Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
As many of you know, I’m still fairly new to milking goats and learning. Diamond is the first doe that has freshened on the farm that I’ve milked. (Nellie’s kid was pulled and sold a week before I got her and she was only milked once a day until I could pick her up.)
Diamond freshened for the second time on 1/23/18 with triplets for the second time.
I didn’t milk Diamond much until the two bucklings were weaned as I was trying to encourage Jasmine (Small Doeling of trips to grow.) It must’ve worked because she’s now caught up to the boys!
We’ve been penning Jasmine up for about 8 hrs at night so that I can milk Diamond in the morning or Jasmine drinks it all! I’ve been consistently getting 1.5-2 cups each morning (except when Diamond cycles.)
My concern is that Diamond is holding back and not letting me empty her properly. Despite “punching” (really bumping as I can’t make myself get near as rough as the kids do) she barely lets down any more milk.
I’ve taken before and after pics this morning. (Sorry about the lighting in the second pic, I forgot to take it while she was on the stand.)
I’d wean Jasmine but she’s very intimidated by Sparkle and CeCe and I don’t have anyone else to pen her with so it’ll have to wait until the newest batch of babies are ready to wean. (I’m also leaving feed out all day for the Lamancha girls and Jasmine would absolutely gorge herself if given the opportunity.)
Before, about a 10 hr fill.
After:
Diamond freshened for the second time on 1/23/18 with triplets for the second time.
I didn’t milk Diamond much until the two bucklings were weaned as I was trying to encourage Jasmine (Small Doeling of trips to grow.) It must’ve worked because she’s now caught up to the boys!
We’ve been penning Jasmine up for about 8 hrs at night so that I can milk Diamond in the morning or Jasmine drinks it all! I’ve been consistently getting 1.5-2 cups each morning (except when Diamond cycles.)
My concern is that Diamond is holding back and not letting me empty her properly. Despite “punching” (really bumping as I can’t make myself get near as rough as the kids do) she barely lets down any more milk.
I’ve taken before and after pics this morning. (Sorry about the lighting in the second pic, I forgot to take it while she was on the stand.)
I’d wean Jasmine but she’s very intimidated by Sparkle and CeCe and I don’t have anyone else to pen her with so it’ll have to wait until the newest batch of babies are ready to wean. (I’m also leaving feed out all day for the Lamancha girls and Jasmine would absolutely gorge herself if given the opportunity.)
Before, about a 10 hr fill.
After:
One of hers and one of Bangs. So, I'm only milking her once a day and sometimes not at all. It seems they prefer one side over the other normally so one side can be filled to max while the other is soft and nearly empty. When that happens, I milk down the full side to almost empty. Yesterday I milked her completely out as both sides were full. She gave almost a full gallon from that milking. Sounds like you're doing what you need to do to make/keep all the kids happy, healthy, and growing. 
