Here's a dumb question

KimM · #1 06/19/08, 06:07 PM

So what exactly is a milker? Is it a doe that is trained and stands for milking or is it any doe that is in milk? Just asking because I have a 50/50 Nubian/Boer that looks more Nubian that I just pulled her kid from, She's full of milk but hates to be milked. I would assume she's not considered a "milker". Right?

jBlaze · #2 06/19/08, 06:26 PM

I guess it depends on who you talk to. I never really thought about it. Why do you say she hates to be milked? How many times has she been milked? On a stand?
Most goats fuss a bit at first, and most espically if you don't milk shortly after kids are born. (something about the hormones makes them more tolerant then, ime.) But after a bit of patience they usually get used to it.
I had one doe, that i milked right after she kidded, and even then she was just going to be a kicker, we tied her feet to the stand and she was fine as long as she had a full feed box.

**mygoat** · #3 06/19/08, 07:10 PM

I see a milker as any doe bred for milk production and capable of being milked.

The doe isn't trained to the stand and you'll need to be patient. Keep at it, she just doesn't understand why you're touching her udder and stealing her baby's milk!

If you ever train a doe to the milkstand, start graining them 2 weeks before they kid. Put them up in the stand 2x per day and pretend to milk them like you would if you were actually milking, just don't express any. My two FF took to the stand like old pros last month, still no incidents. Training them in advance isn't hard and makes the milking procedure SO much easier on you AND them.

KimM · #4 06/19/08, 10:17 PM

It was mostly just a general question of terminolgy.
I hadn't intended the mentioned doe to be used for milking. When I sold her daughter, she wouldn't allow her buck kid to nurse for several days so I milked her out a bit. She kicked and fussed and jumped all over - I'm pretty sure she at least didn't enjoy it!

She's been on a stand many times to have her feet trimmed. Been milked maybe 10 times and I tied her foot back to the corner of the stand each time. She only kicked with one foot.

I have to mostly agree with mygoat's definition: "... any doe bred for milk production and capable of being milked." I say mostly because even though she's half Boer (and not bred for milking) I may use her for milk sometime. Think she'd be ok for that? She's a FF in these pics.

Here's a dumb question - Goats

**mygoat** · #5 06/19/08, 10:29 PM

her udder is pretty nice. Unless it's a 'meaty' udder she should produce well for you. Looks like her teats will be generally pretty easy to milk.

Boers are still bred for milk production so that they raise hefty kids. Maybe not milking ability - but still production.

goatkid · #6 06/20/08, 01:20 AM

Though people don't generally raise Boers for milk production, they certainly can be milked. Their milk has a high butterfat content which is desirable for making cheese. My friend used to run a commercial dairy which sold milk to a cheese plant. She milked both fullblood and percentage Boers along with her dairy breeds. When trained to the milkstand, they are just as manageable as other breeds. When I had Boer cross does, I milked some of them. Your doe has a very nice udder. If you want to use her for milk, bring her in for milking twice a day. Any new doe takes a little time to get her used to the procedure, especially if she's been raising kids.

jBlaze · #7 06/20/08, 01:02 PM

Nice looking goat. have patience.

Tie both feet, worked much better for me.

Gailann Schrader · #8 06/20/08, 01:11 PM

I had a 50/50 that was a WONDERFUL milker. ONCE I GOT HER TRAINED. The strain of Boers I bred to were a little more independent than a traditional milker (a doe bred for milking).

Don't give up. She has a nice udder. And should do well for you.

Tie her legs down - put the rope above the hock for best results and secure it strongly - and give her plenty of grain to keep her busy on the milk stand.

May take a few times before she gets the hang of it (with snorting)...

Good luck!

KimM · #9 06/20/08, 05:29 PM

I wasn't planning on milking her for our use this round as she's been on ADM Goat Power feed that's medicated, and which I'm not real pleased with anyway, so I thought next year after I get her on a different feed, I'd start milking her then.
Does anyone have suggestion about transitioning her to a new feed? I mean besides taking a week and changing slowly, I mean like take her off grain completely now and then start back up in fall or half way through her gestation? And someone recently gave ratios for a dairy feed. Can they post that again please?

jBlaze · #10 06/20/08, 05:50 PM

I know most folks disagree, but I switch my feeds in about a day or two. That is between similar feeds of different brand. I will also swap oats for barley, but give less barley than I was feeding oats. For me, no problem to switch feeds. Now, my horses, never! i am very careful to change their feeds very gradually. The goats never have any problems with different feeds. They seem to really enjoy anything different.

KimM · #11 06/21/08, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gailann Schrader

I had a 50/50 that was a WONDERFUL milker. ONCE I GOT HER TRAINED. The strain of Boers I bred to were a little more independent than a traditional milker (a doe bred for milking).

Don't give up. She has a nice udder. And should do well for you.

Tie her legs down - put the rope above the hock for best results and secure it strongly - and give her plenty of grain to keep her busy on the milk stand.

May take a few times before she gets the hang of it (with snorting)...

Good luck!

I used a dog collar with the plastic snap and wrapped it around the top and bottom of her hock (figure 8) and snapped it to a lead rope tied to the corner of the stand. Worked beautifully! That was when she was pining for her doeling. She's drying up now.
Snorting? Who, me or the doe?

CountryHaven · #12 06/21/08, 10:26 AM

See, there's a solution for everything, lol. I agree too with all the above, basically a milker is any goat that produces very well. She looks like she has a fantastic udder. I bet that milk is RICH too. Boers are known for very rich milk, and Nubians are too, so wow. LOL

KimM · #13 06/22/08, 09:14 AM

Ohhh maaan, ya'll are gonna make me regret drying her up!! I can't wait to have some fresh goat milk.

crazygoatgal · #14 06/22/08, 11:16 AM

Love that udder! Teats look like they're pointing down and not all over the place. I have one doe that I will never part with who is an excellent milker in every aspect, but her teats aim toward the side not down and since she was my very first experience with milking, I thought it was normal to get milk all over the stand as well as in the bucket. Learning how to "aim" them was a trick that I have now mastered. Fortunately, she has never passed this on to her daughters- THANK GOD, one is enough.

KimM · #15 06/22/08, 11:47 AM

Yes, I like her teat structure but her udder could be a little higher in back, I think. BTW, that doe (Jubilee) is the same girl in my avatar. Not quite as cute but still as sweet.

nehimama · #16 06/29/08, 01:12 PM

I wonder; don't you set the doe's length of lactation after the first freshening? I mean, if you dry an FF off now at, say, 4 months fresh, won't she tend to dry off at around the 4-month mark on future freshenings? Someone please correct me if I'm misinformed!

Thanks!

NeHi

KimM · #17 06/29/08, 01:32 PM

I haven't a clue about that. I hope someone answers that question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nehimama

I wonder; don't you set the doe's length of lactation after the first freshening? I mean, if you dry an FF off now at, say, 4 months fresh, won't she tend to dry off at around the 4-month mark on future freshenings? Someone please correct me if I'm misinformed!

Thanks!

NeHi

Naturaldane · #18 06/29/08, 01:52 PM

as far as foods go, I give as much as a varriety in a diet for all my animals as possible, the only time you run into trouble is when you feed the same thing day in and day out, if you ate the same thing day in and day out, it would mess your system up too, but we eat a ton of varriety of foods and we do fine and so can they.
Also, because there is no such thing as a completly balanced diet, I swap around so they can get the best out of what the diet offered, after all if it wasnt for bodies needing varriety, nature could have made things allot easier, no seasons, no migrations etc.
I would do half and half with the goats, most feeds have the same basic make up so its not a total whammy on the system anyway.