Goat Whisperer's & SBC's kidding thread: kidding storm

[Southern by choice]

@Goatgirl47

Trouble is 2nd F-
As a FF she averaged 4.5-5 lbs daily peaked at 6 lbs she milked for a solid 10 months before we dried her off.
Her dam is an excellent milker.

To get an idea of what a quality producer milks I have quoted from some of the top mini breeders- they are some of the oldest breeders of minis.
from- Green Gables
http://www.greengablesmininubians.com/MiniNubian FAQ.htm
This also depends a lot on the doe. A taller MiniNubian will likely give more than a smaller doe. My does average around 5-6 lbs of milk per day (1 pound = 1 pint, or half a quart) First time milkers will give less than experienced does. My first fresheners usually milk 3-5 lbs a day. My best milkers give about 7-8 lbs (1 gallon) each day. The most milk I have had one doe give me in a single day was nearly 11 lbs!!! You can see our herd's milk records on the Milk Recordspage

The key to having a great mini is truly the breeding stock in which you start. If you have a very nice proven producer and you breed to a proven buck that you know what he will bring to the gene pool then you will have some very nice animals.

 

[Southern by choice]

@Devonviolet - Remember I have already talked with this breeder and have had all the preliminary questions answered already so those q's are from the second discussion.

 

[Devonviolet]

@Devonviolet - Remember I have already talked with this breeder and have had all the preliminary questions answered already so those q's are from the second discussion.

Do you have a list of the kinds of preliminary questions that are good to ask?

 

[Southern by choice]

Well update from the other morning...
So evening milking was 10 lbs 2 0z - total for 24 hr= (9lb 1oz + 10lb 2oz) 19lbs 3 oz

Mariah should be milking minimum 8# day... for her genetics to include sisters dam etc she really should be doing 12# day.

All in all the dwarfs and the minis are doing awesome!

We are seeing Mariah starting to increase... maybe she knew I was going public with her shameful production...
Anyway yesterday and this am she is increasing... about time.
Last night she increased by 1 pint and this am just over a pint in increase... so maybe she will get to that minimum of 8# day. Still below what all her genetics should give.

She was always milked on machine and is very difficult to hand milk.. still working on getting our machine going... we need some parts.
We did not own her for first 2 freshenings. She was bred exclusively for mini's and after they retained her kids we bought her.

These are the things I believe have affected her production...
She was bred for mini's as FF had twins,dam raised and was milked on machine but not for long.
Second Freshening she had a single, dam raised and came to us shortly after weaning at 3 months... we never could get production up too high but at least she milked for a longer duration.

I say all that because I do believe breeding a standard for mini's as well as dam raising limits and "trains" the udder.

So her does from this year have been retained. We will see how they do. I am now considering breeding the does to a standard their first go around instead of for mini's... I want to set them up for producing and maximizing that udder capacity.

Our goals for the 4 does in milk are as follows...MINIMUM
Leah ND (2nd Fr) - 3#
Ruth ND (2nd Fr) - 3#
Trouble MiniM (2nd Fr) - 6-7#
Mariah StdLM (3rd Fr) - 8#

Total= 20-21#

The next does are up in March- we will have 3FF. and Ruby
So we will see.... I'd like to see a combined 12# minimum from the FF . Ruby 10#

April we have 2 more 3rF & 4thF.

Katie has 2 months to go and is so huge I am nervous about how many she has in her. I will need to get a picture. It is crazy. Fortunately she is an oversized dwarf and very hardy so she should do okay with whatever she has.

 

[Hens and Roos]

maybe your Katie is like our Maggie and will give you 6 kids!!

 

[Southern by choice]

maybe your Katie is like our Maggie and will give you 6 kids!!

That is what I'm afraid of.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I'm sure you both will do great with how many she decides to bless you with!!

 

[Southern by choice]

I am surprised @Goat Whisperer hasn't been on here singing her praises for "Trouble".

Yesterday Trouble gave her norm in the morning... but GW needed some milk in the afternoon because we were a little short to do the 4:00 feeding for the Bottle babies... so she apparently pulled Trouble up ( I was out of town for the day) ... reliable Trouble!
She milked a quart out to have the extra needed for the BB's... then at evening milk Trouble gave another quart.

Trouble gave 3 & 1/2 quarts yesterday! This am she gave 1/2 gallon... I bet she gives 1 gallon today (approx 8#).

My DH might clobber me but IF I keep Trouble's 2 doelings and see how their udder and teats are AND take them through a FF, I can always sell them in milk, then I can see if Henry )the sire) improved on teat length and placement... his dam had excellent placement and size.... of course that was the orinal plan for Trouble... she is still here and isn't going anywhere. I love my mini's.

In other news Mariah is slowly increasing.
Nigies are doing great.

Preparing for next round of kidding!

Day 150= March 5th so... 3-1 through 3-10
Zephyr (LM) X Will (ND) for f-1 mini's registered
Ruby (Nubian) X Will (ND) for f-1 mini's registered

Day 150= March 17th so... 3-12 through 3-22
Cici (Alpine) X Chewey2 (ND) for f-1 mini's exp reg
Lucy (ND) X Will (ND) for Nigies registered

Zephyr, Cici, and Lucy are all first timers... Zephyr and Cici look like they will have singles... Lucy more than likely a single but maybe, just maybe, twins.

Ruby- twins.

2 more in April - Millie (Lamancha) and Katie (Dwarf)

 

[Southern by choice]

Sorry edited above post... when we weigh and then convert I get confused in my translating.. I had said 7 qts I meant 7cups=3 1/2 qts
My bad

 

[Southern by choice]

Ruby and Zephyr are up next!

Kind of funny as they have been hanging out together and laying around together... they never do that.

They are kidding buddies!
They have the same due date!

Day 150= March 5th so... 3-1 through 3-10
Zephyr (LM) X Will (ND) for f-1 mini's registered
Ruby (Nubian) X Will (ND) for f-1 mini's registered