How do you milk around a nursing kid?

[Cuttlefishherder]

My question is how do you milk a doe while she is nursing a kid? How does the kid get milk with out us having to bottle feed it?

Silly question I know, but these are things that haven't been specifically answered for me, we are in tough financial times, so I dont have money for books yet. All of my research has been online and I just haven't found these answers yet. If any one could help I would really appreciate it!!!

 

[Livinwright Farm]

You can milk the doe in the morning, and then let the kid/kids have her at night. Best way to do this is to seperate the kids into a stall/pen right next to her(so she can see them but not get to them, or them to her) at night... so come morning there is plenty of milk for you. Once you are done milking let the doe out to browse/graze and then let her baby/babies out to be with her.

 

[freemotion]

I've done the opposite, take the kids away at night, milk first thing in the morning, then let her have the kids all day. I prefer this because then the kids can learn to graze in the pasture with the adults and get more socialized.

They should be at least two weeks old before doing this and eating hay/pasture/browse well so they can last the hours without milk. I tend to wait until 3 weeks old just because I am a worrier.

You can find more on this on www.fiascofarm.com.

I do it a bit gradually, since I have to work late I get up a bit late some mornings so I'll have energy to do good work late in the day. So I start out by snatching up kids around midnight and putting them in a stall overnight, and gradually snatch them up earlier and earlier. At first there is a lot of crying. Not just the goats, either.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

I've done the opposite, take the kids away at night, milk first thing in the morning, then let her have the kids all day. I prefer this because then the kids can learn to graze in the pasture with the adults and get more socialized.

They should be at least two weeks old before doing this and eating hay/pasture/browse well so they can last the hours without milk. I tend to wait until 3 weeks old just because I am a worrier.

You can find more on this on www.fiascofarm.com.

I do it a bit gradually, since I have to work late I get up a bit late some mornings so I'll have energy to do good work late in the day. So I start out by snatching up kids around midnight and putting them in a stall overnight, and gradually snatch them up earlier and earlier. At first there is a lot of crying. Not just the goats, either.

I am curious how this is opposite to what I mentioned...?
OOPS! I just realized that I said and let the kids have her at night... that was a typo! I meant through the day until night, then seperate the kids from her overnight so you can milk in the morning.

 

[savingdogs]

I read this question differently when I saw the title...I was going to say, how do you milk around a nursing kid? You put it somewhere else while you are milking!

I planned on separating them at night, but didn't have the right barn facilities. So the kids remained with the does full time. Here is how it went for me with my two does.

Molly: Had one large buckling. I was able to milk her from day one and got about two cups a day, milking once a day. When the buckling was sold at age 3 months, her production went up to one gallon a day, in two milkings. I cannot milk once a day, she would be just too full.

Ginger: Had two small kids. I practiced milking only, as she would only have about a half a cup for the first three months, and I milked her once a day. I sold one kid and kept the doeling. When the buckling left, her production also went up to one gallon a day, in two milkings. I think she is weaning her doeling. I had planned on milking just once a day but they are just too darn full at this point, it would be mean. They are so full they cannot possibly be milked once a day at this point. Everyone said I could milk just once a day so perhaps this is my inexperience, but at this point I'm really wanting all that milk so it isn't a hardship. I like milking.

 

[Chirpy]

I do it the way freemotion does it (and livinwright farm although she says it funny )...

At 3 weeks old I separate the kids at night. They are in a stall that's actually around the corner in the barn so my does cannot see them.... because that's the safest and warmest place for them. In the morning I milk momma and then put her and the kids together for the rest of the day. It's amazing how quickly the kids learn to get that last 'meal' in before they are separated at night.

And yes, they do cry. It really helps if you have more than one kid so they can keep each other company. When I've had a single kid I put another adult goat in the pen right next to them so they can see another goat at night. I don't put momma there as they tend to try really hard to get through the fencing to their babies. They seem to do better just hearing, not seeing, their kids (at least here).

 

[Georgiamainers]

At six weeks I am separating mom and kid at night and letting him back with mom after early milking. Then I separate him again around 1m to get her evening milk at 6:30ish. I get another quart that way. I let them stay together for a couple hours before we put the kids together in a stall for the nigh. We have six children and our baby is on goats milk so we're going through a lot of milk!!

Hoping this will gradually wean him. She doesn't let him nurse very long. He's a big boy and big baby!!

 

[Georgiamainers]

It's amazing how quickly the kids learn to get that last 'meal' in before they are separated at night.

So true! Our babies go nuts trying to get their last nursing session in when they hear us coming before bedtime. smart.

 

[Cuttlefishherder]

Okay, thanks, I have been all over fiasco farms and their site, I think I misinterpreted some of the text, we would like to get a good amount of milk a day, but since this is the does first kid we will have to wait and see whats going to happen!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Does anyone who milks and dam raises have any issue with the doe letting down? I'm curious how you'd prevent the kids from getting an enormous meal after being separated overnight because the dam didn't milk out completely.