Drying doe off - final update

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I will miss the milk though. If I really dislike going back to drinking store milk, I may just keep a Nigerian milking through the winter next year. We will see. I don't mind milking once a day.

I'm with you there! I need one of my nigis to freshen ASAP! Found a local dairy that sells raw cow's milk - that's getting us by since I can't possibly buy the, ahem, "white-liquid-passing-for-milk" at the grocery store anymore. C'mon girls, hurry it up!

 

[ksalvagno]

Well, Millie is down to 6 cups. I will see if it is still 6 cups tomorrow. I did up her sage amount to 1.5 tablespoons and will see what that does. I'm not sure when to go to every couple days but we will see.

 

[ksalvagno]

I milked Millie on Monday and got just over 6 cups. Today I milked her and got just under 6 cups. So I have decided to go to every couple of days to milk her. I am staying at 1.5 tablespoons of sage.

One part of her udder is drying up faster than the other. I keep worrying about mastitis since they are drying up at different rates but I tasted the milk from the fuller half and it still tastes sweet and normal. No sage taste either. Plus her udder isn't hot or anything and there are no lumps in the milk.

 

[ksalvagno]

Milked Millie on Saturday and got 9 cups of milk. Milked Millie today (Tuesday) and got 8 cups of milk. Still getting 1.5 T of sage. Milk still tasting fine. So she is very slowly drying up.

 

[warthog]

Glad to hear the sage is working for you. Something to bear in mind should I ever have to do this.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i got over a pint from Nibbles today - she wasnt even trying... i was hoping for much LESS than a pint... i think i'm going to every 3rd day now.

 

[ksalvagno]

I milked Millie for the last time on January 3rd. There was a 3 week break between milkings and that seemed to finally do it. She just didn't want to dry up. The only thing I didn't do with her is insert stuff into her teat. Just scared me to death to mess with her teats that way since I don't know how to do it. I may have to learn how the next time I want to dry her off. Getting pregnant seemed to be the biggest thing to help drop her milk production but the sage and adding days in between milkings helped too, along with cutting out grain and grass hay (no alfalfa).

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I milked Millie for the last time on January 3rd. There was a 3 week break between milkings and that seemed to finally do it. She just didn't want to dry up. The only thing I didn't do with her is insert stuff into her teat. Just scared me to death to mess with her teats that way since I don't know how to do it. I may have to learn how the next time I want to dry her off. Getting pregnant seemed to be the biggest thing to help drop her milk production but the sage and adding days in between milkings helped too, along with cutting out grain and grass hay (no alfalfa).

What was recommended to insert in the teats? Unless it's a mastitis treatment, I've never heard of anything being recommended for drying off. I wouldn't do that though...too much risk of infection when it's not needed.

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for this journal, k! I am drying Mya up now, skipped milking her for the first time last night. (Why does that make me so sad? ) I plan on feeding some sage if things don't go well this year, but I am starting a bit earlier, so..... She is losing condition and needs to not be preggers and lactating. Thanks for the tips!

 

[helmstead]

I milked Millie for the last time on January 3rd. There was a 3 week break between milkings and that seemed to finally do it. She just didn't want to dry up. The only thing I didn't do with her is insert stuff into her teat. Just scared me to death to mess with her teats that way since I don't know how to do it. I may have to learn how the next time I want to dry her off. Getting pregnant seemed to be the biggest thing to help drop her milk production but the sage and adding days in between milkings helped too, along with cutting out grain and grass hay (no alfalfa).

What was recommended to insert in the teats? Unless it's a mastitis treatment, I've never heard of anything being recommended for drying off. I wouldn't do that though...too much risk of infection when it's not needed.

ToMorrow or QuarterMaster are highly recommended for drying off high production does to avoid mastitis...helps them dry off faster and protect that udder.