What time(s) of Day Do You Milk?

The same books that said it HAS to be every 12 hours said you can adjust to daylight savings time by moving milking time over by 15 minutes for 4 days before the time change.
It did that the first time.
The second time I did nothing.

 

Mostly just complain a lot




...In all seriousness though, I go by the time on the clock. I have to be at work at 8:00 even if it we gain or lose an hour, which means I have to milk no later than 6:30, so I have to go by the clock and not the "actual" time. If you have room in your schedule to adjust to compensate for daylight saving's time and you want to, that's great, but otherwise they will adapt to being an hour off, as long as it's consistent!

 

In fall 2019, 4 days before clock was turned back an hour, I milked at 6:45, the next day at 6:30, the next day at 6:15, and the day the clocks were changed it was 6:00, but now called 7:00.
Does this make sense now?
In spring 2020, i acted as if nothing was different and milked at 7:00, even though the doe’s body thought is was only 6:00.
My does are not heavy producers. I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter much, to do the jump of 1 hour.

 

March - Nov we milk 7 and 7. Sometimes we fluctuate half-hour but try to stick to that. Nov-Mar, if we are milking (we have 3 due in Dec then 6 in Feb) we will do around 7 and about 5pm. That is due to it getting dark here about 6ish, sometimes a bit earlier. We don't have electricity in the milk barn and I really don't like doing chores, esp milking, in the dark. We have a lantern but still. Once daylight gets longer, we start stretching out to 7pm.

We also milk test ours and they're heavy milk genetics. So they need to be milked twice a day, esp in the beginning of lactation. I go down to once a day when they are about 8 months into lactation to give myself a break. At that point most of them can drop, but yes, you lose a good bit of milk. You will get between 1/2 - 2/3 maybe of what they were producing.

Like above, you just need to pick a schedule and stick to it. Don't just milk when you feel like it. Going off schedule will cause problems. You will get a feel of what your does will tolerate. I know early in lactation, mine don't tolerate too much more than an hour late as they get way too tight. Late in lactation, I can vary 2-3 hours if something comes up, maybe more. But if you milk whenever and don't stick to a schedule, you risk losing production as well.

 

When the kids are first born, We will milk the colostrum totally out after 24 hours. But we will relieve the udder some after the kids have had time to get all the colostrum they need in the first 12 hours. Then we (wife and I) milk in the mornings usually around 8 am give or take a few minutes. We let the kids run with the does during the day and separate them at night so we can milk the next morning. As the kids get older and if we don't need the milk then we will let the kids have the milk as long as they can handle what the doe is giving. If they don't keep the udder down then we will milk the doe as often as needed. However as time has come and gone, we are getting more interest from folks who want some of the milk. So we are milking more. If we need to milk in the afternoon, then it is 5 pm ST or 6 pm DST. and still 8 am regardless.

 

I'm pretty much a 7am and 7pm person too. However, I'll move it back to 6pm as the daylight wanes because my silly girls don't like being out after dark. I don't have big Milkers as they're nigies, but they do better if I don't mess with their schedule too much. Life does happen and if I'm early or late, I'd better have a baggie of animal crackers handy or they'll lay down and refuse to be led out of the pen lol...
They're not spoiled

 

I work 10 hour shifts 4 days a week that swing back and forth between 7am-5pm in which I milk at 4:20am and then again at 5:30pm. When I work the 3pm-1am shift I milk at 1:30pm and then again at 2am. I just finished washing my milk pan and am off to bed lol

 

Oh bless you, I remember those shifts, they're hard on the body.
I'm a morning person so swing shift was always miserable for me but I loved graveyards and day shifts. That 3pm thru 1am shift would kill me.
How do your girls handle the schedule changes, do you just change up milking times or, work your way up to it?

 

They do fine usually, if I have had the same shift for 2 weeks then when it swaps I usually milk earlier to bring their clock around but when I open the milk stall door to let each doe in they just stare at me like, " your clocks off lady". I work in the ER so they shifts usually fly by lol

 

That sounds crazy to me!
Glad you worked it out and your does are ok with it!

 

That’s nice that you get your mother to help with milking!!

 

I work 12 hour overnights, 3 days a week, and then another 4 hours during my days off, time changes from week to week. My poor girls don't have a real schedule. I milk as soon as I get home, starting around 0800. My son and daughter in law then milk in the evening, anywhere between 2000-2200. On my days off, I milk around 0900 and then again any time between 2100-0030. They all get fed 3 meals a day, so that also changes with my work schedule.

They adapt really well to my messed up schedule. Up until this past January, I worked 1500-2300, so had a different schedule that was easier on them, had been like that for 12 years. Then, they had to change it on me. We are totally messed up here at my place! LOL