Milking goat ??supply question

[mlamson]

Hi all!
We got our first goat (have only had sheep before) yesterday who is a Saanen yearling, had a doeling last week who died the day before we picked her up. Unsure how well the doeling was feeding. Goat is lovely and well mannered and when she got here at 2pm yesterday had a very full udder. I milked her out as well as I could - it was her first time being milked so she was a bit unsure. Got a litre (1/4 gallon).

went back to milk her around 8pm not expecting a lot and sure enough got 1/4 cup.

went back again 12 hours later this morning and only got a 1/2 cup.
Udder is nice and soft and not hot or tender. Goat is happily eating, normal poops, alert and bright eyed.
Small amount of mucous in her nose (clear, and a bit white this morning). But didn’t come back after I wiped it off - it’s now after 2pm.
She’s on good quality hay, plus some goat mix grain at milking, minerals, and free choice baking soda.
I just got alfalfa pellets in today (feed store was out yesterday) so I will start that too. ACV in her water and I gave her an extra vitamin C crushed up in some peanut butter this morning in case the runny nose was something.

anything else I should be doing to help her milk supply back up? I assume she hadn’t been milked/fed off for awhile before she got here hence the fullness,and that this could be why her overall supply is not great now?

Am going to try milking her 3x a day and see if that helps and lots of good food. Anything else?

oh and she’s from a dairy farm so I assume reasonable genetics for milk production!
Thanks!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Do you know how long her udder was tight and full before you got her? I'm like you - wondering if the doeling nursed enough to keep her supply going. Hopefully she isn't already shutting down because she wasn't milked for awhile. But, I'd sure try milking her several times a day like you're doing. Sounds like you have a good understanding of how it's supposed to work and are doing all the right things. Good luck! Welcome to the forum!

 

[mlamson]

Thanks for the welcome!
They said her doeling has died the night before but they’d put another kid on her, but they couldn’t tell me specifics because they just had all their does+kids in one area and weren’t really paying attention as we were coming to pick her up the next day. I got a little more out of her at the 2pm milking than I had at 8am and she’s enjoying her alfalfa right now, so hopefully we are heading in a positive direction? If I can even get 1/4 gallon off her a day I’ll be pleased with that!