Hello, may I get an idea of how much colostrum everyone likes to take from a doe, (not a first freshener), to freeze and have on hand for next years kidding? When do you like to collect it and how much so you are not taking too much from the newborn kids. Thanks
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I'll just wait and see how her udder looks/feels close to kidding. If I have to take some milk prior to kidding I'll do an iodine dip. Because of how hard and red it got last year, I'm afraid she'll do the same this year but I'm still hoping she won't. I'm really glad I now know I can milk her out at 24 hours after kidding and save the colostrum for a year. That helps tremendously. Thank you!
I've never had any experience with that, Kailyn, but when I was at the Midwest Organic conference last month, there was a vet who was doing a talk on mastitis, and he was talking about cows, but he said you should get a sample from each teat about a week prior to calving to test for mastitis. In the past, I'd always heard that you shouldn't do that because you don't want to disturb that milk plug because it's keeping the teat sealed so germs won't get in there and cause mastitis. If you do get some milk out, I'd definitely do a post dip with iodine or something.
Frozen colostrum is definitely good for a year. I've even used some that was 13-14 months old, and the kids did great with it.
According to the milk test rules, goats are not producing mature milk until 4 days. But I've only saved 24 hours colostrum.
Thanks for asking this, Debbie, I have the same question... sort of. Last year my senior doe started leaking about a week before she kidded. She only leaked about a tablespoon and only did it on one afternoon, that I saw. Plus her udder was hard and red by the time she kidded so I milked her out that evening and let her drink it. I'm wondering, would it be alright to take some before she kids if her udder gets hard again this year? And how much is safe to take? And at what point do they stop producing colostrum? I would really like to take and freeze some for future kiddings. How long can it be frozen for and still be beneficial for kids when thawed?
Every year on our farm, the first doe to kid is milked out at 24 hours, and I put that in the freezer in case I need it. I also milk out any additional does that look sort of full at 24 hours or if they only have a single kid. It is not as thick as what the doe is producing when the kids are first born, but it is still mostly colostrum, and it works.