Since Truffle's baby died, if I dont' milk her she'll dry right off. I have been milking her, partly just because it might be my only chance to find out if my experimental training worked. (which it seems to have worked, yay!)
Anyway if I keep her milking for a full lactaction, will that make her produce better next time around (if there is a next time) FF Always produce less, right? regardless of age?
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Exactly, do it for the practice and use it as yet another learning experience for you both. Consider the milk a fringe benefit!
Personally, more than to worry about better production later, my answer kind of has to go with Margaret's... I would milk her, to help her learn to LIKE it. The more you do it, the better the two of you will be as a TEAM (because I believe the milk maid and her goat are in a team relationship) So if I were in your situation, I would milk for at LEAST a little while. So that next time, she's used to you, and you've already practiced.
That's a very interesting observation, Margaret! Thanks for sharing!
First of all, I HAVE NOT COMPLETELY read everything above so don't think I am disagreeing with anyone or being a no it all if what I say doesn't make sense or is different than what someone else says. I know there are variables to be considered in each situation and differences between different animals, like people and goats but many things are very similar and I KNOW people nursing BIG time. I didn't JUST study or teach etc. I DID it not once or twice but 7 times (and not for 6-8weeks bot LONG TERM) and I can tell you not so much from my experience but from comparing mine to others that a LOT of it (production,success) is about attitude. Therefore, I feel strongly that ONE VARIABLE in the production will simply be the maturity of the animal. As you all seem to realize the demand effects the quantity. The age of the animal and how many times she has been milked is not the only reason she may produce more later. "CONFIDENCE" - We recognize this in humans as affecting the SUCCESS of "NURSING" . We should recognize that age,maturity,experience effect what would be considered our does CONFIDENCE. They should naturally produce more when they get older simply because they are more RELAXED about the situation and probably also somewhat because as their bodies mature they may even have a better physical capacity to hold more milk. As far as Capri & Truffles goes. Plenty of people have been in similar situations and then nursed kids later, I don't see any reason why they should have a problem later as long as they had the ability to start with. As Deborah said "the genetic potential and nutrition are the big determiners', they are paramount. As long as they have had no injuries to them, only suffered the loss of babies or just not been milked or nursed and dried up then it should not effect future milkings. RELAX! Some things you can do nothing about. Do the best you can LOVE them take care of them and LEARN! You and your goats will be fine. Lets face it , at this point after what you have been through what matters most is you have LIVE, HAPPY, HEALTHY DOES! RIGHT? I hope some of this made sense. It was not meant to be an MIRACLE ANSWER, simply a different perspective to look from. HUGS! We will all be fine because wehave each other!
No, absolutely not. Genetic potential and nutrition are the big determiners of milk production. And what Julianna said is also correct. It doesn't matter whether you're milking or kids are nursing, the effect is the same -- the udder is producing. And as I said, there isn't any scientific research on this. It is all just conjecture.
Glenna Rose said:
Well, it makes sense when you think of how the body responds to demand. When there is a demand for something, the body adjust itself to meet that demand and generally, starting over with something even when time has passed will be easier the second time around.
But Glenna, my original question was because Truffle's baby died and if I didn't milk her there would be no lactation. While being nursed by kids might not be quite as structured of a demand, or maybe not for quite as long, I would think it would still have the effect of the udder being in use.
Ouch. Does that mean that Capri may never be a good producer since she was not milked with her first litter? Summer was one of three in the litter and nursed until she was nine months old; would that help even though she wasn't milked?
I guess I won't beat up on myself if I don't get good production from Capri because it may not be because I am a newbie to goat milking.
I don't know if anyone has actually ever studied this, but a lot of people believe that yes, a goat will produce more with subsequent lactations if you milk her as long as possible for her first lactation. The reason it is hard to know if this is really true without doing a large scale scientific study is because goats do improve with subsequent freshenings, so the real question is . . . do they increase even more if they were milked for a longer period of time in their first lactation?