Weaned Goats Stealing Milk

[DellaMyDarling]

I really cannot find any info on this anywhere.


When I got my 3 does, the yearling kept nursing off her mother who was already bred again.
Figured Mama would put a stop to it eventually. Not enough to keep her udder full, but the brat was definitely getting enough to swallow a few times. Mama would even stand on things to allow brat better access.
I tried taping her teats for a while. Thought it was over. Mama should freshen mid October. I don't have time to stand in pasture all day to see who's being mischievous.

Goat 3 was in milk, still is, plan to dry her off when Mama's kids are old enough to milk share. Supply has decreased, but probably at an acceptable rate.

Labor day weekend we added a buckling, nearly 6months old. He was well weaned and not housed with does anymore.
Goat 3 is letting him nurse!

(Kids kept telling me they watched it. We confirmed, after a significant milk drop over 3 days, by separating the two of them. Milk back to where it was before he arrived. First 2 days she'd refuse to let down on stand again, like when her kids were being weaned.)

Is Mama letting buckling nurse as well?


What the heck goats!
What do you do with such nonsense?!

 

[MiniSilkys]

One of my mama's let her 1 year old nurse even after having more kids. 1 year old was pregnant as well. It did not stop until the yearling went into kidding stall to give birth. Her mama finally dried up after separation from her yearlong and her other kids were sold.

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep, some will continue to let them nurse -- even coming BACK INTO milk from what we thought was dried. Separation is only answer I have found. The heavy dairy breeds tend to do this more, whereas the meat breeds less so.

I realize this is an older thread start but, it's that time of year when kids are arriving and weaning will be soon after....quite relevant if you WANT to milk "solo". LOL Here's a tip....first one to kid, milk some colostrum!!!! Freeze it. Because a yrling can steal it all and none for new kids. I always have some on hand. Even have some from last year right now....still good, just in case. OH, never thaw or heat in Microwave. Set it in some hot water for use. You can test the milk of the kidding doe....thick & sweet is colostrum.

 

[farmerjan]

Calves will do it too. We have a policy of once weaned, they are separated. Period. If we wean heifers and keep them as replacements, they will be kept separate until after they have calved with their own calf. No exceptions.

We have cows that will allow other calves to nurse, especially when their own calf is sucking. Had one cow at pasture that 3 on her, all 300 + lbs..... they nearly knocked her off her feet. We get calves that steal often. Great if the cow isn't milking as much as the calf wants/needs.... but the calves will be more likely to keep stealing.

You need separate pens/fields for the different ages until the young ones are milking and feeding their own babies. Due to where we calve our first calf heifers, they actually don't get to "rejoin" the older cows until their 2nd calf is on the ground. Then they are considered "mature" and we will move them around to whatever pasture we need numbers at. I like the 1st calf heifers separate from the cows so that they get a good chance for the hay, or in the spring, at the grass. Not having to compete with older cows, they can do a better job of milking and feeding the calf. Seldom have 1st calf heifers allow a calf to steal, although I do have one this year that allows an orphan calf that I had on a bottle, to suck with her own calf. Neither have done great, but she has done okay with them, considering.

 

[momto6Ls]

The solution we have found is labor intensive. When we started with dairy goats our mentor told us never to let the kids figure out where meals come from! We always bottle fed the kids. It wasn’t until year 3 or 4 that me son said “let’s leave the kids on and still milk twice a day.” The teenagers liked that much better, until weaning time, of course. Then we got to listen to kids cry because they had to be separated. You also have to wait longer to start selling milk when everybody is on mom. It’sa trade off, no matter what you do. This year we left some to dam raise and bottle fed others. We knew the dam raised were to be sold. That makes it easier.

I have NEVER seen an outsider nurse on one of our does, like the buckling you bought. My does would not put up with that. I have only seen one of our does let others nurse on her - we had all triplets that year and the extras she let nurse were grand kids that looked just like hers. I think she just figured it was too much work to keep track of which ones were hers.