Deborah, I don't know if anyone on this forum is on milk test but you so this might just be a question for you.
What is involved in going on milk test? How do you do it and dam raise at the same time? I am interested in doing this at some point with my herd.
Thanks!
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Okay, that makes sense. I will look into it. It is something I would really like to do, down the road. thanks for the info.
The only conflict of interest mentioned in the DHI info is that you cannot have someone act as your tester if they have a financial interest in your herd, i.e, someone who is part owner or earns some type of income from the herd. Basically you cannot have someone test for you if they would make more money if your goats produced more.
Well, I sell both milk & organic livestock feed. Can I barter milk or feed to someone to get them to do this for me or does that give them a conflict of interest?
Yeah, I am thinking about doing owner-sampler here. The top ten list is always 1,000+ pounds a year milkers. Having a tester does not cost me much because she is willing to barter for her fee, but it can be a pain sometimes trying to work out a time that is good for both of us. Her aged father lives with them and can't be left alone, and a couple years ago, her mom had a stroke the day of our test.
I thought that getting someone to be the tester would be a big deal, but it really was not. You can ask a neighbor or essentially anyone who is smart enough to be able to fill out paperwork. The incentive for them to get trained for something they have to do once a year may not be as great as if it was monthly. But I imagine that would depend on the person.
Owner-sampler, meaning you don't have to have a technician?
I know there are no other ND herds on DHIR in FL, no idea about other breeds...but we are in a very rural area that is miles from anywhere and I am not too sure how to find someone to become the technician. I don't think I'm hiding any top tens here lol
There is a chart in the ADGA Guidebook that tells you how much milk is required to get a star. It depends on the doe's age at freshening -- both year and month. For example, a doe is 1 year, 9 months at freshening. She would be expected to produce more than a doe that was 1 year, 8 months, but not as much as a doe that was a month or more older. They can also get their star based upon butterfat. Frankly, the ADGA butterfat requirements for NDs is ridiculously low. Some people claim it is harder to get a star with ADGA, but that is only if you look at pounds of milk. The pounds of butterfat required is embarrassingly low. I really expected them to increase it after a few years of testing. Their records show that 6.5% is average butterfat for an ND, but a doe could have butterfat far lower than that and still get a star. The pounds of milk and butterfat are not even remotely related.
How many pounds of milk does a doe have to give to get a star?
So, I assume the babies have to be bottle fed while they are away from moms?
What does the technician actually do? Do they have to come to the farm and physically handle the milk or something?
As for actually testing ... we just separate the does from the kids for 24 hours once a month. We used to get started religiously on the first milk test after a doe freshened. The lab says it only needs to be 4 days fresh or later, but we realized that caused issues with some does, especially first fresheners if you separated them from their kids for 24 hours too early. Now we do not normally test a doe who is not at least 3 weeks fresh. If she is 2 weeks fresh, that means the next test will be when she is 6 weeks, which is when they peak anyway. I really do not think those early tests give you that much info. They have all sorts of charts and graphs and statistical data to figure out (estimate) what a doe would have been producing every day of the month when you are not actually testing.