Brainstorming.....opinions please?

LoneStrChic23 · #1 03/04/11, 10:18 AM

A few of y'all have read my post on Tootsie, my mini alpine doe.

Were getting better on the milk stand, minimal fidgeting and nothing more than picking up her hind leg or moving to the far side of the stand on occasion.....Certainly not the rodeo we had before.

She's still not eating her grain well on the stand and that evil twin buck of hers is quiet as can be, until she's on the stand and then he starts screaming like he's being murdered. He can not see her and vise versa, so I dunno how he times his fits so well.....But Tootsie eats fine, right up until his first yell....Getting rid of him would help alot, but I can't do that right now. So, she is eating about 1lb of grain a day....maybe 1 1/2lbs when I take her out extras in the afternoon.

Milk production tanked down to under a pound per milking.....but since she milked just shy of 5lbs for me befire the baby drama, I know she has potential. Past few days have been better, production was barely under 4lbs day before yesterday, yesterday was 4lbs 2ouces.

My problem is, I don't enjoy miking her.. .the problem is me, not her, and though I think her teats are small, apparently they aren't that bad.... I'd say they're a tad longer than 2" & seem to be lengthening......my mom hand milks her without issue....

For me though I'm not comfortable hand milking with just one finger and my thumb (I have big hands and long fingers)...my hands throb afterwards....I use the Udderly EZ but can't fit the quart jars under her so I have to use the pint jar and bring out a glass container to empty it in...and I'm still having to hand milk her at the end to get her empty.....Then, on top of all that I'm having to crunch up to milk her, so by the time I'm done my shoulder hurts, my hands throb and I've not enjoyed the ordeal to say the least....Yes I could have hubby redo my stand and make it taller (it's 18" off the ground right now), perhaps with steps, but since she's my only mini and I don't plan on adding more, what's the point?

Perhaps I'm grumpy because my finger is killing me (milking with a finger that has 2 cracked places in the bone isn't pleasant)... On the plus side though Tootsie was very good this morning, only lifted her leg once, didn't kick and didn't need hobbles so she got lots of goodies (peanuts, raisins and a few cheerios)...

Anywho, if I were to put her up for sale do you think it would be best to keep milking her and sell her in milk? Dry her off and sell her dry? Or perhaps keep her until breeding season, breed her and sell her bred?

Sabrina (my standard girl) is small for an alpine, but is leggy & is a much more comfortable size for me..... I've already got a standard alpine buck kid, and if things go well I may have an alpine doeling or two.....In the future once everyone is grown, I'm contemplating the idea of letting my buck run with the girls, but if I have a mini doe out there, I couldn't do that...

And if I sold Tootsie that might give me some wiggle room for a la mamcha...

When/if my mom moves out, she'll be taking Keys (the other mini doe that's here) with her as well and the mini buck kid she reserved & that would leave Tootsie being the only mini here..... My mom may be interested in her, but seems to be of the opinion that we're family so I should gift her Tootsie, but if I'm going to let her go, I want at least a portion of what I put into her back...

What would you do? If you had plans for all standard sized goats would you keep one mini that was difficult for you to milk?

I just feel like I need to step back, reevaluate and figure out what I'm doing. I'm the main care taker of the critters.....and 90% of the milking falls to me....my mom milks on occasion (currently she's out of town for the weekend)...

prairiedog · #2 03/04/11, 11:03 AM

I would sell her in milk

Oat Bucket Farm · #3 03/04/11, 12:23 PM

I would sell her in milk and use the money from her to get the LaMancha you want

LoneStrChic23 · #4 03/04/11, 03:09 PM

LOL Audra! Of course you would say anything that would make me get an earless wonder! lol

I will keep milking her for now until I come to a decision. Afterall it's going to feed Sam so its not like my efforts are wasted.

I just don't see the point in keeping her if it kills me to milk her, most especially since I've decided I don't want to breed minis....... Nothing against them, but after milking one I find I prefer a leggier doe with handles for teats, lol I saw some freakishly awesome mini manchas that I wouldn't mind having or milking, but alas, going that route would mean I have to scrap what I already have and go back to square 1....

Going to talk to my daughter about it tonight and see what she wants and will go from there....

PaulNKS · #5 03/04/11, 04:09 PM

I'd sell her in milk.

I don't milk or keep goats because it's fun. But, if you don't enjoy milking her, it will affect your attitude as it sounds like it may have already done. So, yes, I'd sell her in milk and get what you are comfortable with and what you will enjoy.

LoneStrChic23 · #6 03/04/11, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

I'd sell her in milk.

I don't milk or keep goats because it's fun. But, if you don't enjoy milking her, it will affect your attitude as it sounds like it may have already done. So, yes, I'd sell her in milk and get what you are comfortable with and what you will enjoy.

If it weren't physically a pain to milk her, it wouldn't be a problem......She has a great disposition and is such a love bug......And I talk to her and make sure each milking is as positive as possible. She went from a rodeo milker who cracked my finger in two places to acting almost like an old pro.....its just after I'm done milking I'm sore all over!

And in general I like milking...it's peaceful to me....just this week I went and helped a friend milk her 4 Nubian crosses and had a great time.....hands were a bit sore after simply because I need more milking time under my belt (and have old injuries in both hands that will always give me problems), but didn't feel near as bad as they do after doing the one finger/thumb milking on my mini.

If my daughter isn't up for letting her go, then we will have to pass on the la mancha and if anything just let Tootsie be a pet who raises her own babies until my daughter is a bit older and can milk her properly on her own....

PaulNKS · #7 03/04/11, 04:56 PM

Dang.. lol I should have explained myself better. I do enjoy the goats and the milking, but that isn't my reason for doing it. On my full-time homestead, everything pays its/her/his own way. The bottom line is everything...

I do find milking to be relaxing and peaceful. I enjoy going out and swooping up a kid and hold it sometimes. And.. there are times when I just sit and watch or chat with the goats cause we all know they understand. lol

But, my whole point was that if you don't enjoy milking her or fighting her, it's not worth it. There are other goats that will be a pleasure for you to milk and that will not fight you.

LoneStrChic23 · #8 03/04/11, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

Dang.. lol I should have explained myself better. I do enjoy the goats and the milking, but that isn't my reason for doing it. On my full-time homestead, everything pays its/her/his own way. The bottom line is everything...

I do find milking to be relaxing and peaceful. I enjoy going out and swooping up a kid and hold it sometimes. And.. there are times when I just sit and watch or chat with the goats cause we all know they understand. lol

But, my whole point was that if you don't enjoy milking her or fighting her, it's not worth it. There are other goats that will be a pleasure for you to milk and that will not fight you.

LOL Didn't mean to imply you hated milking your goats, hard to convey things when typing I suppose, lol

And she isn't a fighter on the milk stand anymore.....She raised her kids from December to February and then was put on the milk stand for the first time.....we butchered one kid, the other buck is out of sight, 50ft away and she's still pining for her babies. So the intial fight on the stand was expected...... I actually thought she'd fight longer, but she's been a real sweetie on the stand recently......

So it's more her size isn't comfortable for me vs. she's a bad goat...

And the paying her own way part is what I'm fighting with now......as sweet as she is, do I really want to pay the feed & upkeep on an animal that I can't comfortably milk & on an animal that doesn't fit into my future breeding plans?

Then I'm waring with myself on the selling part......my area is boers and nubians....Don't know how well I could market a mini alpine locally and part of me wonders if I'm up for dealing with potential buyers.......Sold a litter of puppies at the begining of the year and 2 weeks after advertising I was ready to strangle some people and change my email address, lol.