Hey All,
I feel like I've been blowing up the forum with posts the past few days... Thanks for all the help as I start this new endeavor!
My latest question...
Any good tips on slowing a doe down while she eats her grain on the stand?
I have a doe (mini nubian) who motors through her grain. She is a first freshener and has been on the stand for a little over two weeks; some days have definitely been better than others (Friday was wonderful, Saturday was horrible, the past few days have been so-so). She is putting out 5.5-6 cups at her morning milking and it's hard to finish her off because she has filled up on grain. I'm a pretty fast milker for a newbie, but she eats VERY fast (my goat mentor said "whoa, this girl can motor through her grain; You better milk fast!"). I am also taking quick breaks to dump my pail into a 1/2 gallon jar... And that's more about not wearing a quart of milk in my lap if/when she kicks than about saving the milk.
Anyway, I feel like she would be a gem on the stand if I could get her milked out faster than she can eat... although she is a bit antsy sometimes even before she is full but I feel like that's normal for a ff on the stand. My grain blend has bran in it, which she hates and which also falls to the bottom of her feed bucket as she eats so I've been filtering it out for the time being. What that tells me is that she is not only fast but also picky. My husband and toddler have been helping me finish milking her by drizzling tiny amounts of molasses on the last of the grain after she's loses interest/fills up to buy me enough time to get her empty.
Any advice?? I feel like I need a slow feeder for her like they make for dogs! ...but even that I'm not sure if she would protest like she does over the bran.
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Be careful with the alfalfa pellets if they're at all large. I have a doe who used to eat so fast, and she choked more than once. It's awful when they choke. You've never seen such foamy saliva in your life! It just pours out of them, and gets all over the place as they shake their heads trying to dislodge the food that's stuck. I usually rub their throats trying to help move the grain, and I think it helps. For some reason she now eats quite slowly. Maybe she learned her lesson. :)
Yes, she is quite a Hoover! She is an amazing girl though... 6 cups per milking and still rising with phenomenal flavor and butterfat -everyone who has tasted it agrees it is the best they've ever had-, her temperament is "puppy dog" sweet, and her first babies were 3 gorgeous moonspotted doelings (I only saw pics, but WOW!)... So I already know we will keep her for her whole life, and I look forward to having a very long and enjoyable milking relationship with her. I'm still hoping that maybe she will stand still to think deep thoughts sometime this year, but we will make it through either way ;)
You could also try putting some large rocks in her feeder - far to large for her to swallow, of course, and large enough that she has to hunt and peck for her favorite tidbits. I have a vacuum cleaner doe, too, and that worked pretty well while I improved my milking technique and she improved her standing still technique. I also added alfalfa pellets, which she doesn't like very much. I only needed to do that her first year in milk. Now she finishes her grain and then stands there thinking deep thoughts while I finish milking.
That's genius... Then it really would be like my dogs' slow feeder bowls! I will try the alfalfa pellets first and leave the rock as my backup plan in case she still finishes in 5 minutes flat. I only need a few more minutes to be able to finish (I'm milking her in about 10-15 min now and that's with her being ornery the last 5-10 minutes... If she would stand the whole time I think I could easliy be done in under 10 min.
Thanks, Julia. I had the same thought this morning and wondered if it would work... I'm going to try it tomorrow. I haven't been using the alfalfa pellets yet, even though I bought a bag, because they seemed pretty powdered/busted up when I opened up the bag. I even considered taking back to the feed store and asking them to swap it out for a different bag (thinking maybe that bag just got too beat up on transport).
I suggest putting a cup or two of grass or alfalfa pellets in with her grain. She'll have to move them around to get to all the grain and of course eating the pellets too will be fine. Also, if she finishes you can add alfalfa pellets to her bowl and she'll probably eat those if the grain is gone and it's good for her too.
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Be careful with the alfalfa pellets if they're at all large. I have a doe who used to eat so fast, and she choked more than once. It's awful when they choke. You've never seen such foamy saliva in your life! It just pours out of them, and gets all over the place as they shake their heads trying to dislodge the food that's stuck. I usually rub their throats trying to help move the grain, and I think it helps. For some reason she now eats quite slowly. Maybe she learned her lesson. :)
You could also try putting some large rocks in her feeder - far to large for her to swallow, of course, and large enough that she has to hunt and peck for her favorite tidbits. I have a vacuum cleaner doe, too, and that worked pretty well while I improved my milking technique and she improved her standing still technique. I also added alfalfa pellets, which she doesn't like very much. I only needed to do that her first year in milk. Now she finishes her grain and then stands there thinking deep thoughts while I finish milking.
You can put a large rock in the feeder with the grain, and she'll have to eat around the rock. It really does help. :)
I suggest putting a cup or two of grass or alfalfa pellets in with her grain. She'll have to move them around to get to all the grain and of course eating the pellets too will be fine. Also, if she finishes you can add alfalfa pellets to her bowl and she'll probably eat those if the grain is gone and it's good for her too.