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Obviously, her peak for this lactation is past. She freshened in February. We are a monthish out from having bred her, and given that I have seen no signs of heat thus far, I am thinking she took with that breeding.
In the mean time, what can I do to increase the milk our doe gives us? Or should I just count on it being that late in her lactation, and that she will be picking up again when she freshens? If she did take with this breeding, we will be drying her up right after Christmas.
We've been withholding milk because the doe had to be given wormers due to lice and intestinal parasite load (stool sample from doeling showed a good bit of roundworm, then we found lice on the doe and doelings that was causing them to scratch at their shoulders enough to rough up their hair). Varying places talk about different withhold times on Ivomec (not ivomec plus, just plain ivomec), but I plan to start using it again soon for soup.
They've all been copper bolused due to some signs of copper deficiency. I will be taking a soil sample to Colorado to have our soil analyzed (we can see iron particulates for sure) to help figure out what might be causing deficiencies for the girls (and my garden).
They all get grain, graze, and alfalfa and/or grass hay, plus loose minerals and baking soda. Their water bucket it filled with warm water 2xday, and now that I have it in a place where it is harder to knock over, there is always leftover water when I refill it.
I am going to be switching her off Noble Goat grain and onto a combo of BOSS, mixed ration, and manna (if I can figure out which stuff is calf manna in our local store, as they don't carry the name brand). I want something healthier for them that will help with the dandruff we are seeing. They go nuts for my mammoth sunflower seeds that came out of my garden this fall.
In the mean time, what can I do to increase the milk our doe gives us? Or should I just count on it being that late in her lactation, and that she will be picking up again when she freshens? If she did take with this breeding, we will be drying her up right after Christmas.
We've been withholding milk because the doe had to be given wormers due to lice and intestinal parasite load (stool sample from doeling showed a good bit of roundworm, then we found lice on the doe and doelings that was causing them to scratch at their shoulders enough to rough up their hair). Varying places talk about different withhold times on Ivomec (not ivomec plus, just plain ivomec), but I plan to start using it again soon for soup.
They've all been copper bolused due to some signs of copper deficiency. I will be taking a soil sample to Colorado to have our soil analyzed (we can see iron particulates for sure) to help figure out what might be causing deficiencies for the girls (and my garden).
They all get grain, graze, and alfalfa and/or grass hay, plus loose minerals and baking soda. Their water bucket it filled with warm water 2xday, and now that I have it in a place where it is harder to knock over, there is always leftover water when I refill it.
I am going to be switching her off Noble Goat grain and onto a combo of BOSS, mixed ration, and manna (if I can figure out which stuff is calf manna in our local store, as they don't carry the name brand). I want something healthier for them that will help with the dandruff we are seeing. They go nuts for my mammoth sunflower seeds that came out of my garden this fall.
