# feeding and milking



## Barefoot Pony (Dec 21, 2010)

People usually milk goats twice a day, in the early morning and in the evening. I was wondering if you fed them later in the morning like around 8:00, if you could milk them at 8:00, I'm not really one to get up first thing at 5:00, and was wondering if there was any way around it.


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## chandasue (Dec 21, 2010)

For optimum production you want to milk at equal intervals. I don't typically milk on a "strict" schedule so I might lose a little in production but I don't fret over it. I try to space it out about 12 hours apart give or take an hour. It doesn't really matter what times that is, whether it's 5am and 5pm or 10am and 10pm. Just pick a time that you can be relatively consistent with. My milk times are usually around 7am and 7pm but that's just me. If I have to be some where I milk earlier or a little later.


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## freemotion (Dec 21, 2010)

Because of my work schedule, I milk between 9 and 10 AM and between 8 and 9 PM, most days, with some variation.  It is fine.  I try to be more consistent during peak production for the poor does' sake, when her udder gets extremely full.


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## rebelINny (Dec 21, 2010)

I usually milk 8 am and 7-8pm. This is our spring/summer schedule, we haven't milked during the winter yet.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Dec 21, 2010)

consistency gets you better results... but twice a day is just fine and whatever time you get up is also just fine. 

OR you can even milk once a day. (i know! isnt that great!?!)

as long as you are consistent you are ok. i milked Nibbles only once a day for most of the season, Debbie was a twice a day gal.  i know a woman who has a prize winning pro herd who has a wacky work schedule - as long as she milks twice a day her goats are happy.

good luck!


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## mabeane (Dec 21, 2010)

I milk once a day after the first few weeks just because it's easier for me and I don't need extra milk.  Consistency is the key.


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## freemotion (Dec 21, 2010)

It is 9:22 PM here right now, cold and windy, and I am here online wasting time, not wanting to go out there!


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## ksalvagno (Dec 21, 2010)

When I was milking, I milked at 9am and around 9pm. Those times worked best for me. The actual time doesn't matter, the consistency does.


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## Roll farms (Dec 22, 2010)

I've never managed to get close to 12 hrs apart, usually somewhere between 9 and 10 hrs (7 am and 5 pm).  I just get more milk in the am than I do in the pm.


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## mossyStone (Dec 22, 2010)

With being mommy taxi all thur the school yr i milk at  10 am and go again around 10 pm... I try and stay with that in the summer but again the kids need rides more places , but i do try and keep it close! 


Mossy Stone Farm Home to

Pygora's and PB Nubains


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## Ariel301 (Jan 2, 2011)

Nothing says milking time HAS to be 5 am...Whatever time(s) you choose, it is important to be consistent, try to be around the same time every day. 

I've never been an early riser, even as an adult I usually am not out of bed before noon without a good reason. I am a painter, and I prefer to work at night, so I stay up really late. When I milk my goats once a day, I do it in the evening at dinner time, 6-ish. When I do twice a day, I usually do noon and midnight. We put some lights out in the pens and by my milk stand so I can flip them on and see everything. My goats have adapted to my schedule, if I have an odd day where I have to get up early, and I go out to feed them in the early morning, they are all still snoring away and won't get up for hay. I think they like lazy sleepy mornings. Now if only I could train the roosters to do the same...


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## julieq (Jan 8, 2011)

We feed and milk in the morning around 8:00 AM, sometimes a bit earlier.  In the winter when it's so cold in the evenings we milk and feed around 6:00 or 7:00 and close up the barn for the night.  In stormy situations we've been known to milk at 5:00 PM.  During the summer months we milk on more of a 12 hour schedule though.


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