Eloise is EXTREMELY hard to milk! I need help!

[Mea]

Against what a lot of people/books say, I only milk once a day. Both my husband and I work Mon-Fri so evening milkings are where I collect my rations

She has a relatively large bag (well, what do I know, but to me it seems like she does) and I don't plan on emptying it completely until the twins are 8 wks old.

Right now I'm just trying to get in the swing of things so when the time comes I'll be able to empty her out in no time at all.

Once a day milking is good. The main thing is consistancy. We have a doe that i milked thru for almost two years. After the first eight months of milking, she was on once a day for the next13 months. Worked out quite well.

Sounds as tho You are working it out well.

 

[glenolam]

Just another quick update for anyone who's checking.

Eloise and I are doing very well. She still kicks, but settles down for a few minutes, eats, then tries to kick again. I tell her no, she settles down again and we milk some more. It's exciting!

Now if only she would let me use two hands.....

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

We have a doe that i milked thru for almost two years. After the first eight months of milking, she was on once a day for the next13 months. Worked out quite well.

Wow! I had no idea lactation could persist for so long. How common is this?

 

[Mea]

We have a doe that i milked thru for almost two years. After the first eight months of milking, she was on once a day for the next13 months. Worked out quite well.

Wow! I had no idea lactation could persist for so long. How common is this?

Extended lactations are the combination of Someone wanting to milk a doe thru ... and the Doe being willing to milk thru.

I tried this many years ago with a doe that really was not much to look at... but the milk was the best tasting of all our goats at that time. Rather than bring more not so great goats into the world, we tried milking thru. At that time i still used the 2x a day milking.
This last time, i was in a position where i did not want to raise a bunch of kids, but did want some milk. The doe was most willing to keep milking, a steady 2lbs a day, once a day no matter what the temperature. She's a good girl .

On another group, one of the members had a doe that they milked thru for five years. That, in my mind, is truely the "Will to Milk" I just don't know if 'i' could keep up my end of such a program.

 

[Mini-M Ranch]

I'm late to this thread because we just moved and have been without internet, but I just wanted to mention that I think Eloise is B-E-AUTIFUL! I love the Bezoar coloring. My bezoar mini-nubian is due to kid and day. I can't wait to see what her kiddos look like! AND she is a first freshener, so I'm sure the milking will be...ahem...difficult.

 

[Roll farms]

I am going to attempt to milk Penny through this year.
She is a lovely goat and I adore her, but she has had problems kidding 2 years straight. She is giving me a solid 5# of milk 1x a day, and doesn't appear to be slowing down at all.

 

[Mea]

I am going to attempt to milk Penny through this year.
She is a lovely goat and I adore her, but she has had problems kidding 2 years straight. She is giving me a solid 5# of milk 1x a day, and doesn't appear to be slowing down at all.

A very good reason to 'milk thru'. At least this way, there is some return for her upkeep, by continuing the milk.

I can come up with reasons to keep just about Any of our goats. But i also like to "Challange" them to do an extended lactation. In my 'little book of life rules' there should be special recognition for does that can and Do milk thru.

 

[glenolam]

Thanks for the compliment on Eloise! She really is a beautiful doe - I do wish her girls got more of her coloring, but they got their colors from their dad. The little brown one, Cara after Caramel, has blue eyes like her dad and the white one, Nilly after Vanilla, has brown eyes like mom.

Does anyone have difficulty milking when other goats are in the barn/stall? My goats share one big room where the milking stand is as well as their hay bale feeders are since I don't have your classic horse barn. When I started milking I kept the other two goats outside to feed, but last night it was raining so everyone ate inside. I can't feed one goat at a time because the others will get in the way.

After a few minutes of reminding her son, Junior, where his feed bucket was and getting Fudgie, my other doe, back to hers they left Eloise alone and I ended up with less than 8 oz because Eloise kicked the bucket out of my hand several times. I've threatened her with the hobble - guess I just have to go buy one.

Anyway - does anyone tie up their goats to feed? I'm not sure how I feel about that, I don't see anything wrong with it, but I know it will be difficult until they learn not to pull...

 

[Mea]

Anyway - does anyone tie up their goats to feed? I'm not sure how I feel about that, I don't see anything wrong with it, but I know it will be difficult until they learn not to pull...

We have short chains with swivel clips on them. Everyone gets clipped to 'Their' space during chores. They Do know where their spot is, altho a couple pretend that they haven't a clue...Everytime... "What...? Me Where ??..."

The swivel clip is important as they Will twist around and w/o the swivel the chain can and will kink.

This keeps down the grain theves from getting All the grain and allows us time to change water buckets and fill hay racks without the mass exodus of goats each time the gate is opened.

So far they seem to learn to tolerate the clipping into place fairly easily... all have survived so far. Oh and yes... they will still pull.... "Who knows there might just be a bit of someone else's feed
if i can only streeeetch just a bit further...."

 

[glenolam]

"Who knows there might just be a bit of someone else's feed
if i can only streeeetch just a bit further...."