When to wean?

[jessica5254]

I want to milk my mama goat but want to keep baby on her as long as she needs to be. Is this possible? And is doing this going to hurt mamas future milk production? and Do I run the risk of mama drying up/ Thanks:/

 

[ksalvagno]

How old is the kid? Is there only one kid? You could separate them at night and then milk her in the morning for yourself and let the kid have her the rest of the day but it depends on age. Also depends on if both mom and kid have another goat to be with when separated.

 

[freemotion]

I am doing this and it is working out great! The doe is now thoroughly trained to be milked as a first freshener, and the doeling is HUGE at 12 weeks old today. I started when she was two weeks old, separating her for a short night (went out just before bed and snatched her from her mom, depositing her into a stall with my other baby, a bottle baby). I gradually lengthened the time they were apart and now I could really wean her, but we've had a terrible heat wave and decided not to stress anyone just yet. It is nice to have the flexibility that this method affords.

If your doe, like mine, is a first freshener, she still may not give much milk or sustain it for as long as she will the second or third time around. I'm getting 16 oz reliably, and occasionally 20-24 oz after 14 hours apart. Not sure how she grew such a ginormous baby!

 

[jessica5254]

The baby is 8 days old today. She also seems to prefer one side so mama is a little lopsided, but not bad though. Thanks for the info I never would have thought of that.

 

[glenolam]

When my doelings were about 9 - 10 wks old I began taping up my does teats. I don't have the luxury of separate stalls, and my schedule allows more time for evening milkings as opposed to morning milkings so I would go out to her every morning, tape her teats with regular 3M bandage tape, and by the time I returned from work she'd be full and ready to go. I'd then let her nurse her kids all night long (which, trust me, they made up for the "lost" time). Now that it's been a few weeks, I leave the tape off to see how weaned the girls are. They're slowly forgetting about nursing and I suspect that soon I'll be able to have all the milk for myself until I decide to dry her up. So, depending on your schedule, there's a few things you could do.

If mama is lopsided, you should milk out the one side the baby isn't nursing from just so her production doesn't stop on that side.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

I am doing the once a day milking schedule also...found the info on fiasco and it is working out really well. I left mom and babies alone together for the first week, then started putting them into a dog crate in mom's stall with food and water for the night. They learned how to eat the grain and hay, and now they like to go in there to get the snacks! They can always see her, so there is very little stress.

 

[jessica5254]

The baby is 10 days old today. When is a good time to start taking some milk for myself? Also this is mamas first freshenerand she had one kid a doeling. YEAH! More milk next year and babies ttoooo. I cant wait. There is nothing more cute than baby goats.

 

[ksalvagno]

Is there one side that she favors? If there is, then milk the other side. I would give her a full 2 weeks before separating to get milk for yourself.

 

[jessica5254]

I have seen the baby nurse from both sides just one side more than the other.

 

[Chirpy]

I also wait until my babies are 2 to 3 weeks old and then separate them from momma at night so I get the milk in the morning.