Anyone milking once a day?

[hippiehill]

And if so, how much milk are you getting? I switched from twice daily to once daily after the babies were weaned, but my quantity is waaayyy less than 1/2 of what it was. Everything else is the same, but my two April fresheners are not giving a quart - together! They were both dry the previous year. Before they were pretty good milkers. Any suggestions?

[nehimama]

Just weighing in with a guess here. Could it be supply & demand? That is, you're not placing much of a demand on them by milking only once a day, so they're not supplying very much. Is there a reason you can only milk once daily?

NeHi

[cathleenc]

also, are you milking in the am or pm?

Demand equals supply. You went from the kids & you 2 a day - to only you 1x a day. So the supply dipped because the demand just about disappeared.

[whinnyninny]

Originally Posted by nehimama

Just weighing in with a guess here. Could it be supply & demand? That is, you're not placing much of a demand on them by milking only once a day, so they're not supplying very much. Is there a reason you can only milk once daily?

NeHi

A while back someone here suggested (to me) trying to milk 3x a day to increase production, so I think that milking only 1x a day would really decrease production, too.

Only way I would try once-a-day milking is if the doe was nursing her kids, also. Milk her in the morning, turn the kids out with her during the day, and separate them at night.

[pookshollow]

What are you feeding them?

My three are all milking through, and since I got in some 2nd cut alfalfa, their yield has gone up. (Bad year for getting hay in and the 2nd cut was very late, so I ran out a while ago.) The grain ration has not changed.

My grade Alpine is giving about 4 lbs once a day, up from 3 1/2 - she kidded in April, 2007. The two Saanens (one a FF) are giving about 5 and 6 lbs once a day, up from 4 - 4 1/2 - they kidded in June and July, 2007. So between 6 and 7 litres from the three of them.

[Fauna]

Just to weigh in here myself.... I have 2 goats that I was milking 1x a day (just now starting to dry them up).

1 is a 6yr old Alpine. She kidded in February and ever since her kids left, she was only milked 1x a day. She's consistently been giving 7-7.5lbs a day.

The other is a 2yr old 2nd freshener. After her buckling left at 3months of age, I *had* to milk her twice a day for a bit because she was ready to pop for a while. She was then at about 8lbs a day and then some. Over time I'm sure it could've dropped as the buckling left just about 3 weeks ago I think.

I think a lot of it has to do with each individual goat and their capacity to produce milk, as well as the supply/demand rule. My 6yr. old is next to impossible to dry up, the milk just keeps coming!

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Just understand that it is the first step in drying them up. Vicki

[hippiehill]

I'm feeding 16% protein dairy - cow feed. I have been unable to find a reasonable supplier of plain goat that is not medicated. The local goat feed has cocci meds in it and is 17%. The girls are nubian, one is 9 and the other is about 3. Decent quality mixed hay that has quite a bit of timothy in it, and they are in a small pasture with grass and clover. Also Purina minerals. I milk in the am. I went to once a day because of 10 hour days and an hour commute each way. I also am still recovering from a hip replacement. Since OT has stopped and I'm getting alot stronger, I can go back to twice a day again. I just figured milk half the time, get half the milk. I think I read it in the Encyc. for Country Living that it could be done.

I bought them two seasons ago and they were already in lactation, and bred them last fall. They each had triplets. I also figured more babies, more milk! Isn't there also a ratio of grain to milk? My girls are well fed, but I kind of just fill up the bucket. Maybe some weighing needs to be in my future?

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'm not very experienced, but I think they need alfalfa hay or pellets.

[PETSNEGGS]

I was wondering the same thing.. thanks for asking...
so if you want to beef up the milk amount you can just start to milk more often? true or not? if she is already decressing in milk does that mean you can not get it back up?

[dbarjacres]

I'm milking 2 first fresheners once a day, both seem to have gone up actually.

Nubian 1.5 qt/day
Nigerian 2/3 qt/day
Both freshened in March

That's plenty milk for me, so no biggie.

[farm mom]

I am milking once a day. Switched about two months ago to once a day after milking 2x a day for the first three months. Still getting 5 lbs a day from my Nubian and 6-7 lbs from my La Mancha. I have been pleased with how they are doing.