# best way to dry off



## Okie Amazon (Sep 19, 2011)

We are waiting for our two girls to go into heat - since we'll be sending them over to someone elses place to be bred, I need to dry them off before they go, because the lady where we are sending them doesn't milk. They are both way down right now anyway. Should I just quit milking?  If they were dogs, I'd  fast them for a day, then cut their feed in half for a couple more, but these girls are only getting a little feed when I milk right now anyway. I can't just shut them up and keep them from browsing all day can I?


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## 20kidsonhill (Sep 19, 2011)

I was thinking use a hair dryer, but we use the top part of our shop vac and put it in reverse, and then I realized you were referring to a goat that is being milked.


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## damummis (Sep 19, 2011)

I would like to know as well.


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## damummis (Sep 20, 2011)

Now come on folks, I know all you goat people have dried off at least one animal.  Share.  How do we do it?  Cold turkey?  Gradually?


This is why some people get discouraged using this forum.  No answers to a valid question.  I am pushy though.  So will SOMEONE answer this question for the OP.


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## Goatherd (Sep 20, 2011)

I'll tell you what I did/do and how it has worked.  I have two first time moms that kidded twins at the end of May.  Their kids were raised naturally with them, meaning the moms fed the kids.  They were never separated from their mom, even at night.  Fast forward...the two wethered boys are gone and the two doe kids are still here.  Moms were never milked by anyone except their kids.  Their daughters are weaned and don't attempt to nurse at all at this point.  Moms udders are slowly getting smaller, but it is taking time.  They've had no dietary changes whatsoever and still are pastured, given hay, and grain.  No problems here with either of the moms.  So I guess I would tell you cold turkey is how it went here.


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## aggieterpkatie (Sep 20, 2011)

There really is no "best" way to do it, because people do things differently.  I do works best for me though, and what the dairy industry does, and I just dry off cold turkey.  Normally production is slowing anyways, so I stop feeding any concentrates (like grain) and I only feed water and grass hay.  Some people take away water, but I will never remove water from any live being.  The udder needs 5 days of no milking to get the signals to stop producing milk.  After 5 days if the udder is still very full (normally it will be), I'll milk the udder out just to lessen the amount of milk the body has to resorb.  This is also a good chance to look for any signs of mastitis.   

Now with my sheep, the lambs get weaned and the ewes get dried off cold turkey. No milk out later, they're on their own and I've never had any issues.  I've also never had any issues with goats and very rarely seen issues with the cows. I personally feel it's too back-and-forth to draw the process out and milk one day, skip one day, etc.  The udder won't get the signal to quit producing.


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## aggieterpkatie (Sep 20, 2011)

damummis said:
			
		

> This is why some people get discouraged using this forum.  No answers to a valid question.  I am pushy though.  So will SOMEONE answer this question for the OP.


Patience, Daniel-son.    People aren't ignoring the question, just give us some time to answer.


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## damummis (Sep 20, 2011)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> damummis said:
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I know, I know.....  _Hangs head and shuffles feet._

Cold turkey you say.  I didn't milk yesterday with every intention of stopping cold turkey.  Daisy seems fine, I think she was ready anyway.  Hazel, I felt so bad for this morning I milked.  Her udder was SO engorged.  I never saw it so big.  I got her in milk and never milked more than a quart from her.  This morning it was almost a gallon.  I hope it is a sign of her full potential next spring.  If I can I will get a pic when she fills back up.  Cold turkey it is then.  This will be interesting.  Maybe I will take a daily pic to compare......


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Sep 20, 2011)

If you have one that is VERY full after two days though it is a sign that you will need to use the milking down technique or you risk blowing the udder and teats.  Each animal is different.


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## ksalvagno (Sep 20, 2011)

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6187&p=1


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## aggieterpkatie (Sep 20, 2011)

Here is a good article  about drying off.  Talks a lot about drastically reducing calorie intake of animals starting about 2 weeks before dry-off.  

Here is an excerpt about why to do it cold turkey:


> After animals have been on a high fiber, low energy diet for about two weeks, their udder should be assessed for level of continued milk production and mammary health. If all seems well, abrupt dry off should be implemented. This means the animal is milked (by a human or its offspring) a final time, then not again until the next birth and lactation. Some livestock managers will milk once a day for a while, then every-other-day, then stop milking altogether, but this interferes with the major factor responsible for the cessation of milk production: back pressure. Whenever milk accumulates in the udder, it exerts pressure on the milk-producing cells in the mammary tissue, causing them to reduce milk production (this is why animals milked every 8 hours produce more milk than those milked every 12 hoursthere is less back pressure on milk-producing cells). If the pressure persists, the cells will eventually cease milk production altogether, which is exactly the goal of the drying-off process. Dry off is generally non-problematic when cows are producing less than 20#/day and goats are producing less than 3#/day.


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## Okie Amazon (Sep 20, 2011)

I guess cold turkey it is - I didn't milk yesterday and poor Gouda was squirting milk at every step this morning! Brie is still being nursed a bit by Goatburger (rotten little pig-beast) so at least she wasn't miserable.  We're thinking that when we send them over to be bred will probably be the best time to send GB to freezer camp anyway. He'll be so freaked out by his mom and buddy being gone he'd probably hurt himself somehow or try to get out of the fence looking for them


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## ksalvagno (Sep 20, 2011)

I treat every goat differently for anything. I had an alpine mix that was one heck of a milker and in my previous post is the thread of how long it took to dry her off. There was no way that I could just stop milking her.

Now I just recently dried off my Nigerians. I went to once a day for a week. Milk production dropped off a little. Then I went to every other day for a week. Milk production dropped off more. Then I went to every third day for a week and milk production dropped off more. Then I didn't milk for a week. Everyone's udders filled up during that time. I milked them out at the end of the week. They have not produced any more milk.

You have been given some good suggestions and now you can figure out what method or combination of methods will work best for your goat. We aren't milking your goat and have never even seen your goat so none of us can give you a definite "this is how you should dry off your doe" answer.


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## Okie Amazon (Sep 20, 2011)

I think the cold-turkey method may be best, at least for Brie, since I really haven't been giving them anything "extra" to eat except at milking times.   With Gouda I "might" have to go to every other day, if she seems especially miserable; she's the better milker anyway and she doesn't have a kid taking a sip here and there like Brie does. Mainly I was worried about setting up a mastitis problem. Never have had to deal with it (religious about disinfecting teats after milking) and never want to!


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## damummis (Sep 20, 2011)

I think with my two that Daisy is cold turkey kinda girl and Hazel is a slow wean kinda girl.  I will skip tomorrow with her and milk Thurs.  Thanks for all the info.


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## Island Creek Farm (Sep 22, 2011)

We were planning on drying ours off and went to once a day.  Oddly enough, it has continued and we are still milking once a day three months later.  Not because they won't dry up, but because we found it gives us the perfect amount of milk right now and leaves us free for early morning hunting come November.  No blowouts, no leaks, we are getting exactly half of what we got previously milking 2x/day.    Wanted to post this as I've seen people asking if you *CAN* milk once a day.  Apparently you can!  In the mornings, udders are soft, half full...by six pm they are nice and full and ready to milk!  They are BIG milkers too...Alpines.

When the  3 month pregnant date hits, it's cold turkey though!


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