# Maiden Milker?



## emily (Sep 17, 2011)

So I just read a CL ad and I'm left scratching my head...
They are selling a goat called a Maiden Milker. It is so called because it "comes into milk without breeding." Is this legit? I didn't think that was possible.


----------



## kstaven (Sep 17, 2011)

Maiden milker is a term used for a goat that goes into milk through a natural hormone shift. It does happen with some goats. If they are marketing it as a breed that is a lie.


----------



## kstaven (Sep 17, 2011)

Just because a goat does it once as a yearling doesn't mean that cycle will continue throughout their life.


----------



## theawesomefowl (Sep 17, 2011)

WOW--that is interesting...I never knew that could happen!


----------



## emily (Sep 17, 2011)

They have her listed as a "Nubian Maiden Milker." She's seven years old. Seems fishy to me if this is supposed to only happen when their yearlings. Anyways....I was just curious. 


Here's the ad.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/grd/2604075418.html


----------



## PattySh (Sep 17, 2011)

I have a 2 yr old Nubian, I ran her with a buck last winter but very late in the season so wasn't sure if she was pregnant. Her udder filled and I thought she was pregnant. Dates went by and she wasn't. Milk dried up. If I'd have known she wasn't pregnant I would have milked her. The milk went away about the time she was due. Weird. Hopefully she will breed this fall (unless she's also pregnant.....who knows at this point).


----------



## kstaven (Sep 17, 2011)

emily said:
			
		

> They have her listed as a "Nubian Maiden Milker." She's seven years old. Seems fishy to me if this is supposed to only happen when their yearlings. Anyways....I was just curious.
> 
> 
> Here's the ad.
> http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/grd/2604075418.html


It can happen in older goats also. But seems to be more common in a yearling. We had a Saanen do this twice. She never did reach her milking capacity either time and the milking term was shorter than if she was bred. She is also a harder goat to get bred. The hormone shifts that cause her to go into milk effect her other natural cycles. Not necessarily a characteristic one would want to breed for.


The ad could be deceiving to one who does not know about goats.


----------



## jmsim93 (Sep 17, 2011)

Very interesting!!!  It can happen in women as well...of course it indicates a hormonal imbalance (unless the woman took hormones on purpose to induce lactation for an adopted infant)  I never knew it could happen with goats.  It is amazing how God's creations are so complex and fascinating!!!!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Sep 19, 2011)

My doeling has some milk in one side of her udder (precocious udder).  It's small, about the size of a golf ball (the udder half) and the other side is totally empty.  I guess technically I have 2 does in milk, not just 1.


----------

