So, I got my first goats ever, just under three weeks ago--Nigerian Dwarfs--a doe in milk, and her daughter. The kid was eight weeks old then, eleven weeks now, and is nursing far less than when she arrived. Mama goat, a veteran kidder, was not milked by the previous owner, but was nursing two kids--of which I have just one.
When the goats arrived, I immediately started a twice-a-day milking schedule--that is, I would go out twice a day to milk, and get in a tussle with the doe who didn't want to be milked, and barely got a squirt! We are slowly achieving nicer milking manners. She's a doll otherwise, and has never been aggressive toward me, just mighty squirmy.
When she arrived, the right side of the doe's udder was so huge with her absent buckling's milk that I thought she would burst! (The doeling always drinks from the left side.) Now her udder is much reduced in size; from the side view I can't see it, only her teats. I am getting at best only a few tablespoons of milk, per milking.
Would the delay in calming her down for milking be at the root of the low production? Or is it not enough grain? I have never seen it written, what weight or volume of Goat Text to feed a Nigerian Dwarf doe in milk. I was told, equal volume of grain to the milk you are getting, but I had no idea how much milk the doeling drank, how much mom was holding back, and can only guess at how much was spilled, to calculate the grain! Can someone please give me a numerical guideline? Is it too late to get more milk out of her, or should I just keep up the demand, and hope the supply increases?
Thank you for any pointers!
When the goats arrived, I immediately started a twice-a-day milking schedule--that is, I would go out twice a day to milk, and get in a tussle with the doe who didn't want to be milked, and barely got a squirt! We are slowly achieving nicer milking manners. She's a doll otherwise, and has never been aggressive toward me, just mighty squirmy.
When she arrived, the right side of the doe's udder was so huge with her absent buckling's milk that I thought she would burst! (The doeling always drinks from the left side.) Now her udder is much reduced in size; from the side view I can't see it, only her teats. I am getting at best only a few tablespoons of milk, per milking.
Would the delay in calming her down for milking be at the root of the low production? Or is it not enough grain? I have never seen it written, what weight or volume of Goat Text to feed a Nigerian Dwarf doe in milk. I was told, equal volume of grain to the milk you are getting, but I had no idea how much milk the doeling drank, how much mom was holding back, and can only guess at how much was spilled, to calculate the grain! Can someone please give me a numerical guideline? Is it too late to get more milk out of her, or should I just keep up the demand, and hope the supply increases?
Thank you for any pointers!