Postponing Milking

goat herder · #1 06/15/11, 10:15 AM

Hey Ya'll

I am currently in the process of getting an educational goat dairy going in MD. Teaching milking and cheese workshops with focus on educating youth. Primarily about local food production and knowing the animals that play such a large role in the production.

I milk (the one Saanen) at 6:30AM and 6:30 PM, my issue is that if groups were to come to milk or see the goat being milked it would be around 10-11AM. I feel that demonstrating milking is important but I think that 4 or so hours is excessive to postpone the milking.

I have considered milking at 6:30 and then again at 10AM with the group , so that they can see what a milking is like but they wouldn't see the usual amount that the goat can produce.

Any suggestions or advice regarding teaching youth about milking or postponing milking would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

LoneStrChic23 · #2 06/15/11, 10:28 AM

Why not the night before go milk her at 10-11pm?

Then she'll have 12 hours between milkings and she should be full by the time your group arrives?

goat herder · #3 06/15/11, 10:42 AM

Should I milk her at the regular time of 630pm the night before and then again at 10PM as to get the 12 hours? My main concern is causing her pain by postponing the milking.

Heritagefarm · #4 06/15/11, 10:56 AM

What if you simply had the classes earlier? I've been able to get away with 3 hours late, but never more that. Maybe if even that. I milk at 9 in the morning and 8 at night... I hate mornings.

madness · #5 06/15/11, 11:21 AM

Do you stay up late regularly? I've heard of people on swing or second shift milking on all hours of the morning. So you could switch all your milking to 10 AM and 10 PM. Or even 8 or 9 and then you wouldn't have to push back that far for the class.

I also read, I think in Dairy goat journal, that as long as you are consistent, the milkings don't need to be 12 hours apart. So you could try for 10 AM and 6:30 PM on a regular basis. I couldn't find the article with some quick googling, but maybe others have some advice on that.

eclipchic · #6 06/15/11, 11:52 AM

If it were me, I'd just add in the 10 am milking unless you want them to have a try at milking her.
Whenever we have people over to request that we demonstrate milking, thats what we do. I figure extra stimulation will do nothing more than encourage her production but our doe can get a bit cranky about a change in schedule.

suzyhomemaker09 · #7 06/15/11, 12:16 PM

I don't think that altering her schedule to fit in your classes are going to have a huge impact...our goats milk at around 8 am and again at 4:30 ish. I fits our schedule...the 12 hour in between time is ideal but doesn't always fit everyone's schedule.

**mygoat** · #8 06/15/11, 12:56 PM

I just milk when I get up and before I go to bed. Usually this is anywhere between 9-11 am and 9-11pm. They can stretch a few hours here and there. I only really try to milk on time during DHIR test days.

Milking EARLY isn't really a concern. To change milk times, just set it back an hour each milking. So, from 6:30 am, milk at 7:30pm. Then 8:30pm the next morning, and 9:30pm that night. The morning you do classes, milk at 10 or 11.

That's the slow way to do it. It would depend on the does wether I'd make it a 1 hr or a 2 hr transition at a time.

MDKatie · #9 06/15/11, 01:08 PM

I think that sounds great (having classes and such)! I live in MD too. Where are you located? I'm on the Shore.

Heritagefarm · #10 06/15/11, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygoat

I just milk when I get up and before I go to bed. Usually this is anywhere between 9-11 am and 9-11pm. They can stretch a few hours here and there. I only really try to milk on time during DHIR test days.

Oh, good, this makes me feel less lazy!

TroutRiver · #11 06/15/11, 01:37 PM

You could milk her at 10pm the night before, or just don't milk her completely dry when you milk at 6:30am the morning of the class, milk her about halfway (or less) so she's not in pain from being too full, then demonstrate milking her totally dry at 10am for the class. Then go back to your regular schedule of 6:30 and 6:30. I don't think that one day of switching things up will do any damage, as long as you aren't doing it on a regular basis.

goat herder · #12 06/15/11, 02:05 PM

Thanks for all the advice. I milk her at 6am so that I can milk her earlier in the evening rather than staying up later. I am in bed by 10 usually, due to the fact that my days are so long, so changing the milking times to really late wouldn't be the best, if it were long term.
I want the classes to be earlier but I have very little say in the actual scheduling of things.

About the milking her halfway, I had heard that not milking the doe completely can have negative consequences but I guess that is what the kids do all the time.

goat herder · #13 06/15/11, 02:07 PM

@MDKatie , I'm 30 minutes outside of Baltimore

beccachow · #14 06/15/11, 02:30 PM

goatherder, where at? I am in Woodstock (outside Ellicott City).

goat herder · #15 06/15/11, 04:59 PM

Reisterstown

beccachow · #16 06/15/11, 05:16 PM

We are NEIGHBORS!!!!!! Literally 15 minutes from each other! But I don't milk...my pygmy doe is so small I would have to use a babrbie doll's detached arm. Which Kara has a few of, by the way.

Blue Run Farm · #17 06/15/11, 07:51 PM

Goat herder and Beccachow, we are neighbors too! I live in northern Baltimore county and work in Owings Mills! I am about 20 minutes from Reisterstown

We did some milking demos at the ren fair a couple of years ago with a nubian and an alpine (now I just have the alpine and need another doe/doeling

) and I had to play with our schedule for that, so if you need help, maybe I could help you out too.

We dam raise our babies and milk only once in the morning, so what I did was separate the kids out later the night before a demo so we'd get a good 10-12 hours after their last nurse. Then do the demo and return to our normal schedule the next day. I guess if I was milking twice a day and didn't have kids on the doe, I'd probably put in an extra milking the night before (9 or 10pm for a 10am demo the next day).

I notice you have a Saanen, don't suppose you know of anyone with a doe or doeling for sale reasonably inexpensively? I am enamoured of Saanens and I am down to my one milker and her doeling so I'm worried about the logistics at kidding time next year. Envisioning lots of crying when I separate them for kidding out

Actually, I am worried about the doeling being alone overnight once her brother goes to freezer camp. But we are tight on money and don't show our goats, so I can't afford a ton of money. Hope you don't mind me highjacking your thread to ask, but I figured since we are so close, you might have something or know of someone that does. Small world!

goat herder · #18 06/19/11, 10:02 PM

We got our Saanen from Caprikorn Farms in Gapland, Maryland. She is very a friendly goat that needs attention and produces a bit less than a gallon a day. I would say check them out and see what they have going on over there.

Blue Run Farm · #19 06/20/11, 11:01 AM

Thanks goat herder! I just looked at their site, they have some really nice looking goats. I love the videos where the guy is explaining what you are looking at, very educational for me. Unfortunately, it seems that most of their goats are way out of my price range, but I think I am going to give them a call anyway. They are only an hour and a half from here according to yahoo...