Milking Frequency

[margeaux]

Hi everyone! Thanks for answering my huge number of questions!

I just tried test taping yesterday to try to get my ND doe to give more milk. She gave a lot in my evening milking after being taped for about 6 hours. But then in the morning there was no milk at all after baby had he fill overnight! (there was probably some but momma said No! to any milking at all)

So if this keeps happening I won't end up getting any more milk since I just got milk in the evening instead of the morning as usual.

I'm wondering if I could tape her around 8 AM, milk at 2 PM, retape and then milk at 8 AM? That would be milking 6 and 18 hrs apart and baby would have overnight to drink. Is there a problem with doing this?

This morning when I couldn't milk I went ahead and taped her at 8 AM and she feels like she's got a good amount of milk in there. It's now 2 PM and I'm worried she'll get overfull if I wait till 8 tonight.

She has twins but one died at birth so she's only nursing a single now. So maybe she has more milk to give than if she'd just had a single?

Thanks as usual!!

 

[Alaskan]

The more she is milked, the more she will make.

It will be easiest if you can get rid of the kid and go to a regular milking schedule. Is that an option?

You could bottle feed the kid.

Remember too...that keeping her udder overly full will reduce her production.

 

[Fullhousefarm]

I missed the previous post but can try to help.
How old is the single baby?

We usually separate at night starting around 12-14 days and milk in the morning. Some does will have some milk at night with babies on them and some won't.

We've also separated (you could teat tape) older babies (8 week Nigerians, 10/12 week Lamanchas) all day too and only let them nurse in the hour after we milk twice a day while we are feeding and doing chores. Helps them adjust to being weaned and also keep bucklings from messing with the girls.

If you just want more milk and the baby isn't old enough to be close to weaning age I'd probably try adding a high quality hay overnight before she is milked. Maybe she already has access, and if that's the case it might be tough to increase your output while still having baby on her. But, I can tell a huge difference if my daughter "forgets" to give a pen of milkers their night time alfalfa/peanut hay.

 

[margeaux]

Thanks for the help.

The baby is 5 weeks.

I currently don't have a good way to separate them but I'm thinking of getting a new area fenced in to separate them at least during the day.

Today I tried milking at 2 and she was pretty full after only 6 hrs of no baby suckling so I'm worried she would get over full if left overnight without the baby. I'm home during the day so it is possible for me to milk around 2.

With no taping I was getting a cup or a bit more in the morning so unless she can't get milk during the day, the baby doesn't seem to nurse much at night. But it does seem like she'll nurse extra if she has time without nursing, enough to make it almost not worth it to separate or tape.

Unfortunately she's already getting the best hay I can find overnight.

But maybe I'll try separating them for at least part of the day once I get my new fence up.

Thanks!

 

[MikeLM]

I'm a little confused, but do you mean the kid will be on her part or all of the 18 hours? If the kid is on her some of that time I think you could get away with going that long.

 

[Southern by choice]

At 5 weeks the kid needs to nurse. You can however separate.
Most people that milk full time milk 2x a day 12 hours apart. So a 12 hour fill is normal and fine.
If you separate the kid overnight then you will have am milk. The kid will nurse throughout the day. You may not get much in the evening milking because the kid is still nursing.
I am not understanding why the 6 hr and 18 hr?
Once the kid is weaned then you will have am and pm milk.
Could you remind us of breed and what # kidding is this?

 

[Fullhousefarm]

How much milk are you getting after separating/teat taping at night?
If you're worried about 12 hours you can always separate for 8 for a day or two, then 10 hours, then 12.

Many times a doe who kids a single won't have as much milk as a doe with multiples- especially if you don't milk them out regularly the first few weeks even with a baby nursing. The milk supply adjusts to demand.