FF whose milk hasn't came in yet

[mygoat]

I would've sworn this french alpine doe wasn't due for weeks yet. Sure enough, today her ligs were gone and her udder was more developed - but still tiny. She kidded a single small buck kid just about a half hour ago. I've milked her out - and got maybe 6 oz of colostrum. Her duedate was officially yesterday, so she's even over a day. I've the colostrum in the double broiler and am watching it closely.

I have no other does freshened, nor any other does even near freshening. Nor do I have any colostrum in the freezer. I do have cow's milk in the fridge, a little. I will likely go buy more, just in case.

Should I give oxytosin? I have a bottle, but it's a couple years old - I'm sure it has an expiration date already passed. I've never had a doe that hasn't come into milk before kidding - will I go out to a bountiful milking tomorrow AM?

[RiverPines]

Thats enough for her kid as she makes more as more is removed!!
Milk doesn't come in for awhile. I don't see a problem here at all.

Little soon to worry, IMO.

[mygoat]

I've never seen such a tiny amount in a first milking, that's why I'm worried. I don't know if it's even 6 oz... I haven't measured it at all. Then again, the buck kid is on the small side.

[TennesseeMama23]

I had 2 ff's this year that didn't have hardly any milk until the 3rd day. I was very concerned about the kids. They really got enough to just keep them alive, they never got weak, just really frustrated. I've been raising goats for about 6 years and this is the first year I've had late bloomers. When their milk came in, it really came in though. They are now producing an abundance

(and 6 oz is more than mine produced and one had twins) I think you're fine.

[susanne]

talk to april, she know best what to do. she will be more then willing to help.

[mygoat]

April did warn me that some of her does don't start an udder till after kidding, I guess I didn't think about it as I've never experienced does that didn't. I emailed her to tell her that one of the does kidded, I'll let her know I had a 'late bloomer'.

Up till now, I've been blessed with does that dutifully start a 'baby belly' and udder about 6 weeks till kidding, which slowly swells, until the day of kidding when it's huge all the sudden. This doe had a duedate of 4/27 as a possibility, though She would kid right when I decided neither were due till the latest possible dates of 6/3-6/15... yeah right.

The other doe's duedate isn't until 5/12, though I'm not even sure the other doe is pregnant. but now I get to be all paranoid about her, too.

I have cow's milk on hand, so the kid isn't going to starve. I got what colostrom I could into him. My thermometer was reading 135* the entire hour... but it was filming up and I had a good layer of colostrum baked onto my SS pail. Not sure if that is normal - I used to use ziplocs to heat colostrum, this time I decided to try a SS pail like a double broiler, which makes it easier to read temperature of the actual milk. I need a more accurate thermometer, I think.

[HillsideWayCSA]

My alpine ff only gave about 3 oz the first milking. I went back in the afternoon and milked again then went back in the evening. By the next day she'd picked up. Remember a kid will eat more than twice a day so if you milk a couple more times in the beginning it'll just help build up the supply.

[mygoat]

This AM - a whopping 4 oz. I'll probably milk her several times over the next couple days.

[Jay27]

Why did you heat/pasturize the colostrum? (not being snarky) Pasturization kills bad bacteria, but it also kills good enzymes. Is this a CAE prevention thing?

[shiandpete.1]

Jay27-yes those of us who do CAE prevention feed heat treated colostrum, then move on to either pasteurized goats milk or raw or store bought cows milk.

[Jay27]

TOTAL hijack, but if the herd tests negative and is (more or less) a closed herd, why go through the hassle?

[mygoat]

They're new goats, and though they've tested negative twice, I find it's just good practice to raise on prevention. Just to cover any 'what if' situations, or if they were recently exposed and are still in the incubation period.