I have a FF with twins who I've been "practice" milking since she kidded, to get her used to it. It's worked out great. She stands beautifully, and has no problem with me handling her udder or teats. At first, for about maybe a week, she was letting her milk down for me, but I would only take a bit, and let the kids have the rest.Then, not long after that, she stopped letting her milk down for me. I've tried all the suggestions I've read on this site, and I still can't get her to. I do still put her on the stand every morning, and go through the motions, even just handling her teats "as if" I were getting the milk, so that hopefully, when her kids are sold, she'll see this as completely routine, and give her milk to me then. Is this what I should be doing? Is it possible that she will let her milk down for me when she's no longer feeding her kids? Or, could this turn into a habit, and cause her to dry up after weaning? Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Oh, Thanks Rachel! I'm really happy to keep hearing that it's ok for the kids to still be on her. I've been hearing that it's way too long, and was beginning to doubt myself! This does feel more right to me though,and I like the less stress to the animals and less health risks. Thank you also for the positive feedback on how I've been handling her "intro" to milking. Yes- I certainly try to be very "attentive" to all their needs, physically, mentally and emotionally. She's been so nice and obliging so far with the milking, never once a kick( I believe thanks to the suggestion to start pretend milking asap after delivery while hormones tell her this is all so sweet and lovely) and I don't ever want her to connect a negative thought or feeling with milking. It's a very peaceful and pleasant time, I think for her and me! I've already told her I believe she'll give me lots of milk when she can spare it and I believe she will...!! Thank you again for such encouragement. It means a lot to me and that transfers to my little herd....
So Deborah said what I was going to say depending on your reply! If the kids are on her all the time (which they should be at this age) then there won't be milk for you to take yet. You should see production when the kids are old enough to be held off at night. :)
Sounds like you're very attentive to her!! I like your method for the nights when she's not interested. I always try to end on a good note. Even if it just means a little extra touching (but not milking) with no kicking.
Oh, Thank you SO much Deborah, for the encouragement and advice!!! I understand what you're saying about there just not "being" any milk, as likely the kids got to it before me in the early morning. It makes sense, and sometimes, the doe who we do get a bit of milk from, in the evening her udder feels rather small. I try the play milking, and every now and then(tonight, in fact) she rather slides away, as if to say nope, not tonight please. I don't want to stress, or demand her, so I understandingly just place my hand on her udder for a while, talk and sing to her and end it with some brushing, but always thank her anyway. I like to believe she'll take all this into consideration in the future...I'll work for you, you work for me.. I just hope it doesn't backfire on me and have her think aha-I move away, no milking. But, when she does do this, so far the next milking with fuller udder is successful...so far so good?
I surely will try to separate for the 8 hrs and see, just for curiosity sake, but I will take your advice and wait the two months to do it every night. I'm very comfortable with that. Thank you, thank you!
You're doing great! If you didn't separate the mom from the kids, she probably doesn't have much, if any, milk, depending upon when the kids last nursed. So, there is no problem with her letting down her milk. There just isn't any milk. If she's a FF, and she has twins, they're probably consuming everything she's producing. It's great that you're putting her on the milk stand and at least trying to milk! By giving her that practice, things will go much more smoothly when you do separate them overnight, and she has a full udder in the morning. You could separate the kids overnight for 8 hours or so, once, just to see how much you are able to get, but I wouldn't do it every night until two months in this situation.
Thanks Deborah and Rachel! Sorry, I neglected to give more information, but the kids are 5 and 6 weeks old. I likely should have started to separate them sooner, and if they`re old enough I will do it now. Maybe I was confused, but I was going by the weaning section of Raising Kids, in your book, Deborah. I liked the suggestion about less stress and less health risks due to stress, and was going to wait for the 2 month mark, to separate at night, and pasture by day. If in this particular doe, not letting her milk down, you feel it may be better, or ok to separate now, I will. Or, I can just keep going the way I am, and hope she will let her milk down after separating her from her kids. Thank you for any more input!
What you're doing sounds great! However, we need more info. In addition to Rachel's question, I'm wondering, how old are the kids?
Are you holding her kids off of her before you milk? (if they are old enough for that)