uh oh...need advice

Linsay2231 · #1 06/16/11, 12:24 PM

My Alpine/Nubian mix doe (3 yrs old, 2nd freshening in April) has gone from 1/2 gallon at each milking (2x a day) to 1/10 gallon at each milking!!! When I bought her I was told she was never milked her first freshening, just fed the baby and dried off...so is this what her body thinks it should be doing?? Drying off already?! Nothing has changed and my other doe is still giving the same amount of milk. They get pasture and loose minerals all day, free choice alfalfa pellets when they are in the barn evening and at night, and grain when they are on the stand. I worm them regularly, and they always have fresh water. HELP, I have cheese, cajita, and yogurt to make, haha!

Rechellef · #2 06/16/11, 12:30 PM

Is her kid on her? I keep my kids on the moms and when they go through growth spurts I sometimes get little to no milk and other days I am swimming in it. What I do to save some of the milk for myself is tape one teat and let the kid have the other and then we both win (I have no place to separate at night right now). If the kids are separated, goats decline and increase products based on everything from weather to mood changes. You might want to try milking her three times a day to get her production back up and keep her from trying to dry out on you, try the teat tape method (works wonders for me) if there is a kid on her, or slowing try increasing her stachion grain which will slowly help her production.

houndlover · #3 06/16/11, 01:10 PM

Are you positive of her breeding? Could she have boer in her? Like a beef breed of cattle, boers don't milk through, they begin to dry up about the time their babies are weaning age.

Linsay2231 · #4 06/16/11, 01:21 PM

I got her from a friend who owns both parents (who are registered) so I am sure of her breeding. She was giving me a gallon a day until just a few days ago. Her babies were sold off as 4-h babies when they were only a few days old, so no, they aren't on her still. What is the teat tape method? Thanks.

Rechellef · #5 06/16/11, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linsay2231

I got her from a friend who owns both parents (who are registered) so I am sure of her breeding. She was giving me a gallon a day until just a few days ago. Her babies were sold off as 4-h babies when they were only a few days old, so no, they aren't on her still. What is the teat tape method? Thanks.

Taping only works if she has kids on her. I would milk her three times a day which will eventually force her production up. A little extra grain might help too, but not too much too soon.

chewie · #6 06/16/11, 02:06 PM

what type of hay does she get? in this last week, I ran out of good alf hay, and had to give them some grass hay, some oolllddd hay, and they went way down. i got them a bag of alf pellets to go with the decent grass hay i did have, and it was better. now, last night, I finally got a beautiful round bale of alf., and I'd bet money that my milk pail will be filled again!

grandmajo · #7 06/17/11, 06:18 AM

Is she otherwise acting normal as in still eating her feed and drinking? When a doe is drying up here, she never goes from full production down to almost nothing in just a matter of days like yours did. It makes me think of milk fever, but they normally aren't acting right when that hits. I think that you right in being concerned. Take her temp and consider sending in a milk sample for testing too.

mekasmom · #8 06/17/11, 06:57 AM

I would be checking for mastitis too. Just use a test paper for a quick test. You only need to know if there is some bacteria there. In mastitis production can go down even before the udder itself gets so infected it becomes hard or inflamed.
A couple more suggestions would be to watch her to make sure nothing is eating off her and that she isn't self nursing. (I know someone who had a limber doe that did that). She also needs to have grain everyday, be in good shape, etc. My first thought would be mastitis though.

TroutRiver · #9 06/17/11, 07:14 AM

How long have you had her? If you just got her, a sudden adjustment to feed type (hay, grain or pasture/browse) could have caused stress that has made her start to dry up. What has she been wormed with? We had a nubian last summer who dried up about a week after we brought her home, due to parasite infection. Even though she had been wormed regularly at the farm she came from, it must have been the wrong kind of wormer, or the wrong dosage, or maybe the woman from the other farm had used the same thing to worm all the time and the parasites had become resistant to it. This goat looked perfectly healthy otherwise, wasn't thin, had a nice looking coat, but was completely infested with parasites and totally dried off in a few days.

Linsay2231 · #10 06/17/11, 05:13 PM

She gets timothy hay at night, along with alfalfa pellets. She browses all day, gets a few sups of grain at each milking. She is acting, eating, and drinking normally. Nothing has changed lately and I have had her about 4 months now. Where do I get a paper mastitis test? The milk still tastes fine and I have not noticed nor could I find when I looked any lumps or warmness, she is not acting ill or uncomfortable...uugh.

mekasmom · #11 06/17/11, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linsay2231

Where do I get a paper mastitis test? The milk still tastes fine and I have not noticed nor could I find when I looked any lumps or warmness, she is not acting ill or uncomfortable...uugh.

You can order whole pads of them, but my vet will just give me a few at a time to have here. Of course you would need to have a good relationship with your vet for that. Perhaps you could buy some from a local vet if you don't have one to give them to you.