Our two does have been in milk for the last six months.
Elly is five years old and has kidded three times. She has only had one kidding here with us and this is the first time she has ever been milked. Not easy at the start we got a henry milker and I have to say I am so proud of this little goat. She only ever gave us a litre a day over two milkings but she has become the nicest goat since we have been milking her. She now comes up for cuddles etc such a change around and I am so pleased we stuck with it. She started producing less and less milk so a week ago I started to milk her only in the evenings and she is giving us just 500mls. I am happy with this and will continue to dry her up over the next few weeks.
Eva our FF has done really well she was producing two litres a day over two milkings but I have noticed she is starting to drop off as well. So is it worth me starting to dry her up as well. We are going to breed again and I am wanting to dry our girls up as we do not have power in the goat house and the early morning milk is getting difficult as we are on head torches! lol! So getting to my question that fact she is producing less should I start milking her just once a day?
Would love to hear all your thoughts and experiences on this.
I also have one other question on breeding. Elly is five how old can you breed a goat for?
As ever thank you all for taking the time to read this and respond.
Replies
Thanks for this Deborah, we milked Eva last night alot of shouting during the day and I kept checking her udder and it was not over tight. On milking last night she did a full litre and Elly is still at her 500mls. So will keep milking till the amounts start to reduce. It was amazing this morning when I opened up their house door that neither of them jumped up on the stanchion.
Good to know about the 2-3 days! Too late for the one I did that with, but now I won't have to feel guilty not doing it for the others. So far, the other two are just on a once a day schedule.
Once a doe is only giving a cup a milking, you can easily drop down to once a day without feeling guilty, and if she is only giving a cup in that one milking, you can just stop milking very easily. You'll probably never have to milk her again. They say you are really not supposed to milk every 2-3 days as that just confuses their body. A very old dairy vet from Wisconsin says that you stop milking and then milk them out one time a week after that last milking, and that should be the end of it. Their body has to have that full feeling for a few days to get the message to not make milk. This summer was actually the first time in years we decided to dry off a doe that was not three months pregnant and drying up on her own, and I followed that advice, and it worked like a charm. She had been giving about 12 ounces per once a day milking.
The youngest I ever retired a doe was 9 years old because she was having trouble keeping weight on while nursing her kids, and she always had 3-4 kids, which is a big demand on a doe's body. Also, she did not throw great kids, so I really wasn't excited about getting more kids from her either. She just died this summer at the ripe old age of 14 1/2. She was my first doe ever. Although she was a great milker, she never threw a doe that we kept that was half decent, which was really disappointing. Ironically, two of her sons threw great does, and her great granddaughter is one of my best milkers today. Genetics can be such a challenge!
Thank you Rachel!
We did not milk Eva this morning, I checked her udders when she jumped on the stanchion and they are not full so I am going to start as of today milking her in the evening! I think it is going to be a long day as she is already screaming! lol!
Elly likes being just milked in the evening she does not even bother getting up on the stanchion in the mornings now! She also kidded this spring with ease so I am pleased that we still have a good few years in her, as she has turned out to be such a lovely goat.
Thanks for all your advice.
Hey, Sally!! I'm in the process of drying up my does as well, and I've been using them as my indicators... it seems to me that their udders adjust to less milking in about a week or so... so once they stop getting SUPER tight from the once a day milking, I cut back to every other day... that seems to work. Now, I just keep an eye out for any udders that look tight, and relieve the pressure a bit. I have one doe that isn't being milked more than every two or three days, just because I don't want her to be uncomfortable. I don't milk her out totally, just enough to take some pressure off. The days between are getting longer, so that's a good sign for me.
Deb just retired a doe that was 10 years old. http://antiquityoaks.blogspot.com/2013/08/happy-retirement-sherri.html so you have some years left! Pay attention to kidding, and how easy it is for your does. If things start to become a struggle for them, then you might consider retiring them sooner.