First Freshener Milk Supply

[Sweetened]

So, I have an Oberhasli Doe who's a first freshener. This is my first time with a dairy goat, and the first time with a first freshening one as well. I'm somewhat concerned.

The Boer, who kidded a couple days after (for the second or third time), over-produces for her kid, and I have had to milk her a couple times now (what a gong show that is ). My Ober on the other hand, is always dry, her kid keeps her that way. The kid is growing well (he's bloody huge!), Mom seems healthy. Is this normal for a first freshening dairy breed, or is it possible I got bad milking lines out of her? I was hoping to be able to milk her as of Friday, but if the baby is keeping her dry, is it advisable for me to take any from her?

Thanks!

 

[alsea1]

What are you feeding her? I give mine alfalfa to increase milk production. They need alot of groceries to produce.
If you have several kids you can try penning them at night away from the mom and milk in the morning and then put them together during the day. They should be fine with that. In fact the moms may like having some time away from the little brats. LOL
I'm thinking that three weeks or so should be time enough for the kids to spend the night away from mom.
As for milking training. LOL It just takes time and much patience. I ignore the kicking and dancing around. Eventually they get over it. You can't get after them because they have to be relaxed to let the milk down. I gently butt the udder like the kids do to begin. Seems to work.
Also I put some rocks in the feed pan to slow them down a bit so that I can get the milking done before they get bored. Also I found that it really helps to put them on the milk stand for grooming sessions. I try to give them a nice brushing if they like that on the stand. Whatever you can do to make the stand a pleasurable place to be helps.

 

[Sweetened]

thanks Alsea!

I'm not overly worried about the dancing around, I milked Agnes more out of necessity than want ( I wanted to leave the kids on for 2 weeks before milking ), but her kid has a penchant for only drinking off the right teat instead of both. And, like I said, she over-produces. I'm VERY Impressed by her production and udder, it's 'globular' with great attachments and good teats. It takes her a minute to let down, but I but it like you suggested (learned that from milking a cow I had at a share).

Gretel, as long as I have her collar, will let me draw milk from her, she just has none to give. They are on free choice Alflafa/brome/grass (mostly alfalfa) mix hay from our field, as they have been for a long time. She doesn't eat any more or less, I have noticed she drinks more which is understandable, so I've been rotating waterers to keep her with access to it. I know he's getting enough because of how active he is and the sheer amount he's grown in a week (I'd say pretty near doubled his weight). Perhaps that's what it is, is he just nurses SO much. I've also been giving her oats to try and help her produce a bit more. I know the amount is supposed to be quite a bit less than what they produce the second and third year, however I'm just surprised at how dry he's keeping her, she has a pretty good udder. For the first couple days he was barely keeping up. She's not hard, just empty.

 

[alsea1]

Sounds like you are doing what you can.
Do you know any milk info regarding her sire ? I think milk production is influenced on the sire side.
I imagine once you get the kid off during the night will help.
My boer has tiny teats. I tried milking her once but found it quite tedious. Although her milk was awesome.

 

[Sweetened]

Unfortunately, I know very little about her. She was a dispersal doe I picked up. The guy who owned the Ober's apparently died and they were left to his kids who didn't want anything to do with them. Sold them without their papers or registration information, so...

 

[alsea1]

Could be she will do good next freshening. I would not give up hope just yet though. I think they start out low and build up and then gradually drop off. As nature intended.

 

[Sweetened]

I love her to bits, if she doesn't produce a lot, even next freshening, I'll get kids off her but not include her in the full breeding plan I have. She's such a good doe.

I am still surprised I'm so impressed by my Boer LOL

 

[SillyChicken]

Can you tape up the over nursed teat, like every other day or something? What about separating her from him at night, milk in the am, then put them back together?

 

[Sweetened]

The one teat that's being over nursed is on my second freshener; sorry, I was just drawing contrast as she's a meat goat who's outproducing my dairy girl.

I'll start separating Dairy mom and baby as of Friday night, as he'll be two weeks old then and the weather is warmer (Even though I'll move the lamp). I was moreso concerned that if she was being kept dry by her kid, is it detrimental for me to pull him off her, as she seems to be barely keeping up.

 

[Southern by choice]

Personally I would not separate the kid from the mom until minimum of 3 weeks. The kid is young and unless you plan on supplementing the kid I do not think he is going to get enough to thrive. IMO a 2 week old kid isn't out of the woods so to speak.
By 3 weeks he will be nibbling on hay etc and his body will start adjusting.