Hi I am posting not knowing if this is the right way to do it as it's my first time posting. My question is that I am milking for the first time and I have a first freshener and I have only been milking her in the morning. I take the two doelings away from Mom at night as I have a stall separator that allows them to be beside mom but separate. I only milk her in the am and return her to her babies for the whole day. I noticed the amount I have been getting from her is decreasing. Should I be concerned that shes drying up? It started out at about 2 cups milking only in the morning now Its 6 days milking her and she is giving less milk. Its like less than 2 cups. For instance here's what I have gotten milking her in the morning so far and it is decreasing I have it in ml (milliliters) she is a first freshener and has two doelings.
08/05/14- 500 ml
08/06/14 525 ml
08/07/14 450ml
08/08/14 400ml
08/10/14 375ml
Should I even be concerned? I mean I am totally new at this. She is getting grain twice a day and also snacks of it during the day, chaffhaye at 2pm, oat hay free choice, minerals free choice. So I do not know if she could be drying up or if I should even be concerned. I read it's better to milk once a day in the morning and let the babies be with their Mom during the day separating them from her in the night. Milking in the morning and putting them back with their mom during the day and so on and so on until they are weaned. Then it said its ok to milk twice a day. Morning and night every 12 hours. Should I be concerned or am I over reacting? I appreciate any input. Thanks!
Comments
Thanks so much Deborah and Julia! God bless you both for your help..ive been worried sick about this! :-)
Every doe is different, and kids are different, which is why the other post does not give super concrete guidelines. But one thing for sure is that you should start separating kids gradually. So, at six weeks you'd only separate a couple of times a week and it's also a good idea to not do it for a full 12 hours the first few nights. If at six weeks, you start to see a decrease like you're seeing now, then you know that you need to back off and let her nurse the kids more. There is a huge difference between kids that are 3 weeks and 6-8 weeks. They will grow a lot, and their stomachs will be a lot bigger, so they can nurse more during the day to make up for what they don't get at night. However, if the kids happen to still be rather small at 6 weeks (in the 12-15 pound range), then it's important for the kids to continue nursing more. If the kids weigh 20 pounds at 8 weeks, you have nothing to worry about! :)
BTW, I just noticed that you posted in the Blog section, which is why you didn't get more responses. The "Welcome" link at the top of the page explains the different sections of the site. Basically the Blog section is for farm updates and things like that. The "Forum" is the place for questions. More people read that section and respond. I'm glad I saw your post before it disappeared from the home page.
Kara, at 3 weeks old, kids are not eating enough solid food on their own to not have their morning nursing. This will cause them not to thrive the way they should. If you're separating the kids for 12 hours and milking their dam in the morning, the kids will not grow normally (probably) because they are (probably) not getting enough to eat. After about 6 weeks kids are eating well and can have a small bowl of grain while mama is being milked. Also, at 3 weeks she is still feeding them in the night and that feeding is being cut off now, which is contributing to her dropping in production since demand is lower. I learned this the hard way my first time around. Now I wait until my kids are close to 2 months before I start milking unless I have a super producer with more milk than they can drink.
Thanks Deborah! So I read the link page you sent me but I want to ask you straight out when can I milk Penelope? The article says sometimes with first fresheners to wait until the babies are 6 weeks old and only milk a couple times a week. May I just ask you what you would do. This is absolutely the first time having baby goats and milking and so I am afraid of doing it wrong. Thank you in advance for all your kindness and help! :-)
At three weeks fresh, yes, you should absolutely be concerned that her supply is decreasing. She should be INCREASING. This is due to the fact that you are separating her from her babies, and you are not milking out as much as her kids would be taking. You should not be separating a first freshener overnight from her kids at only three weeks of age. Here is a post about getting started with milking:
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/starting-to-milk
Not only are you getting less and less milk, but her kids are not getting enough milk to grow the way they should.
Again this morning Penelope gave an ounce less. Should I even be concerned? Could her two kids need more and she is holding back more for them? I just am scared she's drying up. What can I do?
Hello Deborah! Thank you! :-D I'm excited about being here and that it worked and you replied so quickly. Penelope (my doe) had her two doeling July 20th,2014 ..so they are 3 weeks old today!
Good job on your first post! Thanks for all of the details. When did the doe freshen? In other words, how old are the kids?