How long befor I milk

christie · #1 06/08/09, 10:30 PM

How long do I wait after she kids befor I can start milking her on a regular basis?
I am leaving the kids on her too! I have read to wait till the kids are 2 wks old. But the moms udder is so full and hard. Its only been 3days since kidding.
Will the kids drink more eventually, to lessen the pressure in her bag. I just feel bad for her, and want to relieve her some. But would like to also start milking too!
What do you all do?

chamoisee · #2 06/08/09, 10:31 PM

You need to milk her from day one! Colostrum that is left in there can harden the udder and ruin it.

Milk her at least once a day from day one, and as the kids get older, you can pen them up at night and milk her in the morning to get more.

lamoncha lover · #3 06/09/09, 12:41 AM

oh good......i have a 3 day old baby and a ff...and just couldnt help myself and have been milking her. I have colostrum froze in the fridge and ice cream in the freeze..then I started to feel guilty,.,but guess I did ok thanks!

Alice In TX/MO · #4 06/09/09, 01:26 AM

I had to milk the LaManchas from day one, also! LOTSA milk.

LFmenagerie · #5 06/09/09, 05:58 AM

Sometimes a goat will get congested. When mine did it was reccomended that we try to milk more often, take hot compresses to put on the udder, massage, and give the goat Vitamine C. We took a couple hot hand towels in a lunch cooler of very hot water to wring out and wrapped on her udder for a a couple minutes before milking before massage, massage, massage. It gets better if you are persistant, over the next two weeks....unless she has a CAE udder. Then you have different problems.
Pam

jBlaze · #6 06/09/09, 09:48 AM

I have a FF yearling doe that kidded last week, with one doe kid. I started milking her about 9 days after freshening. She started with a small udder, and I wanted the kids' constant nursing to stimulate the doe to produce. I have been milking her for about 4 days now. I bottle feed the kid, then milk the doe, then put her in with the kid while the rest of the chores are done. The kid nurses a bit more, further stimulating her to produce.
Normally I do not need to do this, but when a doe starts out a little slower, it seems to help. I had a doe like this last year too.
She is milking about a half gallon a day now.

christie · #7 06/09/09, 10:28 AM

MAybe that is what I read... wait to weeks before separating at night!!
I have milked her once to get some colostrum. But Leaving her with the kids all the time I don't think colostrum will do anything to her!! Thats the way God made her, and it should work, Especially when not interfered with.

Now if your leaving kids w/ the mom do you milk her at any specific time, or whenever its convenient for you?

I know when I separate them at night I will do her 1st thing in the mourning but just wondering for now?

lamoncha lover · #8 06/09/09, 05:37 PM

i milk my doe 3 times a day and have her baby with her 24/7
i am not gett6ing tons of milk but enough to help:>)

chamoisee · #9 06/09/09, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christie

MAybe that is what I read... wait to weeks before separating at night!!
I have milked her once to get some colostrum. But Leaving her with the kids all the time I don't think colostrum will do anything to her!! Thats the way God made her, and it should work, Especially when not interfered with.

Now if your leaving kids w/ the mom do you milk her at any specific time, or whenever its convenient for you?

I know when I separate them at night I will do her 1st thing in the mourning but just wondering for now?

But God didn't make them to produce more milk than the kids could drink, we did, when we bred them for high milk production.

dezeeuwgoats · #10 06/10/09, 04:38 AM

I go by how the doe's udder looks. Sometimes, with multiples, there is no need to milk right away. Othertimes, either the production, or fewer kids, means milking right away. I have some good producers that I milk out when the kids are small, as they don't drink enough and the does remain uncomfortable. Eventually, the kids will take more of the milk.

At two weeks, I separate at night. By eight weeks - some kids are sold off, and I adjust milking accordingly. No kids - I milk twice a day. Single kid - same thing. Twins or more I will milk once a day.

Milking at the same time, consistently is important for maintaining production. Helianthus is correct about the selective breeding for more milk - high producing dairy goats are like race cars to station wagons. Not milking completely out - consistently, can cause health problems.