Goat milking

[Chicky2]

So, we are looking forward to our 2 Nubian does having their first kids soon.  Everyone I talk to has a different opinion of course, of when we should start milking for ourselves, or if we should let the kids nurse at all!  I personally think they should nurse.  But for how long do you all who have goats let them nurse, if that's the way you do it?  Then how do you do it when you start to milk the doe yourself?  I don't mean how to actually milk, but do we milk just one side, or both or what?  One side in the morning, the other in the evening?  Opinions, please?!

[Erinz]

I have two good friends who have had goats for years and while I haven't had the experience yet (ours due to kid in a few weeks I believe) I can tell you what we're planning on doing per their advice. They let the kids be with the moms 24/7 for the first 4-6 weeks. This ensures a good milk supply and happy moms/kids.  After the initial 4-6 weeks they put up a mesh fence for sleeping at night so the moms and kids can still see each other and sleep by each other but the kids can't nurse. First thing in the morning the moms are milked on one side, and the other side is for the kids for a few more weeks until eventually both sides are milked in the morning because the kids are old enough to healthfully eat food to break their fast. This approach seems really kind to me, I'm really looking forward to it! You'll have to post back so I can see what you end up with! I can't wait for fresh raw milk!!!!!!

[BeckyBird]

We are very new to goats, and I only know one thing so far:  if you plan to bottle feed the baby, it should be allowed to nurse from the mother the first day. Colostrum is very important to all mammals (people too!)  I'm sure you already knew that, but I just wanted to chime in. I will be checking back with this thread, because we plan to breed our goats in a few months.

Good luck with your new babies!

[Chicky2]

Thanks, Ladies!  Erin, I'm thinking that's what we'll do.  I think one person I've talked to has used pretty much the same method and I thought it sounded gentle and natural, which is what we want.  Plus, quite frankly, it's less work and we like that!  We have enough to do.

[forestrymom]

One of my goats only tolerates one of her kids and refuses the other, so I separate them at night. I milk bot sides but not all the way. I have to hold her so the refused kid can nurse, and I let him finish her off, since the other kid nurses pretty much whenever he wants. I don't separate my other goat yet, but she has enough milk to give us some anyway, and since she has does, who don't seem to need as much, I'm not sure I'll have to separate them. We'll see how much milk I end up needing anyway!

[Chicky2]

Well, we one of our does had 2 babies-one was dead.  She has been moving away from her baby every time she tried to nurse so we tied the mama up and held her still while the baby nurses.  We've been doing this for several days.  This morning for the first time the mama let the baby nurse w/out being tied and held.  I'm hoping she's going to come around.  Otherwise she seems very concerned about her baby.  Loves on her, licks her, talks to her, etc.  We've been milking her about halfway each morning because she seems to have enough.  Baby always nurses first, but really only wants one side (not preferring one side, just gets full on one and we switch her each nursing).  We've been feeding the milk back to the mama and our other pregnant doe.  I hope there's nothing wrong w/that, but they both love it.  Can't think of why it wouldn't be ok, so someone correct me if i'm wrong.  We're worming them as soon as the other doe has her baby(ies). 

We're undecided if we should milk once a day or twice.  Any input either way?

[bremen]

for me, it really depends on what is important to you in the situation.

how important is goat milk for your family? how much do you need?

if the babes are female, do you want to raise them to be milkers in the future?

i fully milk mom, separate and bottle feed the babes, after the colostrum of course. I want my future milkers bonded to me, not their mom. when you see kids in a paddock, you can immediately tell the difference between the bottle-fed kids and the ones who feed off mom.

whethers are just meat animals to me, so they get access to mom whenever they want.

no matter whether the kids are with mom or not, i milk twice per day at 12 hour intervals. mom's supply adjusts accordingly. i always milk both sides

[Chicky2]

Thanks for answering.  We have a family of 6, and 5 of those have an adult appetite.  We don't drink milk, but I cook a ton, the kids use it on cereal (hot or cold), I make lots of "smoothie pops", and we love yogurt and kefir.  I have enough cheese-making supplies to set us up for years, lol (like 180 gallons worth of feta like we need that much), and want to make goat's milk and honey soap (we also keep bees).  So, really I am prepared for howevermuch milk we get.  I was thinking we'd get around 3-4 quarts a day from each doe (we have 2), am I correct?  I mean, I know it might not be as much the first year, or it can vary by doe, but is that close to what I should expect?  We can also sell milk if we get too much for me to keep up with.

What do you mean that you can immediately tell the difference between the bottle fed and mama fed kids?  Please explain in detail if you don't mind too much. 

Doesn't the amount of handling the kids get determine how gentle/bonded to the owner they'd be?  I'm just going by my does now--they are both big ole babies and love on us all the time.  The little one, Chloe, is starting to really do that, too.  My kids (and I) are ALWAYS out there w/the goats. 

