How much milk from ff nubian?

[Sweetened]

I read posts like this and blush and my lack of worry about some things. If im milking for bottle babies, i dont clean the udder unless its dirty (rarely). If im milking for us, i strip out the first squirt or two from each teat, wash with dish soap and warm water, dry and go to town. I dont teat dip again or at the end, I dont rewash the udder unless we made a mess with the pail or i managed to milk down my hand and get the teat wet. I coold the milk right away and dont drink it for 24hours. Im lazy, methinks.

The thing i would worry about with hand sanitizer is it creating a burning sensation in the tip of the teat, making her even more resistant? Im sure many people use it, just a thought. I rarely touch that stuff, and i remember, once, rubbing my eyes a few minutes after using it and gah! The burn!

 

[babsbag]

I agree with @Sweetened about the hand sanitizer, I personally wouldn't use it. I use Dawn dish soap and a dash of bleach to wash the udder, and as a teat tip. I also use it to wipe down my hands. I always wash the udder before and dip after as I don't want to introduce bacteria into the udder and I don't know how soon those kids will nurse once I return mom to them.

Those sound like some small teats and that has to be frustrating for you. I like to be able to wrap 3 fingers around them, the little ones are just miserable but they should bet a little longer; hopefully. I also find that there is a direct correlation between feed and milk. Good alfalfa hay and good high protein grain makes milk, take one of those away and no extra milk for me.

Have you tried getting her on the stand and giving her grain while she is there and NOT milking her at that time? Just let her figure out that the stand means grain and not always milking. All of my goats that are being milked get about 3 qts of grain a day. What are you feeding her on the stand? Is it possible that she just doesn't like it?

 

[Moody]

She eats a non medicated dairy goat pellet as well as alfalfa pellets. I did have alfalfa but since I started the pellets, I haven't bought another bale.

I trained her to the stand when I first got her at 1.5 years old. I can offer her a bit just to get her up there and not milk that time. I can also grab another bale of alfalfa.

Again tonight only 5 min of standing still for me. I had a collar on her and tied her with a leash to the stand with a bowl of food in front of her. She got antsy and moving so I tied her back leg to the stand with another leash. Calmed her, petted her but still got my normal amount. She had too much leeway with her head and was trying to bite my shoulder. Nibbled my shirt then I felt teeth so I tapped her on the nose. I didn't get angry with her and I ended the session after getting a few more squirts. She has more milk than she will let me have.

 

[Moody]

Also she was hungry tonight since she ate hardly anything this morning. I keep thinking I will go out there and come out on top but I do not

I will just bring more soapy water for my hands but we have no running water out there which Is why I was using the sanitizer. I also have not been dipping after because the baby nurses and doesn't close off the teats or disinfect them....I intend to do it, just haven't gotten to that part of the routine yet. Also hairs in the milk is bothering me, if she would only stand still for me I could move on to other things, like trimming the udder hair, getting a solid routine for me down, teat dip.

Too frustrated with paying $200 for a goat, $150 for the buck to breed her with, barn, fencing, stand, feed, random supplies and still have no milk in my fridge.

The milk is good though, what few sips I have had tasted very much like cows milk not goaty at all. And the cream on my 1/2 cup this morning separated nicely.

 

[Sweetened]

I dont shave my girl (too flippin cold here), and end up with hairs in the milk. I strain it out and dont worry about it. Flecks of other foreign material i judge seperately. One thing i have found that helps is getting a mesh filter that sits over a bowl with a bit of an elastic around it (kind of looks like a hair net but finer mesh holes) from a beer and wine store. Putting that or a linen cloth strapped to your container can prefilter and help keep most things out.

I let my milk sit for 24 hours because its a live organism, really. So if there was an outside contaminant, like a hair or something, the live, good bacteria has a chance to battle off negative bacteria. There are several studies wherein pasteurized and raw milk is innoculated with ecoli and listeria and allowed to sit refridgerated, at room temperature and warmed, and in nearly all cases, after 7 days the counts are significantly down, and in some situations zero, for the negative bacteria in the raw milk.

I can definitely understand your frustration. That one doe whod kill herself on the stand was a $250 purchase i sold at a loss for meat because i couldnt burden another person with her crap! She could HURT someone. I will see about tying up one of my girls today and taking a picture to show my hobble technique, see if itll help you.

 

[Moody]

Thanks so much for all your help!
Interesting about the bacteria. I hadnt read that about the good bacteria killing off bad. I figured the fresher you drank it, the less bad bacteria there would be and of course chilling it quickly.

I got her on the stand cause biting just cannot happen. I had to put a tighter collar on her and pull her up.
I petted her and hummed a song. She ate for all of 2 min then stood there pissed looking (if goats can look pissed). I got milk until the stream was no longer easy. Still only 1/2 cup of milk. she did not eat all I offered, only some.

I definitely need something to strain it first instead of open bucket. Dogs got this mornings due to black specks. I will check out the straining device you mentioned and I may hobble her. I hate too though since she hates the milking experience already.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I put a nylon strainer that I get at Wally World on top of my milk bucket...keeps almost everything out of the milk to start with. When I get inside I strain again through a coffee filter and it's good to go!

 

[Sweetened]

Hobbles wont tick her off anymore than she already is, and when/if things go easier with it on itll reinforce good thoughts.

 

[Moody]

Just an update: I literally dragged her onto the stand for 2 days or so. Now she goes up voluntarily to put her head into the head lock but I must lift her rear end up onto the stand.

But overall she is so much better. I got 1/2 cup yesterday morning and 1 cup last night. So I am getting better too. A couple of days ago I counted the number of squeezes taken to get 1/4-1/2 cup and it was 150-200 but my hands were giving out on me. Now I got that 1 cup in 12 minutes. I'm thinking she may just be a bad milker.

 

[Sweetened]

Shes certainly not a high producer. My nubian x ff gives me a quart a day, only milk once a day and they dont get any supplement, producting is straight off grass/pasture.