[Lawdog]

I am wondering how many of you get up every morning before work/school, take care of/milk the animals and then get dressed & go to work by 8:00. What kind of schedule does that take?

 

[K-Ro]

Well I am actually a work at home mom (WAHM), but I get up around 6:30 am , have a cup of coffee, get the kids up - they are 8 & 11 to start dressing grab another cup of coffee and head to the barn. I feed, water and milk (right now it is only 1 doe but will be 5 more in another 2 months- last year I milked 3), the bus get's here at about 8:05 and the kids come to the barn and talk until that time. Plus, there is a 4yr old running around by this time.

Now since I do work at home, I am able to go out during the day and check on them, etc.

Depending on our schedule for the evening, I usually milk around 5pm or so as it still gets dark early (when time changes I move that time to about 6:30), if the kids have to be at karate by 5:15 then I will milk around 4:15 or so.

On Sunday mornings, I wait until after church and milk around 10:30am, goats are very forgiving like that and waiting a couple hours here and there really won't make a difference in production.

Now admittedly, my circumstances are a little different as I am at home and I don't have to dress up to go anywhere, but I do have 'barn clothes' and barn shoes/boots and change after feeding, milking, etc.

 

[Lawdog]

That sounds nice. Unfortunately, I have to put on a suit everyday and pretend like I am a lawyer when I would rather be home working on the land. But...the attorney gig pays the bills so I suffer through.

I would like to still find time to milk the goats. Currently, I am up around 6:30...get the 5 and 10 year old up and ready...I take them to school by 8:00 and I am in Court by 8:30...I pick the kids up at 3:00 and am usually home by 3:30. That is an average day, but it is frequentlyaltered due to work schedule.

 

[goathappy]

I'm homeschooled and my parents are self employed(farmers) so there isn't necessarily a certain time that everybody has to leave.

In the spring and the fall though, we have to get to the fields before a certain time. Depending upon how many animals you want to milk, 8 does takes me a half an hour to milk by hand, plus it takes my mom a half an hour to process the milk and do the dishes. Before milking, we have about an hour of chores to do with giving everybody hay and feeding everybody their grain.

 

[K-Ro]

Like goathappy said, it will depend on how many you are going to milk, I would say give yourself an hour to milk and process your milk, change clothes, etc. Depending on what you are going to do with your milk will also determine your time. I don't pasturize ours, I just filter it to clean it and pop it in the fridge. You will learn if you need additional time or if that is actually to much time.

I think there are actually some that only milk once a day, so you might be able to do that and do it in the evenings only-won't get as much milk though, will have to wait and see if anyone on here does it only once a day though.

 

[Shazzy]

Well, I leave the house by 6:40 and I take care of the goats in the morning. I wake up usually at 5:30. I can still swing it at 5:45 but I usually miss breakfast. Not my favorite thing to go out there when its below 0 and dark, but they gotta eat. No one milking yet, but hopefully I have a doe freshining in June and I plan on milking her before I go to school. It doesn't take a crazy amount of time for me. The downside is when I sleep in, the goats still have to eat - I'm the one that doesn't get breakfast and is racing off to school with hay in my hair. gotta love it! But I would say taking care of goats and leaving at 8:00 is totally manageable.

 

[harmonygoats]

It can be done but takes some planning. I have to be at work by 9 and my DD catches the bus at 7:15. She does the hay and water. I milk,pasturize and feed kids. Usually start by 6:30 and done by 7:45.We hand milk 12. Usually in the evenings she does everything. If you only have a couple a half hour should be enough time.
Nancy

 

[alpinemom]

I have a tight schedule every morning March-Jan. I get up at 5:00 grab coffee, which I set to brew at 4:45. Out to the barn at 5:30. I fill feed dishes, get the first 2 of 8 milkers on the stand, set feed out and start milking ( with a machine) while milking I have time to fill water pails and fill hay racks. I get the girls done by 6:15 . Wash up machine and head to the house to shower and out the door by 7:00. I start evening chores at 5:30 spending more time with each of the girls. I pasturize in the evening. I have a system that works for me, although once in a while I have to make a change. Like test day and when I milk by hand in Dec and Jan. :horse:

 

[liz]

I'm up at 4:30 am and have to be at work by 5:15. Mine have adjusted to my schedule very well in the last 8 years. I do milk 1X a day unless I have a girl who needs it 2X! They get hay b4 I go to work and when I get home at 2:15 the girls get milked and they all get fresh water and their grain. Bedtime for me is around 10pm so everyone gets a bit of grain, alot of hay and fresh water til next morning. Winter is the roughest because they are barned til I get home , summer is the best because they can poick thru their pasture and I don't wake them up before the birds! I have minis and even at a 1Xa day milking I got over a quart from each of them. Plenty for me asnd hubby as well as the few customers that want raw milk....and soapo and cheese...my girls are awesome!

 

[sparks879]

right now i have an easy morning routine. No does due until March. They only get hay and alfafa pellets in the morning then they get a grain ration at night. By this summer i will be milking around seven. Will be getting up at six to do morning feedings and be at work by nine.
beth

 

[liz]

Since my last posting, I have started the 2x a day milking routine....3 mini's get milked at 4:30 am...I get 4 1/2 pounds between the 3 of them now, everyone gets hay and fresh water, I strain and put it in the fridge, get dressed for work....which BTW...I milk and feed that EARLY in my PJ'S :ROFL: ....I get home from work around 2:30 - 4pm...and go out and refresh water buckets, give the boys their grain for the day and let the girls out to browse a bit before I milk again around 5....sometimes I will "strip" them out at 9 at night if I'm off work the next day so I have a few xtra hours to sleep in. They are forgiving and the production hasn't slowed at all because of my routine...I'm still getting 9 1/2 pounds a day from the 3...thats a gallon and almost a half.

 

[heavenlyhaven]

right now i milk once a day around 7am
when the kids get a little older and/or sold i will milk twice a day
every 12 hours
7am 7pm and the time changes with the season
i refuse to go to the barn in the dark
well
it wouldn't be so bad now but before the barn was a long ways off and i'm chicken
so my milking changes with daylight savings
when i start milking 2x's the 7am will probably change
o
i never change by more than 30 min
like 7&7 will change to 630&630 then 6&6 etc
i am a "domestic engineer" but my twins do the school routine
one daughter gets up at 5:30 to shower then wakes her sister
when she is done she wakes up her brother
and when he is done he wakes up the youngest
so i am free to do chores and what not

 

[sparks879]

so sinse the last post i have gotten a much longr routine. I get up two hours before i have to be at work, most days this is seven i work from nine to six. Saturdays im up at six thirty sundays i can start atound eight. i dont work till ten. I have three to milk right now, i milk trill quick as she is a FF and dont have much, while she is finishing up her breakfast i feed the two dry yearlings and buck. then i milk two more throw hay and check water. then its up to the house with the milk and teo buckets of grain. The kids get fed next they get hay and grain and milk. Dixie is in the kidding stall and she gets grain while the kids are eating, then they get hay, the kids get led back down to the pasture area if its nice and they go in their outside pen. i usually have time for a cup of coffee or cocoa and a shower before work. i then feed around seven or eight in the evening. its a little longer at night, i have two two year olds that need grain once a day.
beth

 

[cajungoatmama]

6:30 am-wake up, head to barn, milk 1 goat, bottle feed 2 kids and a calf, feed other goats.
7:25-take shower
8:25-leave for college, 9am class.

It's not too bad, considering I was homeschooled and was used to sleeping in...lol...today was my last day of school until the fall, so I guess they'll have to get used to seeing me a little later than normal!