Hey guys...Penny's little buckling had yellow goop all over his heinie and his back legs this morning, stuck to him. Never had one look messy like that. He is two days old today. Does this mean something is wrong with him? I think the color is normal but the being stuck all over him, not sure?
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Sounds like it's going really well! Since the kids are with mom 24/7, they can nurse as much as they want. If she has extra, don't feel guilty taking it. We're doing that right now with Lizzie. She kept waking up her boys and pushing them back towards her udder, so I started milking her. Their little tummies were full, and they didn't seem all that happy about helping her out. At the moment, we're milking her out every morning. In the past, what usually happens is that around 2-3 weeks, the kids will suddenly start consuming a LOT more, and you won't be able to get much when you milk.
That sounds about right! It doesn't seem to look as if they are REALLY doing any eating, but what you are describing sounds like what they all do, and they probably are really eating more than you think. Which is not a whole lot but probably all they need! Having access to it is the most important thing. They will get it right!
I have seen them trying to eat hay with mama. Looked more like gumming to me. But I do see them "grazing" too. Not sure if they are really consuming anything yet. But they are imitating her.
Yep. As for the boys eating ... do they eat hay? They don't really need grain yet. Hay will get their rumen working.
Juliana Goodwin said:
That is my opinion!
As long as they are making a good amount of milk...
The kids look good and are not being separated yet!
I would test it out and keep milk records and watch the kids growth etc, just like you would watch their growth if you were not milking at all, of course.
So the consensus is that any quantity left sitting in either doe's udder, if she has not been seperated from the kids, I can milk it out and they will not be deprived? I do plan to seperate Annie from her boys sometime in the near future, they are about two weeks old now. But they really haven't started eating grain yet...probably because I have been feeding her on the milk stand next door and they aren't seeing her do it to learn to do it.
Wow! I can't imagine storing colostrum in quart or gallon containers! I know they're talking about calves in this article. It just made me giggle thinking about our tiny little Nigerians drinking 2 ounces at a time!
Glad you posted this though. Great reminder about the frost-free refrigerators. I need to remember and remind everyone in my family to always put colostrum in our deep freezer, which does NOT have an auto defrost function.
Sandra Hess said:
Juliana, Congrats on things going better and on her having so much milk! After you hear what the others say, as usual, you get to weight the info and decide what will work! I am no pro at all this, and I realize there are differences in animals and people, but when it comes to being a pro by personal experience! I am it!
I won't waste time her balancing each difference between myself and a goat, but I will point out a few facts about myself and you can do the comparisons. First of all, I gave birth to 7 children, all singles! I have nursed as long as 21 months on one so you go figure, I have probably at least 7-8 years experience! The nurses at the hospital could not believe the milk I was capable of producing! Amanda had to remain in the hospital for awhile and I fed her there and pumped til emptied several times every day! We did major stockpiling! I promise you that it is true that the more demand there is for milk the more will be made! And even if the breast/udder is emptied there will be plenty for baby (especially that single, but I believe for the twins also, as long as mom seems to be making plenty to start with).
Let me point out a couple of things that may help you understand what I mean! First, if you are not separating them at all, then they are not going to be terribly hungry at any particular point, right, because they are not just going to wait until they are real hungry to nurse. They are going to nurse, as we people call it "on demand". And yes that is how I nursed my babies! You make a lot more milk that way!
Next, you have to remember that although we may milk once or twice a day, even three times when trying to build up milk supplies sometimes, the milk does NOT just suddenly appear that many times a day! It IS constantly being made. Which means that if you empty the udder, there will be more back in there in a very short period of time!
Next on my list is this: When bottle feeding kids, how often are they fed throughout the day(24 hour day)? Not to mention over night? If they can go 6-8 hours or say 4 at least, when newborn, then it shouldn't be a problem for them to wait a while for more milk.
{I expect some of you to disagree and even have a fit, bring it on! I am a big girl and I can handle it! Not being a smartass here, just saying you won't hurt my feelings or change my mind! (Everyone has their opinion.)Mostly, because I will admit when I don't know something or am not sure, but when I DO KNOW something, then I know what I know and it doesn't bother me if someone feels different!} I am not like that about many things. But a few things, I REALLY know! This is one!
Now if you take all these things into consideration, Truthfully, with any good producing doe, without a lot of kids, you should be able to milk her out completely twice a day and her still make enough for her kids, because it will only cause her to make more milk. If not separated at all kids should never be hungry enough to not be perfectly fine until the milk has built back up. And she should produce more milk! It sounds to me like these does are making that much milk!
I'm done!
RE: Freezing colostrum --- when it is thawed/warmed is considered to have present a higher bacterial count than fresh colostrum. This is considered so because of the (renewed) bacterial growth time afforded during the thaw/warming period.
I just found these recommendations for refrig & freezer storage:
Storing colostrum for optimum passive immunity http://www.hpj.com/archives/2012/jan12/jan16/1228StoringColostrumsr...
Sandra Hess
Heartland Midwifery
Fresno, Ohio
Juliana Goodwin said:
ps good news- Penny's boy has a clean bum this morning, he is fiesty and trying to climb on mommy's back and ride her around. I am thinking all is well. Milked out some more from her this am, deliberately left plenty of milk in her bag, froze it as day 3 milk/colostrum. I have a great supply now if I ever need it. Hope it lasts.
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