One more question (for now, lol)...why do you milk twice daily rather than once?  Is it to get more milk? 

And yes, the girls we'll raise to be milkers, but only up to 4 at the most, really I'd rather only have 3, I think.  Any other girls will be sold, and boys will be supper.  We will not wether them, but butcher young.

[bremen]

chicky-

PM me if you want to chat, skype, etc.

i love to talk about goats!

Originally Posted by Chicky2 

Thanks for answering.  We have a family of 6, and 5 of those have an adult appetite.  We don't drink milk, but I cook a ton, the kids use it on cereal (hot or cold), I make lots of "smoothie pops", and we love yogurt and kefir.  I have enough cheese-making supplies to set us up for years, lol (like 180 gallons worth of feta like we need that much), and want to make goat's milk and honey soap (we also keep bees).  So, really I am prepared for howevermuch milk we get.  I was thinking we'd get around 3-4 quarts a day from each doe (we have 2), am I correct?  I mean, I know it might not be as much the first year, or it can vary by doe, but is that close to what I should expect?  We can also sell milk if we get too much for me to keep up with.

What do you mean that you can immediately tell the difference between the bottle fed and mama fed kids?  Please explain in detail if you don't mind too much. 

Doesn't the amount of handling the kids get determine how gentle/bonded to the owner they'd be?  I'm just going by my does now--they are both big ole babies and love on us all the time.  The little one, Chloe, is starting to really do that, too.  My kids (and I) are ALWAYS out there w/the goats. 

One more question (for now, lol)...why do you milk twice daily rather than once?  Is it to get more milk? 

And yes, the girls we'll raise to be milkers, but only up to 4 at the most, really I'd rather only have 3, I think.  Any other girls will be sold, and boys will be supper.  We will not wether them, but butcher young.

but, to answer the questions:

mama-fed kids will still be affectionate and play, but bottle-fed kids will come and nuzzle, suck your clothes, treat you like they are your baby!

handling does make a difference of course, but feeding makes such a bond. think about a breast-fed human infant. nobody can compare to the one who has the milk!

we milk twice daily because that is how often a doe without a kid needs to be milked. milking once a day is not enough. the routine is getting on the stanchion, eating grain, and being milked. even if the does are dried off for pregnancy, they still get on the stanchion twice per day.

do your current girls have horns? if not, i would debud Chloe ASAP. it hurts, it doesn't feel nice, but it is really for the goats well-being. after i saw a goat have her horn ripped off accidently, i never had issues with debudding again.

have you milked before this goat? do you have a stanchion? are you familiar with milk processing?

i am not sure how much info  to give, since i don't know how much you know!

[bremen]

oh, and 3-4 quarts per doe seems like a high estimate for me. i was getting that much per day from a lamancha and a nubian together!

[Chicky2]

oops, I meant 3-4 quarts per day between the two does, lol. 

I would love to talk more, but have no more time right now.  We have a milk stand, I know how to clean her up before and after, and how to properly chill and strain and store the milk.  Just not sure how many times we want to milk per day.  I want lots of milk!  I've been a mama goat for alot of years, lol, so I totally get the mechanics of producing milk.

[forestrymom]

One of the does I am milking was a mama-fed baby and the other a bottle fed baby. They are both as sweet as can be. We have a small herd, and I think that makes a difference. The mama-fed doe was really stand-offish before I started handling her to get her ready for kidding, but she was still super gentle. Now, she is as sweet and in your face as the other doe and she's actually MUCH nicer on the milk stand. She doesn't get fidgety and she's got very nice milking manners. We wanted all our babies to have the benefit of nursing and we just picked up a new buckling, who's actually 2 weeks older than our goats, and he's MUCH smaller. Now, it could be genetics, but he's smaller even than our does. I'm sure some of it is because he's been bottle fed since birth. He's very sweet, though. I've also come to the conclusion that if you ever get a buck, it MUST be a bottle baby, because bucks are well, bucks.

I also like the idea that if they babies are with their mother, you can leave them. We have 2 bottle babies who need milk 2x a day and we have to milk to get that, so here we are stuck at home all the time and we LOVE to go camping. I'm not sure how this is going to work out. We might be hauling goats with us! LOL

[Chicky2]

Well, we decided to milk twice a day.  Yesterday we got a bit over 3/4 of a quart all day.  This morning we got that much already!  Chloe is growing so big already, too!  She is always nursing, lol. 

Our kids (human) are always out w/their goats.  We homeschool so they have lots of time to do so.  They are always out there sitting and eating snacks and talking to their goats, sharing their snacks (lol-they like peanut puffs!), running, jumping and playing with them.  I'll go out to check on them and my middle dd will by lying on the ground w/her head resting on her doe.