with your does - hope this helps.

whinnyninny · #17 06/07/08, 08:05 AM

I'm back to consistently getting 3-3.5 lbs at each milking.

I'm giving them each 2 parts dairy goat ration and 1 part 16% sweet feed at each milking (one doe gets 1.5 lbs of food and the other gets 1 lb, and I let them finish it at their leisure after milking), along with 1/4 lb of Calf Manna, and they get free-choice alfalfa pellets and bermuda hay during the day.