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Hello everyone! I will start my kidding thread at the first of April, but until then I want to start asking some questions about milking my FF doe Poppy.
A little background: She will be due sometime after April 22. She is some type of ND mix, maybe part Nubian. She was a bottle baby that was given to me about four years ago (making her about four years old). She is the only mix doe I have, the rest of the herd are all Boers. I'm VERY worried about her kidding since she is smaller than the Boer buck she's bred to.
I am thinking about milking her, though I really don't have the set up for it. I have a stand but no special room for her so I'll be milking her in an extra stall or in the side of the barn. I don't know much about milking so I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as possible before she kids.
Questions:
What are the things I would need? Like buckets, disinfectants, etc.
She is very sensitive around her udder and hates me touching it. I take her out every chance I get and put her on the stand and rub her udder. What else can I do pre-kidding?
How do I disinfect her udder before and after milking? And what do I use to do that?
How do I handle the milk afterwards?
I don't want to bottle feed the kids, how do I milk mom and leave enough milk for the kids?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated. I'll think of more questions later I'm sure!
A little background: She will be due sometime after April 22. She is some type of ND mix, maybe part Nubian. She was a bottle baby that was given to me about four years ago (making her about four years old). She is the only mix doe I have, the rest of the herd are all Boers. I'm VERY worried about her kidding since she is smaller than the Boer buck she's bred to.
I am thinking about milking her, though I really don't have the set up for it. I have a stand but no special room for her so I'll be milking her in an extra stall or in the side of the barn. I don't know much about milking so I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as possible before she kids.
Questions:
What are the things I would need? Like buckets, disinfectants, etc.
She is very sensitive around her udder and hates me touching it. I take her out every chance I get and put her on the stand and rub her udder. What else can I do pre-kidding?
How do I disinfect her udder before and after milking? And what do I use to do that?
How do I handle the milk afterwards?
I don't want to bottle feed the kids, how do I milk mom and leave enough milk for the kids?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated. I'll think of more questions later I'm sure!