Good morning everyone,
I have some questions, as usual.
Cinnamon had triplets on Dec. 9th. I sold 2 of them on Jan. 13 and they are being bottle fed and doing great. I started milking Cinnamon on the 14th...once a day, by the 16th she was hollering in the afternoon as her bag was really full, so I started milking her twice a day...her one kid is with her all of the time.
The last two mornings, I am getting NO milk and in the afternoon I'm lucky if I get 1/4 cup. Now all of the time, Novar (her kid) feels like his stomach is going to pop. I would really only like to milk her once a day until Novar is weened....he is a little piglet! Not sure what to do....I really don't want her milk quantity to drop off (which is what is happening, I think).
So please give me some of your wonderful advice. You all have helped me so much already, I hate to keep coming back with more questions.
Thank you,
Adele
Comments
I used to wean kids at 8 weeks, but now I never wean does or wethers, and I only wean bucks when they start to act too "bucky." This way, I can milk once a day whenever I want, or if I want more milk, I can separate for a couple days and get lots more. It gives me more flexibility, and the kids are healthier and happier than when they were being weaned.
An good solution now that your baby is over two weeks old, is to seperate cin. at night, milk her first thing in the morning, then turn her over to the baby until bedtime. He will get more than enough, and you'll get your fair share of milk too. When he's 8-12 weeks old, wean him, and milk 2x a day.
One of my girls had a single buckling last summer, and he was very capable of drinking every drop of milk she produced. He was one big baby! It turned out she had plenty of milk, but he wasn't letting me have any. When I sold him, I discovered she was producing about a quart a day over two milkings.
Thank you Diane,
I will start that today. I wasn't sure if I should do that or not. I will separate them for a couple of hours this afternoon....maybe I'll get a little milk this afternoon. Novar is getting ALL of it. He is so sweet, for a little piglet!
Sounds like little Novar is taking all the milk for himself! Have you tried separating him from her for a few hours? I wouldn't separate him for very long at first, just enough to let her produce some milk you can have, and then gradually lengthening the time they are apart until they are separated overnight.