I know we have covered this in various ways but always after uneventful births. Capri kidded a week ago Saturday and her udder seems very full all the time. The two little ones seem to be growing well so must be getting enough and I've never seen her refuse them dinner.
After the trauma she went through, I don't want to milk her too soon but I also want to as soon as it is okay for her. Last year, I wasn't concerned about milk supply since it was the first time milking for both of us. However, this year, I want to be a piggie about her milk and maximize her milk output. I'm sure her body prepared for four babies and only two are here to eat. Should I be milking her? How should I start, with only a cup per milking a couple of times a day and work upward or milk her until she seems rather soft? Should I offer some to her babies to ensure they are getting all they want?
I'm sure she will easily produce a quart a day; vet said last year at two weeks that he was sure, based on Ginger's growth, that she was producing at least a quart a day. Today is Day 9.
With all that she has been through, I don't want to be over-zealous and compromise her health. After seeing her so wide for so long, she looks so skinny now.
Advice please.
At this point, I have not decided whether to attempt to milk Summer. I was originally planning to wait to see how Capri produced. Since Summer has three kids chowing down (and they are very much so!), her production will surely stay up while I wait to make up my mind about milking or not.
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I did think about that, Deborah. When I wanted her to get up on the milkstand last night, she only put her front legs on it so I decided steps would be in order this time around, at least in the beginning. This morning, on the way back from the vet, I picked up my helper to build a ramp, not feeling I could trust myself with power tools today. I cannot believe this has happened. Ironically, if it had happened the day after they were disbudded, I might have blamed that given the recent post. One of the vet's people said she may have had a fever and that is why she was away from the heat lamp - this is the only time she has not been under it when not playing or eating, both of them always rest/sleep under it.
Thank you for the hugs. I'm only responding on this thread right now until I hear something from the vet's office. I'll pick her up later today or in the morning to be buried beside her brother under the apple tree which is still in full bloom. She is such a pretty little thing.
I am also cleaning out the stall to the floor and cleaning all the buckets, etc., and putting fresh pine shavings in just in case it is something contagious rather than delayed from the trauma of birth.
I was just thinking ... since you've lost one of the doelings, you really do need to start milking twice a day now, or Capri's supply will really start to dwindle with only one baby to feed. {hugs}
If the kids are with her 24/7, they can get as much as they want, so you don't need to worry about them -- assuming they are healthy and bouncing around, which it sounds like they are. If she is a really good milker, she could be wanting to get on the milk stand because she remembers that it feels good to get pressure off her udder! I have one doe right now that was a great milker as a FF, and she kidded with triplets, but the buckling was born dead. I've been milking her since day 1, and we get about about 2-3 cups a day from her without ever separating the two doelings, who are both growing like weeds.
And here's another hint ... if you ever see a doe waking up sleeping kids and pushing them towards her udder, it's because she's uncomfortably full.
If her udder looks full, feel free to take as much as you can. She's making more 24 hours a day.
Just keep trying, Angela. You will get the hang of it, honest. I'm glad to see you are starting earlier than I did. The vet said two months and I did that; perhaps he thought I was not going to let baby have any more once I started milking. I wish I had done what everyone here suggested!!! I likely would have gotten far more milk than I did.
Thank you, Deborah. I did not intend to separate the kids, not until at least two months. I can "squeak by" on whatever she gives me with them eating whenever and whatever they want. My concern is she may be making more than they are eating and I really do want her to be a good milker this year. I just did not want to start too soon with all she went through. She has been wanting to get on the milkstand but I figured that was for goodies rather than to be milked. <g> Maybe she misses that bonding time and the human is more fun than kids 'cuz human only comes around for milk once a day. Right now, her udder is bigger and fuller than any time last year so I thought there might be enough for me to take a little a couple of times each day to keep her producing. Am I correct in that the kids have gotten all the benefits of the early milk at this point?
Should I be offering any of what I milk to the kids?
You can start milking her at any time if you do NOT separate the kids. It's all about supply and demand, and if the kids don't eat everything that she is making, her supply will go down.