I read somewhere that you should milk a first freshener for at least 10 months to "set the tissues" or something like that, that it would help them achieve longer subsequent lactations more easily. Is that accurate? Or does it matter?
One breeder I talked to, who has been breeding Nigies since the 1980s, said that she dries everyone off in the fall because of a yearly trip she makes then. Her goats don't seem to be harmed by it. They look really good.
I have been milking since July. There was a clear peak, and then Caramel's production has decreased slowly, but not sharply. As it turns out, we are going to have to go away for a few days early next week. If we cannot find anybody to milk her, will drying her up now damage her milking future? Or would it be ok to stop milking because she is so young and still needs to grow more?
Right now we only have one girl pasture and one boy pasture, plus one extra pen which is currently being used by meat goats. So we haven't been able to wean her little doe, and have been milking once a day all this time. The baby still nurses, but less and less. If we left them out together, it seems that mama would start to dry up simply by having less production demanded of her. Is that right? Would that hurt her?
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I'm glad it's not just my goat that is weird!! :P
I guess we'll just see what happens and learn by doing. Though the weather forecast says nasty this weekend, so we may be unable to travel at all. We'll see.
I don't know that anyone has ever done an actual study about milking goats for 10 months the first lactation and how that relates to lifetime milk production. The person you mention who has been breeding goats since the 80s is obviously not breeding them for extended milk production -- and THAT is what people are taking about when they talk about milking for ten months. There are far too many does out there with gorgeous mammaries (including some finished champions) that don't put milk in the bucket for more than a few months. Milking does for only a few months doesn't necessarily hurt the does, but it does hurt the breed's reputation as a dairy goat when those breeders claim to be selling "milk goats."
As Julia said, you can leave her doeling with her and see what happens. I am not surprised that you saw a decrease when you left them together without milking. I was very unhappy when I went out of town for two weeks in May (kids were 3-4 months old) and my daughter didn't milk any does that still had a doeling nursing. Production for some of my does was cut in half! Kids do considerably slow down after a few months, and some wean entirely by five or six months, although others will continue to nurse like piggies until the doe dries up in her next pregnancy. I have goats all over that spectrum in my barn right now.
Well...see...that is the weird thing. A couple of times we have gone away overnight, thinking we could just leave the baby out with mama all the time for one night and day. And when we came back and resumed the milking routine, the amount went DOWN significantly. It doesn't make any sense to me. It seems like it should have stayed steady. I don't know why that would have happened earlier, when the baby was nursing a lot. She is older now, and nursing less, but still...it's weird. I can't think of any reason for it. No change in the routine when we would come back or anything.
I guess, if we do need to leave them together, I can just see what happens when we get back.
We hadn't tried milking midday, which might help, although the baby is with her then. Hmm. Might work. I could try. It just doesn't seem very practical to go through the catching, washing, feeding, etc. just for a couple tablespoons of milk. But I will always listen to stuff that has worked for somebody else. We'll try anything once. :P
What is your opinion on the 10 month thing?
If your doe still has her doeling on her, that's a perfect scenario for you to be able to leave and not worry about her drying up! The doeling will keep her in milk and you can resume when you return. I'm in a much more difficult situation, trying to train someone to milk my doe because her kids are weaned and I really want to travel for Thanksgiving. Count your blessings! You should be fine from everything I've read here and elsewhere. Also, when my does milk production drops a bit, I will milk her mid-day in addition to morning and night for a couple of days and the increase in demand brings her milk production right back up!