Another question about milking...

[iamcuriositycat]

Okay, so now I'm thinking about milking and I got to wondering...

The biggest obstacle right now to our having a milk goat is the every-day commitment. I already take care of ducks and two wethers & a handful of house animals daily, so I don't mind having morning barn chores. And I LOVE bringing in fresh eggs every day. But milking seems to bring it to a whole new level.

But here's the question. If I let the kid nurse all day, separate them at night, & then milk the goat in the morning, that works right? What if I was going to be gone or for some reason just really not up to milking (sick or something), could I just leave the kid in all night and skip that morning's milking?

Thanks!

 

[Roll farms]

You mean you can get sick and get out of milking / animal chores....

Who knew???

 

[iamcuriositycat]

Ha ha!! Absolutely not.

No, I was running a temp & coughing & spending lots of time leaning over a toilet during the holidays, and still out there moving animals around and making sure they got fed. BUT, I do try to minimize the amount of work that is absolutely essential for just such occasions.

Also, we do sometimes hire someone to come do farm chores when we're out of town, so I like to minimize for that purpose too (cheaper!). However, sometimes I can pay them partially in farm products, so the milking might still get done since I know they would love to have goat milk.

Still, I would like to know... is this a chore I could minimize?

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i sure didn't know! or my parents or sisters!

 

[julieq]

You mean you can get sick and get out of milking / animal chores....

Who knew???

Yep, I've been sick for a week with a sinus infection so DH and DD have been doing most of the chores and all of the milking! Unfortunately I'm feeling a bit better today so most likely will be back at it 24/7 next week..

 

[Our7Wonders]

A friend of mine keeps her babies until fall just for that reason. She milks just once a day (in the morning) and then in September during the fair, her babies take care of ALL the milking because she leaves for the fair. I suppose your milk supply would be at risk of going down, but if only for a day or two it might not have a HUGE effect. I don't know for sure, but I would guess she still has someone come in to feed them their normal morning grain ration that they would normally have on the milk stand. She then sells the babies off after the fair is over and she no longer needs them.

So, it's possible. I don't know how great an idea it is, but it has been done.

 

[poorboys]

MY NUBIANS WOULD'NT LET ME!!!! THEY WILL HOLLAR ALL NIGHT IF I LET THEIR MILKINGS GO Later in the season If I'm getting to much milk to do anything with I'll go down to once a day,or If I have a doe that's low on productivity I'll take her down to once a day. MY NEIGHBORS WOULD KILL ME IF THEY HAD TO LISTEN TO THOSE NUBIES, LOL

 

[Roll farms]

I don't consider milking that big of a chore, myself.
I'm milking 3 and it takes me longer to let them in / out than it does to milk them.
I would say, including dipping teats / applying udder balm, I spend 10 minutes TOPS milking 1 gallon out of 3 does, morning and night.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Well, I actually did that with mine. My goats might be a little different tho.

I had one Nubi who would nurse ANYthing. And a few bottle babies and a wether who figured that out. Between the four babies, I had to keep her strictly away or I got no milk. But if I needed to be away, I could easily leave her with them and no worries. In her case it INcreased her milk supply.

I had another FF I wasn't even sure I wanted to keep. TINY teats. I would milk her sometimes and sometimes leave her kid in the pasture with her. It kept her supply up (he was a glutton) and I only milked her to keep her trained and check her supply as I got enough from the Nubi.

So yes it's possible. I'm not sure about advisable, or under what circumstances. I guess I'm saying your mileage may vary.

 

[iamcuriositycat]

Wow, Roll Farms, that's all? Wow.

Thanks so much for all the feedback! I would definitely not do it often, but it's nice to know that if I'm going to be gone one night or something, I can let the kid nurse & do any milking that's necessary later in the day when I get home.

Another question: How important is it to milk at exactly the same time every day? Some days I need to be somewhere by 7:30, and some days I don't need to be anywhere until 10. I like to sleep in when I can, and the ducks don't mind if I let them out a little late. The goats don't love it, but they deal with it, lol. Will a milk goat suffer if I'm a couple hours late milking? I'm guessing the answer to that is "yes," but it never hurts to ask, right??

Thank you all so much--I learn so much from the forums over at BYC, and I can see the same is going to be true here.