Milking questions

[that's*satyrical]

We use unscented baby wipe(s) before & fiasco teat dip after (or bag balm) depending on if the udder seems dry or not. The fiasco teat dip tends to be drying over time because it's got a little bleach in it.

 

[vegaburm]

I use the used wipes from hoegger's before because they are all ready and convenient. I spray the teats after cause my girls kept freaking out and making a mess if I tried to dip them. I have the chlorahexadine spray, but most of the time I use a mixture from fir meadow. it is essential oils mixed with water. I keep it in a spray bottle and spray the teats until they are dripping after. Then leave to dry. My girls usually go eat their hay after milking so they aren't laying in any gross stuff straightaway.

another great product I can plug is fir meadow's mammar ease salve. it is wonderful if an udder is feeling congested or anything. solve some really annoying problems I had with one doe.

 

[craftymama86]

I hope to see more on this thread as our Nubian is due to kid next month as well!

I'd like to add a question to this thread. When should one start milking?

Actually, one more, hehe. Is there any way to milk and not have to bottle feed the kid? Like milk some but leave enough for the kid as well?

I've never milked any goat but now have this Nubian about to kid next month so I too need to learn a good bit before then, lol.

 

[Bedste]

I hope to see more on this thread as our Nubian is due to kid next month as well!

I'd like to add a question to this thread. When should one start milking?

Actually, one more, hehe. Is there any way to milk and not have to bottle feed the kid? Like milk some but leave enough for the kid as well?

I've never milked any goat but now have this Nubian about to kid next month so I too need to learn a good bit before then, lol.

I will be anxious to anxious to read all the experts comments. I have only had goats for two years. This is what I "think" I know.

I pull the kids immediately and dry them off and put them in a warm place... then I take the doe up on the milking stand and I wash her off with warm soapy water. After rinsing and drying with a clean towel I milk her out. I give this to the kids within the first hour. I use clean empty 16-20 oz coke bottles with pritchered nipples . They are yellow and red and you can get them from TSC or order on line.
I keep whatever milk they do not drink in fridge in the bottles and I warm them up by setting them in hot water. never microwave...
Then I milk again in 10-12 hours. All of this milk is full of colostrum. The second or third milking I put in empty clean bottles and date them and FREEZE them. (for next year)

For two full weeks the milk has some colostrum in it. This makes the milk taste funny and it is very good for the kids... they NEED it especially in the first few hours of life. If you continue to milk her out completely every 12 hours for two weeks, you will have MORE milk than the kids can drink. I feed the kids 5 times a day for 3 days ..... then 3 times a day for 2 weeks.... then twice a day..til 10 weeks old.
at first they barely drink an ounce each feeding, and by the time you get them to twice a day , they are drinking 20 oz each.

After 2 weeks, we can drink the milk. By continuing to milk her out twice a day..and feeding her lactation pellets and alfalfa pellets .. she is producing more and more milk each day.... My doe produces almost 1/2 gallon each milking. After the kids are 4 weeks old... I get whole vit D milk from the grocery store and warm it up in bottles and feed to them and we humans keep the goat milk. Cow milk is fine for them from the store. At 4 weeks we also have fresh water and medicated goat kid pellets and the kids have started nibbling. At 10 weeks old we will stop bottle feeding all together. Might let them have one bottle each morning for a week.... and have them off by 11 weeks .

This is NOT perfect but this is what I do and it works for me. Hope it helps.

It has been my experience that if I pull the kids and keep them separated from their mother and simply bottle feed, that after a week they are fine seeing their mum and she is content knowing they are fine... and no one has any issues. After 2 weeks old I started letting them all graze together and the kids never tried to nurse and mom never offered. Peaceful.

I have heard that sometimes the kids can damage the teets when nursing and that also the doe only produces what the kids need and their need starts declining.... so if you want milk you need to start milking as soon as she gives birth.

 

[Bedste]

Some people let the doe sleep with her kids..... and spend the morning together, separate them at noon and milk the doe 6 hours later and put them back together for the evening. I am sure that they do not always damage the teats making it difficult to milk.... everyone does things different and you have to find out what works for you. and your family

 

[nomad]

I hope to see more on this thread as our Nubian is due to kid next month as well!

I'd like to add a question to this thread. When should one start milking?

Actually, one more, hehe. Is there any way to milk and not have to bottle feed the kid? Like milk some but leave enough for the kid as well?

I've never milked any goat but now have this Nubian about to kid next month so I too need to learn a good bit before then, lol.

I start milking one week after the doe has kidded. If the kid is a single or very large, I will begin earlier. I make this judgement call with every goat, every kidding. I only milk once a day, in the mornings. I allow the kids on the doe the rest of the day. I separate the kids into the kid pen for the night.

In the mornings I 'pull' the doe from the public pen into the milk parlor, brush her coat, and wipe her udder with simple warm water and castle soap. First squirts into strip cup, then begin hand milking rest into milking bucket. If I am measuring the amount, then I will milk into a glass jar and then pour milk into milk bucket. I then put doe into public pen and rejoin the doe to her kids from the kid pen. I do not grain my does. So, I needed to train my does to stand still on the milk stand until I was done milking.

For the first week of milking I do not completely milk the doe out. Again, a judgement call as to the amount of milk 'unmilked'. This helps train her to retain some milk for the kids. After a week, I completely milk the doe because she is now trained to longer drop all of her milk while I am milking.

I have never noticed an off taste to the milk when starting after a week. My research has shown colostrum sharply drops off the third day.

There are recipes to make colostrum pudding. http://icecook.blogspot.com/2006/08/colostrum-pudding-broddur-brystir.html

I hope I've answered your question

 

[Mamaboid]

Probably the most common practice is to remove the kids overnight, milk the doe in the morning and let the kids back with her for the day. Most of the people that I know that practice this wait until the kids are at least 2 weeks old to start it. This is what I intend to do with our Nubian that is due to kid May 17. With the doe that had kids January 29, she is a Fainter, and I wasn't able to start milking her anyway and she had triplets, so we are going to move the little buck out this week, and start isolating her at night, and I am going to start milking her in the mornings.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Probably the most common practice is to remove the kids overnight, milk the doe in the morning and let the kids back with her for the day. Most of the people that I know that practice this wait until the kids are at least 2 weeks old to start it. This is what I intend to do with our Nubian that is due to kid May 17. With the doe that had kids January 29, she is a Fainter, and I wasn't able to start milking her anyway and she had triplets, so we are going to move the little buck out this week, and start isolating her at night, and I am going to start milking her in the mornings.

We do this too. Also no teat dip afterwards when we do it this way. The babies come out right away & try to nurse & they don't like the taste & it's probably not good for them. Obviously teats don't get dipped after babies nurse so I'm assuming there is something natural in the babies' saliva that kills anything there that might cause mastitis.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Just want to add if you do this & your milk production drops a little you can let the kids spend the night with mom & the milk production will go up the next night when you seperate them again.

 

[craftymama86]

Probably the most common practice is to remove the kids overnight, milk the doe in the morning and let the kids back with her for the day. Most of the people that I know that practice this wait until the kids are at least 2 weeks old to start it. This is what I intend to do with our Nubian that is due to kid May 17. With the doe that had kids January 29, she is a Fainter, and I wasn't able to start milking her anyway and she had triplets, so we are going to move the little buck out this week, and start isolating her at night, and I am going to start milking her in the mornings.

Oh my gosh! May 17th is when our girl is due! How about that, lol.