Daisychick's *Journal* New Baby and it Moos!!!!

[daisychick]

It is supposed to be 104 degrees today! Yes, it does get that hot here in beautiful Colorado! Why or why does Stella have to go into labor during the heat of the day, I sure wish she would wait until evening when it cools off. I am setting up a fan in the barn to get some air moving. Just walking down the sidewalk you break into a sweat. :/

 

[Catahoula]

Yeah, it is around 87 up here. I will bring some nice cold water out to the kids. We are lucky that even with the tempt as high as the 80s, with the higher elevation and shaded trees, it is not that hot...which is not bad for the goats.
Good Luck and can't wait to see the kids. Is Stella also bred to the mini too? Hope you get some does this time!

 

[daisychick]

Yes Stella is bred to the Nigerian Dwarf for more mini nubians. I hope she has girls.

 

[daisychick]

Stella had her kids! A boy and a girl.

Light one is the girl, dark one is the boy

More info on the kidding thread.
http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18459

 

[Catahoula]

Are they about them size as Luna's buckling? How are the boys doing? Going to be bigger than expected? Cute kids...

 

[daisychick]

Are they about them size as Luna's buckling? How are the boys doing? Going to be bigger than expected? Cute kids...

Luna's boys are growing like weeds. The runt is catching up to his bigger brother. I still think they are going to be a nice mid sized goat. It is so hard to tell right now how tall they are going to get. I disbudded them this weekend and they got their first CD&T shots. They are doing great and Luna is being a great momma now. Stella's kids are the same size as the bucklings were when they were born. I have never had or saw first generation mini nubians so I think their adult size is still a guessing game. I know they are going to be bigger than the Nigerians that is for sure.

 

[daisychick]

So I am usually pretty good at picking up new things, I am a quick learner. But......my second day trying to milk and I sucked at it really bad. Trying to learn and so is Luna. She is a FF and is very good on the stand so far. I just can't seem to get much milk out. Today I got about 3 Tablespoons out. I was just practicing but still. Then Luna had enough and bolted through the stantion head gate, yeah she took that baby down! Note to self and others. PVC can break clean in half, even the big thick pipes. So lesson learned, the PVC milking stands should not be used on new milkers. I Now need to make a wooden one. I also need to get my grip and squeeze technique down. I am good at trapping the milk in the teat, but can't seem to squeeze it out very good. I don't think it helps that her teats just aren't that big yet. Do you think after a few more weeks with the babies nursing that the teats will get a bit bigger??? Will I mess up her milk production potential if I wait until 3 or 4 weeks after freshening to start milking??? Should I keep trying to milk her once a day right now and keep it up and learn as her teats grow out?? I just want to be a good milk maid.

 

[daisychick]

Another day of over 100 degrees out side. Our state is burning with tons of wildfires. WE NEED RAIN! I set up a misty mate for the bucks since they don't have a shade tree. I don't do heat very well, I am melting. During daycare naptime I brought everyone a fresh cool bucket of water. HOT!!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!!!

 

[KinderKorner]

My goats would break a PVC stand in 5 minutes. Sometimes I even worry about them breaking my wooden one when they are squirming a lot, like when tattooing or giving medicine.

When are you going to post pictures of your new Kinder buck? I'd love to see updated pictures of your doe too!

I usually don't start milking at all for 2 weeks. The first couple weeks it can have blood, or colostrum in it and will give it an off taste. But that is if their are babies on her. If no babies are on her, then I just milk it out and dump it.

It takes a while to get the hang of milking, and some does are much harder to milk.

Little teats can be hard to get a good grip on, and you often have to just use your fingers instead of your entire hand.

But I think orifices are much more important! The size of the hole the milk comes out of can be the difference between hard to milk and easy to milk. If it's too much work to get the milk out, I often find I get tired of doing it and quit. I like my does with large orifices so the milk just pours out in a large stream. I have does that take less than a couple minutes to milk out. The doe that kidded yesterday, if you even push on her udder the milk comes out. I tried to point the teat at her baby to make it easier on him, and I accidentally sprayed him in the face, with just the light pressure.

There is a fine line though. You don't want orifices so big that the milk just leaks out all the time, or where dirt and bacteria can get in easily.

Her udder will get easier to milk with time, but don't expect a huge difference. Keep trying though! You'll get better, and so will she.

Sometimes if your not getting a lot of milk out, it can also mean the doe is "holding her milk" I have several does who won't let it all down, I guess they think they are saving it for their babies. lol. If you just sit with her and relax her, she will let it down eventually. You can try massaging or bumping her udder, and talking softly to her.

It never fails though, sometimes I won't get anymore milk out, then as soon as I let the doe back in with her babies they will drink for a long time off of what I thought was an empty udder. Bad goaties.

 

[daisychick]

KinderKorner, Thank you for the encouragement. I really want to get pictures of the new buck and updated ones of Jesse the doeling.....I will try tonight when it isn't soooooo hot. Luna's kids are 2 and 1/2 weeks old so that is why I started trying to milk her this week. I will keep practicing. My other doe that just kidded seems to have nicer teats so maybe she will be my milker, I will give her the two weeks feeding her new babies and then I will give her a try too. I really only need to milk one so I will see which one turns out to have better milk flow.