Hi everyone. I've milked goats before, but these are my first Nigerian Dwarfs. Since our goat lady moved, and 3 of my family can't have cow milk, I got the only goat in milk available. I also bought a doeling (that should be bred) from good milking lines, but the one in milk is 2 monthes into her 3rd freshening. I've had them 4 days, but the doe I'm milking only produced 1.5 pints the first night, and allready I'm down to barely 1 cup a day.
I'm allready giving alfalfa and prarie hay, adding kelp and oats to her food, and she's got lots of water. Now, she's not really from milking lines, but I had expected a little better than this. I'm milking every 8 hours, trying to keep up and increase production, but not much luck. I milk her totally dry, with loads of stopping to massage udders just to get the little I'm getting. I really need her to stay in milk, and if possible increase it very slightly. Any thoughts on the production I'm getting, and how to up it? I don't expect a load, but less than 3 cups a day??? (The good news is she's produced quads 2x now)
I guess I was spoiled by the fact that I used to get 5 qts a day from the saanans, but here in town we can only have 2 nigerian dwarfs.
I've really enjoyed this site for the last few weeks.
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I am a little late on this discussion but when I decided to breed for Sept. kiddings someone told that having a winter milking program produces less milk.Here is what I have noticed with my 2 does.Everytime they come in heat the production drops very noticeably.And while nigerians can be bred year round their heats are more pronounced during the typical breeding season.Last winter my does were FF.All winter the production was up and down.And not knowing their lactation cycle I kept think "oh ,their done now".But I kept milking just see their cycle.I finally dried them off 2 months before next kidding (so about end of June).At that time they were still producing well if not even a little more than in depths of winter.I also feel that going into the short days of winter they will drop a bit in production.And even though I keep them in a dry pen and control what feed they get year round I feel they are also tuned to cycles of the seasons.That in spring when all is coming alive and when they likely would be kidding in the "wild"that the milk production would be higher.
Both my does came from pretty good producing moms but their production seems pretty average at about 1 qt/day on their 2nd freshening.I am watching to see how lactation cycle is this season.Stay with it and good luck.
Me too! LOL Actually, I've gone to milking 2x a day now, and she's slowing continuing to increase supply. I'm getting 3.25 cups in 2 milkings instead of 3 cups in 3, so even better for me. Now that she's letting down better, I'm anxious to try out the new vac. milker to save my arthritus ridden hands. I'm glad I didn't give up too soon. I was thinking I was just out of luck on this boat, a week ago.
A little thing that helped for me some times was to let Capri out for a bit, then back to the milk stand complete with back scratch, then add the feeder and milk. She was holding her milk back or I just wasn't getting the right position but noticed it was all better one morning when she didn't want to get on the stand and I wasn't going to push it. When I went out to open the chickens' door, she followed me, munched on leaves along the way, went back in and got right on the milk stand. I scratched her back a bit and put her fresh grain in the feeder and proceeded to milk. It added extra time to the milking routine but it also added extra milk to the pail. I wondered if it was psychological thing in showing her it wasn't the milk that mattered but her. So, I incorporated the idea in less than ideal mornings; there were some times she was being a bit difficult and I just stopped and went to let out the chickens and she was the perfect little girl when I came back a few minutes later. Not sure who was the patient here, her or me, but on difficult days it seemed that if the milking became secondary, she cooperated better and more milk. It never ceases to amaze me how far a little back scratching can go, a close second to grain.
Here's my .02
Last year while Penny was in milk, after the kids were sold we tried to transition to leaving her out in the electric pen overnight instead of putting her in the barn. Boy was she unhappy about that! She went from 1 quart per milking to less than half that overnight. After maybe 2 days I realized that if I wanted milk, I'd better put her back in her stall like she wanted. She did bounce back, even got back up to the 2 quarts a day for a bit and then 1.5 a day for awhile after that.
Just to point out that if something environmental (in your case, the move), upsets them, if you stick with it until they settle down and get happy again, they can come back with pretty good milk.
In Penny's case I believe she was scared, she had not been out overnight for over a year when I left her out that time and when I got down there in the morning the poor girls were hiding in the corner of the pen absolutely wide eyed and terrified looking. I doubt anything actually came sniffing around them the first night they were out, but they felt exposed & they feel safe in the barn.
