Sheep milk production dropping at legen-dairy speed.

[ThoughtfulFox]

Pardon the pun, but I've got a serious problem.

For those who haven't met me yet;
Hi, name's Fox, new shepherd, don't know what the hell I'm doing most times.
I've been tending to a flock for the past few months, and lately I've been milking three ewes day and night. (as close to 7:30 as possible)
All of these purebred East Fresians gave birth in March. Last week they collectively produced upward of ten cups of milk every twelve hours. Now we're down to seven cups if we're lucky. The ewes aren't taking nearly so much interest in their alfalfa (pellets or grain) as they once were. In fact the matriarch of the flock sorts through the mixed alfalfa pellets and whole corn faster than CoinStar ever thought of being.
I'm told that this breed is supposed to produce milk through July. Am I maybe doing something wrong?
details: The lambs are fully separated from their mothers at this point. They never even see one another.

This milk is very important to the health of this farm, so any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

 

[kstaven]

Supposed to and do are two very different things. Just like goats some lines are great producers with good milking longevity and other lines are short term milkers. How much do you know about their ancestry? We have bred our herds specifically for longevity and believe me when I say one buck from questionable lines bred in can take many generations undo the damage.

 

[Cricket]

Good one! I wonder if you posted this on the sheep forum if you'd get more replies? I'm thinking maybe sheep people don't necessarily check out the milking section. I know nothing about milking sheep--there's a sheep dairy in northern VT that makes wicked good Ricotta Salata, but that's it. I milk cows part time---the other night I had a new heifer with tiny tits and the milking machine was squawking and I was holding it on and grumbling. Then I thought about you milking sheep by hand and it shut me right up! Good luck!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Coinstar!

It could be that they're just slowing down production. Is their water intake the same? If you could get them to drink more water it may increase. Is it hot where you are? Perhaps the water is getting hot during the day and they're not wanting to drink as much? Is this their first lactation?

 

[ThoughtfulFox]

Supposed to and do are two very different things. Just like goats some lines are great producers with good milking longevity and other lines are short term milkers. How much do you know about their ancestry? We have bred our herds specifically for longevity and believe me when I say one buck from questionable lines bred in can take many generations undo the damage.

Sorry for not responding for a few days. Thank you for the replies.
A couple days ago the ewe's temperature was checked and she was a little on the cold side. (101 F / 38.3 C). She was given a couple of injections, I do not know precisely what, but her appetite seems to have picked up, as well as her production. (though we're throwing out her milk for a few days. Tainted by the antibiotics I think.)

I know their ancestry about as well as I know everything else about sheep....not too well. I'm pretty new in this field. (yay pun ^_^ )
From everything I'm told they're purebred. And from the little I know about the different breeds there don't seem to be many unusual traits in them. Three of the ewes have wooly tails rather than rat tails. That's all that I've noticed.

Cricket: You may be right, but I thought it might be a more generalized sort of question rather than directly sheep-related.
I'm actually getting really good at milking our sheep, now. By the time we're done for the year (projected) I ought to have it mastered. It's not so bad with a small flock. But I'm hearing talk about breeding seven of the ewes next year. *eye twitch*
My hobby is fixing up computers I find on the side of the road. But now I spend more time with my hands on udders than on video cards and RAM.
How the heck did I get here?

aggie: (or should I be calling you katie?) To be perfectly honest it's difficult for me to judge their water intake. Other people fill their buckets periodically, there are two Great Pyrenees dogs in the field with them, lots of cats in the barn, and I'm not there most of the day; just a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night. Yes it is hot here and heading quickly toward a sweltering Georgia Summer.
The flock seems to be far more comfortable now that they're shorn.
No this is not this particular ewe's first lactation. I think she's been bred three times.