Once a day vs. twice daily milking

Most people milk twice a day. A goat will produce more milk and be less likely to develop mastitis if she is milked twice a day, rather than once. That said, there are ways to work around it if your schedule is tight. This is one reason we dam raise our kids. Right now, I have 13 does in milk. However, I milk ten in the morning and six at night. The only ones that get milked twice a day are those whose kids have all been sold. If they only have one kid left here, they're separated at night, and I milk them in the morning. If they have two or more kids, I don't bother milking them, because the kids do a good job of keeping up the supply. If I didn't dam raise, I'd have to milk every goat twice a day -- and that would have been 15 goats earlier this year, which would have taken about three hours a day.

The 12 hour thing is not such a big deal. You can do up to 15 hours and 9 hours, and the goats will get used to it. The most important thing is that you're doing it twice a day. The closer you get to 12 + 12, the easier it is for both of you, because an over-full udder isn't easy to milk, and it's not comfortable for the goat, especially early in lactation. I usually suggest for newbies that you only separate for about eight hours the first time so that it's easier for you and the kids -- the udder isn't too terribly full, and the kids don't go too long without milk. The farther along a goat is in her lactation, the longer you can go between milking, and the less of a problem it is, because their production goes down. For example, if a goat is producing four pounds a day (half a gallon), I'd really try hard to milk her every 12 hours, if she didn't have kids on her. Once she is down to only two pounds a day (a quart), it's not such a big deal to go 15 hours.

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Deborah Niemann-Boehle August 8, 2010 at 10:37am

Most people milk twice a day. A goat will produce more milk and be less likely to develop mastitis if she is milked twice a day, rather than once. That said, there are ways to work around it if your schedule is tight. This is one reason we dam raise our kids. Right now, I have 13 does in milk. However, I milk ten in the morning and six at night. The only ones that get milked twice a day are those whose kids have all been sold. If they only have one kid left here, they're separated at night, and I milk them in the morning. If they have two or more kids, I don't bother milking them, because the kids do a good job of keeping up the supply. If I didn't dam raise, I'd have to milk every goat twice a day -- and that would have been 15 goats earlier this year, which would have taken about three hours a day.

The 12 hour thing is not such a big deal. You can do up to 15 hours and 9 hours, and the goats will get used to it. The most important thing is that you're doing it twice a day. The closer you get to 12 + 12, the easier it is for both of you, because an over-full udder isn't easy to milk, and it's not comfortable for the goat, especially early in lactation. I usually suggest for newbies that you only separate for about eight hours the first time so that it's easier for you and the kids -- the udder isn't too terribly full, and the kids don't go too long without milk. The farther along a goat is in her lactation, the longer you can go between milking, and the less of a problem it is, because their production goes down. For example, if a goat is producing four pounds a day (half a gallon), I'd really try hard to milk her every 12 hours, if she didn't have kids on her. Once she is down to only two pounds a day (a quart), it's not such a big deal to go 15 hours.

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