Wonder if anything is scaring your new doe? Like, you have dogs and the previous place didn't? Just ideas.
I'm really glad things are improving somewhat for you. I hope that continues! :)
Well, lots of interesting thoughts here. I've never milked a cow, only goats. I'm having no trouble getting all the milk (not my first new-type milker) with loads of massage, and much time. I'm very insistant on stripping down to the last drop, in order to force greater production.
I'd like to report that I've kept it up, mostly due to someone suggesting she may rebound after 10-14 days. THANK YOU for that comment, for it gave me hope. Happily, Ava is up to 1 cup per milking (I milk every 8 hours) and it seems to be slowly increasing. I'm very happy its improving. 3 cups a day is enough for our family purposes, and if she keeps improving, I'm looking forward to the arrival of my milk seperator, so we can enjoy butter and cheeses we like as well. Hopefully the new doeling also hold out with her pregnancy, so I'll have two does in milk for a while, to get cheeses made and aging. (we love hard cheese especially)
Thanks for such a great forum.
Don't forget she doesn't have to be dry the whole time she's pregnant either! I'd keep milking, breed her after a few more months, milk her until she's about a month out from kidding, and then see how things go for a new freshening!
Please understand I am still very new to this but wanted to share with you. This is the first time I have had goats. The first thing is that it is nothing like milking cows (or larger goats I suspect). It has been very difficult (nearly impossible in the beginning) to get mine milked out since her teats are so small. The most I ever got was 1-7/8 cup at a milking and averaged 1-1/2 cup a day (only milked once a day). However, after baby quit nursing, two months ago, I often got more per milking after having gotten barely a cup a day (plus 1/4 or so in the evening for my cat). I purchase ND milk from another person with whom, last week, I discussed the actual milking. Her prime doe also has extremely small teats so understands what I have gone through. She said she does something which we are told *not* to do and I had been doing if I wanted any milk at all. That is reaching up directly above the teat onto the udder to milk. I'm not sure if what I (we) are doing is really milking from the udder but it is the only way for me to get milk. It's only a finger width but makes all the difference. Also, I do *not* put excessive pressure there but use that first finger to help cut off "backflow" if that is even a term. Her teats are about the same size of the last joint of my little finger so are *very* small. However, her milk is so rich and delicious it is worth the effort. I don't know if this is helpful or not and maybe it works for me because my second finger might be stronger; I just know it's what I have had to do. I have the unrealistic hope that with next year being her third freshening and her second milking season, that her teats will be more "milking friendly."
I would make more than a small bet that much of her reduction is due to stress of being moved and not being with her babies. Personally, I could not have imagined separating mine from her baby (had only one) that early. Even taking baby to the vet at two months was obviously a great stress on both of them to be separated. When I took them both in to the vet at two weeks, the vet said that based on baby's size/growth, that mom was producing at least a quart a day so I was disappointed at not even getting a pint when I started milking. I do believe that much of that was my lack of experience. She had triplets her first kidding so had to have been producing a lot then. I am looking forward to April when she is due to kid as I will be milking her earlier and will know what I am doing so expect to have much more milk from her. I had low milk volume for me but it was obvious that baby was well fed so I could only conclude that I simply was not getting her milked out or there would have been a difference in baby when I was taking what should have been half the milk. Hopefully, something I have said is helpful. Hang in there; without question, it is worth it.
I agree with Patty. Some goats get really stressed when moving to a new place, and sending her off to another new place now would just stress her even more. She could still bounce back up if you've only had her since Sunday. Also, a doe should be in prime physical condition when she's bred, and I haven't seen too many that are in great shape only two months after kidding. Personally I've never had a doe that I'd consider breeding until at least 4-5 months after kidding.
Also, I know you say you're emptying her out, but if she's your first ND, you may not be getting it all, so continuing to milk her would be beneficial for you too. From your description, it sounds like you're getting less each day, which usually means you're not getting her emptied completely. I had experience milking a cow before I got NDs, and my first doe's production dropped a lot initially, but after a week or ten days, it came back up quite a bit.
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