do you ever milk doe before kidding?

freedomfrom4 · #1 03/10/11, 04:18 PM

Another first timer has 4 year old 3rd freshning doe due to kid any day. He says her udder is huge and was wondering about milking a little off to relieve her pressure. If done then don't you save that for the kids? And how much needs to be saved for that purpose?

kasilofhome · #2 03/11/11, 12:53 AM

Yes, I am new to goat. The second doe to give birth here had bagged up to the point that when she would lie down she shot milk --she was so uncomfortable it was plain to see to a blind person. I had to she was a FF and I milked her and collected 2 cups from each teat for about 10 days before she kidded. I froze it to use for the baby to come. She is my best milker.
3 years later a doe (first goat herd queen- not the same goat mentioned above) I debated and debated. in the end I did not pre milk her ahead of birthing. When she did kid her udder was as hard as a rock and she had matisis. My mistake I feel.
She is fine now but I guess that there are times when it is helpfull.

pookshollow · #3 03/11/11, 10:32 AM

Yes, he should milk her to relieve the pressure - that's painful for a goat! And he shouldn't need to save the milk, she'll produce colostrum when the kids arrive.

mekasmom · #4 03/11/11, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedomfrom4

Another first timer has 4 year old 3rd freshning doe due to kid any day. He says her udder is huge and was wondering about milking a little off to relieve her pressure. If done then don't you save that for the kids? And how much needs to be saved for that purpose?

They say that increases the risk of mastitis due to loosing the protective plug in the nipple? I don't know if that is true, but have been told not to do it by a few people. If you do milk her, then you don't have to worry about having enough for the kid. She will make more.

saanengirl · #5 03/11/11, 11:05 AM

No, he should not milk her unless it is absolutely necessary. If you milk her before she kids, you compromise the colostrum. Since she is due to kid any day, she would end up with second-day colostrum instead of first day colostrum. If he needs to milk her out, he should save the colostrum for the kids.

First timers are not the best judges of a doe carrying too much milk/colostrum. I often have people who are new to goats or have no goat experience think that my does are really full of milk when they have just been milked out! and these are does that milk out fairly well, but have decent sized udders.

victory · #6 03/11/11, 11:06 AM

I had the same issue with my ff Zydeco last year. Looked like she would pop, but I always read not to milk before kidding, hmm. This year I plan on milking her before she kids, if it becomes a problem. So far so good, but she still has 4 weeks to go!

kasilofhome · #7 03/11/11, 11:56 PM

I am really glad that all responded to this because I want to learn something on this subject.

Princess. She is my heavy milker (so is her daughter Isabel not Jesabel though) She is the one that as a FF she was more than leaking. I checked sites and went ahead and did premilk her.

Now what I want to know is I saved the milk -I froze it in bottles. When she had her twins we were there and we had time to warm up the first milk it was not thick but it was yellow we gave each of the babies the bottled milk and Princess nursed them too. Out of wonder I did milk andcheck to see if it was any thicker than what I had collected for the past 10 days it was not at birth but a few hours later it was thick. Later I wondered if I just imagined that it was thicker. How does it work?

Alice In TX/MO · #8 03/12/11, 07:10 AM

The goat's hormones trigger the production of colostrum.

motdaugrnds · #9 03/12/11, 09:10 AM

I have "not" pre-milked as yet; but I would not hesitate to do so if I see one of my does' udder in the shape described above. I would do so in the same way I do when the kids are born, i.e. squirt a little out to remove the plug, then squirt just enough for her relief into a soda bottle for the kids. The one thing I would do that I do "not" do when kids arrive is, in any pre-milking, I would "close" that teat with some Fight-Bac after milking.

coso · #10 03/12/11, 10:27 AM

I have always wondered about this. I have never pre-milked but thought about it. This article says that ewes start building colostrum about 14 days before parturition. http://www.volac.com/agriculture/car...rum-management . That would mean to me the closer to birth they were the better the colostrum would be. I would assume goats would be about the same. Here is another good article to read on colostrum. http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/colostrum.html