I am four years into keeping my own dairy goats. I started out with Nubians and have milked them for the past few years. Just this year I ventured into Nigerian Dwarfs, but still have a few Nubians. One of my ND does just kidded and I tried milking her for excess milk that her babies may be leaving. I am so used to the Nubian teats that I could hardly milk my Nigerian. Is there a special technique in milking ND's? I really enjoy hand milking and would prefer to keep on doing so.
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Thank you so much for the link. That was very insightful. I will separate her babies at night just to get the feel of milking her. If I notice that her babies are loosing weight I will stop and try again at a later time. So far they are plump and seem to be getting plenty of milk. She comes from heavy milking lines...at least that is my understanding (again, new to Nigerians), and seems to have plenty. I agree with leaving the kids on the doe for as long as possible. I have also noticed that when the kids are on the doe that i too get more milk in one milking. LOVE it. It allows me to milk once a day and still get the milk that we need.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Bruce, I don't know why the video doesn't show them stripping a few squirts before they start in... but you should do that.
Here is a discussion on starting to milk when dam raising:
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/starting-to-milk
I would not expect a first freshener to be able to produce enough milk for twins and you by two weeks fresh. For that to work with an ND, she would have to be making 4# of milk (1/2 gallon) minimum in 24 hours and maybe 1% of ND first fresheners will do that. The kids need 16 to 24 ounces of milk in 24 hours, so if she is producing 3#, the kids should be getting 100% of that.
Although her teats may be small now, they usually get longer during the first couple months. I complained endlessly about short teats on NDs when I was new, but once I got my technique perfected, I actually prefer milking NDs to standard breed goats. As they say, practice makes perfect.
Bruce, Squirting once out of the pail is preferred, at least for me. Just to clear any bacteria that may be in there. There is this spray called Fight Bac that I like to use after I am done milking. It helps fight against bacteria (hence the name). Before milking I just wipe teats clean of debris. You can use baby wipes for this.
I will research that, and hopefully someone will chime in who knows when to start separating the babies at night better than I do. Thank you again for all your help! :)
Does make it look easy.
Have no experience at milking yet I was told you always squirt a few times into a container in order to clear anything in the teate.Then milk into a container that you will keep the milk in for consumation..Thank you Please advise...Great video
Erin Labor said:
That's what I do too, but for some reason, I want to say I've read to wait a little longer. I could be wrong though. :)
I pull them just at night and milking the mom in the morning then return the babies to mom to drink milk during the day. That is how i do it for my Nubians and they work out just fine. Would the Nigerians be different?
I have one doe that milks better from the back, but the other two I milk from the side. Both directions, I use the same technique, but I can't do two hands at once. My does are too fidgety. I hold the cup up close and milk one side at a time. I'm not sure when the "magic" hold the babies off their mom's age is... but two weeks seems early. Maybe someone with better knowledge about that can help.
Thank you for the video! He makes it look so easy. I am coming at it from the side. Is it easier coming from the back since their teats are so small? Does it make that much of a difference?
This is her first time kidding. She kidded with twins. Thursday will be two weeks. I plan on putting the babies up at night and milking her in the morning starting this weekend. I am not giving up yet. I LOVE their milk.
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