Q. about milking out doe with no kid

astrocow · #1 05/19/05, 05:44 PM

We just bought a young doe yesterday, 11 months old whose kid died soon after birth. I've milked her but it's a slow process as I'm not good at it. I got about 2 cups at night (colostrum) and the next day at noon got about 1/2 cup then a cup more at dinner time. I just want to know if I'm taking enough so she doesn't suffer discomfort or mastitis.
Her udder isn't huge, if I cup both my hands together that would be the size.
I'm aware she was bred too young. That wasn't my doing. Anyway since she's young, small and a boer crossed with an alpine just how much should I be getting from her each day? She's currently being grass fed. I don't want to dry her off but would like to keep her milk after the colostrum production is over. When will her milk be okay for human consumption? Can I get it to increase if I fed her grain? We have another goat that is in milk that we bought along with her.
Thanks
Leigh

Helena · #2 05/20/05, 07:50 AM

You could do a couple of things perhaps. You could dry her up and let her have another year to "heal" and grow. You can do this by milking her once a day for a few days..then every other day..and so on until she isn't milking anymore. Or you can give her extra grain and milk her twice a day and hopefully she will milk well for you. Being she just kidded her milk may not have come in much yet and within a few days she'll milk more for you and easier too. Being from boar cross..do they really give much milk anyways ?? Since you do have the other milking goat I probably wouldn't go through the hassle of trying to get her up to milking. That's up to you. I also have a young doe that lost her first kid. Not milking great..but since I lost one of my does that kidded with triplets I am gratefull for any amount of milk I can get from her to help with the feedings. Kindness and patience will go a long way in winning her affection towards you. She is just likely to become one of your..great milkers..in time !!!

astrocow · #3 05/20/05, 11:43 AM

Thank you. I was just concerned that I wasn't taking enough at first because I stop before she runs out of milk. I milk her until her udder doesn't feel so tight. She is very freindly. I just walk up to her in her pen and start milking. She is even careful not to put her feet in the bowl. I feel very lucky to have found these two goats.
Leigh

Patt · #4 05/20/05, 12:54 PM

Milk is a matter of supply and demand to a certain degree. If you want her milk to increase you have to strip her out every time you milk. Otherwise her body produces less because there is less demand. Goats can only produce as much as their genetics allow for so there is a cap on her possible production of course.

All that said I would dry her up this year and try again next year if she was mine.

Patt

astrocow · #5 05/23/05, 06:42 PM

That's what I'll do. I will let the young one dry off and milk the older doe, her teats are a lot longer and her udder a lot larger.

I have a few questions about their feed. As of yet I have not had any luck locating a supplier of Purina goat pellets. On hand I have beet pulp pellets, rolled mixed grain, so so quality hay and loose sheep mineral as well as a salt block with no mineral. I take the goats out of their pen to graze differant parts of the yard for a couple of hours each day. Each day in their pen I give them a leaf of hay, and each animal gets 2 cups mixed grain, one cup beet pulp pellets and they have free access to the salt block and the loose mineral. I've never had goats before and they all look too skinny to me but all the other goats I've looked at owned by other folks were too thin in my eyes too so it could be just me. Is there any thing wrong with what I'm feeding them? Should I adjust the amounts? They've all been wormed.
Thanks for the advice
Leigh