# Just wondering



## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

how many of you have milkers & are on test? also how many of the dairy folks show?
right now i am still milking 5 but getting ready to dry them off. i just love the taste of there milk & hate when i have to buy store bought (yuk)


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

We currently have 9-10 does we're milking by hand, I hope to be on test next year or the year after, we'll see. We will only be milking one through this winter, my hands are tired from milking through last, LOL
We make cheese and sell the milk. I'd rather go without milk than drink any milk from the store, goat or cow.


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

We are going to go on DHIR when we have enough does in milk.


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

what breeds do you both have? boy i have to use a machine on mine. my hands would not take milking them. i have carpal tunnel so have to use the machine. when i was milking 6 i was getting between 5 to 6 gals a day but three of them were first freashners.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Right now, we're milking mainly LaManchas with one Alpines, they all average 7.5 lbs, even the does that we are milking through. We have a machine, but the new barn doesn't have eletricity set up yet.
My mom has CTS too and she found out about this thing called Trigger Point Therapy. Hers was so bad we almost sold all the goats. After she found out about this, she very little pain now. In your muscles, you have certain points that will contract and form a knot, blocking the normal flow of things. If you massage the knots you find on your muscles it helps to release them and relieve wherever the pain is.


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

thanks i also have fibromyalgia & that is what i have to do when they get real bad. it does help.
that is a good amount of milk from your does this time of year. i have started milking mine once a day & will dry them off next month.


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## bigoakfarm (Oct 6, 2007)

fritzie said:


> how many of you have milkers & are on test? also how many of the dairy folks show?
> right now i am still milking 5 but getting ready to dry them off. i just love the taste of there milk & hate when i have to buy store bought (yuk)


I'm so glad to have Erin her ein milk for that reason! Now, if I can just get that darn hen house done I can stop buying eggs too. :x

I would love to be on test but I'm having a really hard time finding someone willing to be my tester in my area. I keep trying though.

Kristen


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## PACE (Oct 8, 2007)

Well, my goats are all dairy breeds (nigerians and an Alpine)... but they're boys... so I don't think I'll be milking them anytime soon.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

But according to city people you can get all kinds of milk from males :wink: :lol:


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## GSFarm (Oct 6, 2007)

I wish I had enough patience to do something like that.


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## GSFarm (Oct 6, 2007)

goathappy said:


> But according to city people you can get all kinds of milk from males :wink: :lol:


I over heard a few of my friends trying to persuade a 
VERY gullible girl that milk was actually cow pee. She fell for it to and said " No wonder it tastes so weird!" lol.


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## Dover Farms (Oct 16, 2007)

GSFarm now that's just mean thing do!! :lol: :twisted: 

Fritzie, our girls aren't on a test. There is a possibility that one of the shows we are going to next year is going to have a one day milking test and we would like to do that.  Oh, and we have Nubians!


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I have Nigerians. I heard there are only 35 farms in the whole US that are on the DHIR milk test. :?


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Chelsey,
Doesn't the AGS(is that where yours are registered?) have DHI herd averages? The ADGA does, and they will tell you how many herds with a certain breed are on test, the average production with the highest and lowest production of each breed. 
Sarah,
I don't have a lot of patience but with dairy farming, it's more about work ethic to tell you the truth. It's A LOT of work, but I'm happy with it


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

We went to a seminar at the AGS nationals and the teacher (Gail Putcher - Gay-Mor) was the one who said there was 35 farms on test. I don't know ANYTHING about the DHI herd averages


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

http://adga.org/DHIR/06breed_lactation_averages.htm
There's one for '06, from the ADGA. I don't know if AGS has those or not.


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

dover farms. you can always go on owner samler with adga also. if i can't get a tester down here that is what i am going to do next year.
muddy creek i think that you will find each year more nigis being on test with adga. you can get some really high records with them.


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## Dover Farms (Oct 16, 2007)

Yeah, we thought about that. It wouldn't be a bad idea, but I seem to recall that you had to have a certain scale....and those certain scales were very expencive if I remember right! :shock: :roll: :lol:


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

I freshen between five and ten does a year. We milk by hand. More one on one time with the does i think. We are not on milk test as of now...maybe some day. But we do show. Usually three to five shows a year and a fair or two.
beth


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

the scale is the same one used for any test. it is a hanging scale. i think they are around $45.00


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## alpinemom (Oct 29, 2007)

I am milking 6 now, also getting ready to dry off
3 in Nov.the rest by New Years. I am on test with a doe projected at 3900+ . My girls have averaged 9 lbs a day. I am pleased with that. I also showed at 6 shows this year. I missed a few during my move this summer. Looking forward to a better 2008


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## ksacres (Oct 30, 2007)

Going on test required an extra amount of time and money. You have to pay the tester and the lab, usually monthly. Doing owner sampler does not offer the same benefits as having an outside person do your testing. I went to the seminar on it at ADGA Convention, and have the benefit of being neighbors with someone who's been on test for several years. I'm a certified tester now, but have decided not to go on test, at least not next year-we barely have enough $$ to cover the basics, we really can't afford the extra $25-$50 (depending on how many does you have) basically every month.


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## alpinemom (Oct 29, 2007)

We have 4 people in our area so we are under a circle group we take turns testing each other and one of us ships each month. We had our own maine group, but dissolved that and are dealing direct with Dairy One in NY. We are on the ITP 02 APCS plan,which is better, we test the person once a month and alternate AM and PM the other milking we weigh our self . That cost is $15.00 up to 20 goats and the person who ships pay $7.00 extra to get the mailer box back. the group leader gets a bill from Dairy One each month so we pay her. It sounds confusing but its pretty simple once they set you up. There is also a cost to ADGA if you want to have your records entered into the database and be eligible for the Advanced Registry. I think we paid $40.00 last year.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

So is that $15 per goat? I'm thinking about going on test maybe next year, or whenever we get our parlor set up.


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

no that $15. is for up to 20 goats then from 20 to 40 it is a different amount. if you have a cow dairy in your erea that is on test you can take your samples to them on there test day & it is even cheaper. but to get it recorded you have to send money to adga.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

So it's really not as expensive as I thought it was? I'd have to find a tester in my area, I don't live around enough people to do a group testing.


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## redneck_acres (Oct 18, 2007)

My folks are going to have their herd on the standard milk test this year. Last year they did the one day test. Our goats are all dried off-but we have a Jersey Heifer so we dont have to buy store bought milk-it is so nice.


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

you also have to contact adga & ask them to send you out a dhia applacation & join it with them if you want it to count with adga.


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## alpinemom (Oct 29, 2007)

If you go on ADGA's home page and click on Production Testing then you can get info on DHIR and also an application for new herds.


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## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

GSFarm said:


> goathappy said:
> 
> 
> > But according to city people you can get all kinds of milk from males :wink: :lol:
> ...


That WAS mean!!! Some breeders I know said that once a city person was starting in on a goat herd in the country, and wanted to know if they had any four teated doelings for sale. They quickly and surely said no, why do you ask? The person proudly stated that they were started a new 'breed' of goats with four teats, just like cows. They had just gotten a 'deal' on two four teated doelings and paid only $250 apeice because they had wheeled and dealed the seller out of them.  Of course, the breeders explained that was a defect, and the city slicker walked away with a deflated chest. Poor city people!


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