Hi there I have a goat who miscarried her first kid yesterday evening. I reckon she was about three weeks early, the kid was perfectly formed and there is milk in her udder. I milked her this morning and she had plenty.
-Can I continue milking her and can we drink this milk raw?
-How many days will she give colostrum for rather than milk?
-Do humans drink goat colostrum or should we wait for the milk?
-How often should I milk her now that she has no kid to keep the milk on the go?
Thanks for any advice
Katharine
Replies
Katharine Norton said:
Deborah, I'm so sorry, I called you Debbie multiple times tonight, and was only able to correct one because my time limit for editing was up on the other posts, so sorry! Will try and remember for next time
From Katharine
(who is not a Kathie/Kate and who should therefore know better!!!)
Hi Debbie, hope you had a good trip! Thanks so much for these tips, . Thanks also for the tips about milking without the kid.
Sorry I am just now seeing this. I was traveling when you posted it. From your other post, I see that you are milking her. In this situation, we have always milked three times a day so that the doe will produce more milk. You can't be as demanding as a kid, but we have definitely seen a drop whenever we go to only twice a day. In big dairies now, many will milk every 8 hours around the clock (3 times a day) because they get more milk per cow by doing that. Always remember that demand creates supply, so the more you milk, the more milk will be produced.
You can go to three times a day now, if you want her to produce more. This is actually when kids start to become little piggies and demand more milk, so her body should respond accordingly and produce more. If she's being problematic on the milk stand, this will also help you to get as much milk as possible. Milk more often, if you can't milk as long.
When we were on official milk test, we were not allowed to send in milk from does for the first four days because it's colostrum. There is nothing wrong with it, but the constituents are different than mature milk. Humans do consume colostrum in many parts of the world. In fact, they sell it in California in health food stores to people who have health problems. In some places they make pudding with it.
Thank you for your advice! Much appreciated.
I did when mine had hers 2 weeks early, I don't feel that I was able to milk her to her potential but I did milk her for 3 or 4 months.
You certainly can milk her. It's a good idea to freeze the colostrum so you can have it on hand if you have a kid in need of it in the future. Colostrum doesn't really taste very good anyway. By 1-2 weeks after birth it should be all milk. I drink raw milk and have never had a problem. I just keep the milking equipment very clean and chill the milk down quickly. But that's a personal decision I made after research. Everyone has to find their own comfort level with that issue.
I'd milk her twice a day if I were you, to keep her supply up. You probably won't get as much milk from her as you would have if she had nursed kids, but it gets her into the routine of being a dairy goat.
Sorry you lost the kid, by the way. I wonder what caused her to miscarry.