amount of milk??? re-breeding??

1sttimemom · #1 05/21/12, 06:51 PM

So our little togg girl is feeding her single doe kid and we are milking once daily. I'm only getting about 1 pint. The kid is fat as a tick and we don't seperate her at night or before milking due to work schedules. Will the milk volume increase? Or will we have to take the kid off her or??

Also, when do you re-breed does to keep milk production? We are not looking to max the number of kids.

Cliff · #2 05/21/12, 06:54 PM

How old is the kid? The milk amount you get will decrease as she grows

How will you bottle feed a kid if you don't even have time to go out and separate her at night now?

Pony · #3 05/21/12, 08:03 PM

When we milk, we separate doe and kid overnight. In the morning, the kid gets a bottle of cow milk, we milk the doe, then we turn them out together.

We get more milk, the kid gets fed, and everyone is happy. Well, WE are happy. The kid tolerates it, and the doe doesn't seem to mind.

steff bugielski · #4 05/22/12, 05:44 AM

I separate them at 2 weeks old but do not give a bottle. I leave a bit of milk in mamma for a day or two. Then I milk her dry. The kids have hay and grain 24/7 and they very soon pick up on the idea that they need to eat something in the am.
But I always have a few kids together. Not sure if I would remove only one kid.

southerngurl · #5 05/22/12, 07:47 AM

Yea. The kid will eventually eat all the milk. How many freshenings has the doe had? If this is at least her second freshening, you can see if she will milk through and skip breeding her one year (not that you can't do this with an ff of course, but you won't get as much milk and the teats won't get bigger the next year as they would if freshened again).

mabeane · #6 05/22/12, 08:14 AM

I milk in the morning as I separate the kids at night( form age two weeks on). I totally milk out and never give the kid a bottle in the AM. I sometimes milk at night if the mama looks full. This is an ND FF and she is giving me 2# (a quart) each morning and about 8 oz at night. The kid that I'm not selling is fat and healthy.

1sttimemom · #7 05/22/12, 07:18 PM

I wasn't sure I wanted to bottle feed a newborn. Seems like they would need real frequent feedings. I work crazy hours sometimes and am the only one here currently who knows how to milk. I don't think it's a good idea to leave momma goat without a regular schedule milking and no baby. Having nursed to people kids myself I know that being overly full is painful. I can seperate baby once it's old enough to have an overnight without feeding. Baby got is currently just a few days old.

This is a FF doe so I have no idea what she will do. I haven't milked a goat in well over 20 yrs, but it's like riding a bike and I never lost the touch!