New Dairy Goat-Am I Doing it Right?

[Latestarter]

Minerals aren't like grains... Think table salt... It doesn't "go bad". Of course excess moisture or dampness will "spoil" it as it does contain salt. If it gets wet it clumps and dries into a rock. If they are deficient, you'll be amazed at how fast they go through them...

 

[Southern by choice]

It is a weatherized mineral.

Just dump the bag in a rubber bin or something similar and put out what you need. We go through a 50 lb bag quickly but we do store it in a big rubbermade trash can. You could fit a lot in a 5 gallon bucket with lid.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

That is a great idea! I didn't even think about using the 5 gallon bucket for storage. I'm always using them for other things!

Now to see if there is a Southern States dealer around the area.

I gave her some Vitamin B last night via an oral dosage but as I was going over her ears last night, saw that they had a white discharge and a smell. I think I'm the first person to have ever cleaned them out and now they're infected.

I cleaned out as much pus as I could and they didn't smell after I cleaned them. I used some Vetericyn spray also (I was in a rush to get in before the storms hit). Is there anything else I can do? She acts completely normal other than the reduced eating (which I'm hoping the Vit. B helps with that.)

I did notice today that she had been out browsing since I couldn't see her last few ribs last night! *squeal*

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Alright! So this was a photo from last week. She's coming along nicely and is actually even more filled out this week.

As of last night, she gave me 1.5 quarts of milk! I think I may need to start milking her 2x per day as she seems fairly full during the AM hours now. I was hoping just to do the once a day milking as I don't need that much milk from her but I also don't want her to start having issues with holding the milk too long.

She is now being fed Purina Equine Senior textured pellets, rolled oats, handfull of BOSS and a handful of Beet Pulp once a day. She gets Alfalfa hay as well as all the browse she could want.

Thank you for the suggestion of the B12, it seemed to up her food drive the very next day.

 

[Southern by choice]

Looking alot better. I am sure some of her weight issues were also from kiddding. Some of our Lamanchas look pretty rough 3 weeks after kidding but then start picking up weight.
Good on the production. That's great! Going to 2x a day milking will increase productivity but that's great because you can make cheese! Freeze it for when she is dry. We freeze a lot of Chevre'.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I don't think it was from kidding unless she just never caught back up from her. Her kid was 5 months old when I got her.

Problem is I work full time so getting up to the barn 2x per day milking will be hard. I've been giving most of her milk to my chickens in their feed to beef them up. Seems to be working well. I only use part of her milk for me since hubby refuses to try it.

I'm going to have to look up some cheese recipes!

 

[Southern by choice]

Chevre' is the easiest cheese to make and you can do anything with it! I do a lot of desert cheeses. A favorite here though is roasted garlic and chives. YUM!
My one son will eat an entire pound of Lemon chevre in a sitting!

I like making bagel spreads too. I like chopped walnuts with real maple syrup added to the chevre so it is a little creamier and makes such a nice spread. Possibilities are endless!
Just need a culture packet and good cheesecloth for straining. It takes a few minutes to set up. Then it sits, next day once it curds, drain for 12 hours or so. And there ya have it.Simple!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

As an odd question, if I don't milk her 2x per day, is she more likely to develop mastitis? If she is, I will start milking 2x a day, no matter if it means getting up that extra hour early. (Ugh...)

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Chevre' is the easiest cheese to make and you can do anything with it! I do a lot of desert cheeses. A favorite here though is roasted garlic and chives. YUM!
My one son will eat an entire pound of Lemon chevre in a sitting!

I like making bagel spreads too. I like chopped walnuts with real maple syrup added to the chevre so it is a little creamier and makes such a nice spread. Possibilities are endless!
Just need a culture packet and good cheesecloth for straining. It takes a few minutes to set up. Then it sits, next day once it curds, drain for 12 hours or so. And there ya have it.Simple!

I just bought the culture and cheesecloth for this! LOL! I think it will be a while before I actually get a chance to do it (waiting for her to keep her production up) but I'm really excited to try it! Thank you!

 

[Southern by choice]

Many do just 1x milking. I think heavy producers it is a bad idea but it seems she is doing fine so go with it.

Keep in mind you only need like a gallon of milk. so you will have that in a few days. Make some cheese please!

We pasteurize all milk before making cheese but some do raw... your call. You will get addicted to making cheese fast!