# First Fresheners



## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

If anyone has a first freshening full-size dairy goat... can you tell me what her milk yield is?

Whissy's was 7 pints at her peak and is down to 4.5 pints a day now. She kidded 1 May.


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## nina.doria (Oct 7, 2007)

I can tell you in about 4 months  Sorry, no idea. Sounds like she's giving you a bunch though!!


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

it is hard to say. i had a first freashner this year that gave me about a gal a day. she is a 2 year old. i have another one that is the same age ff that gave me a gal & a half. i have a yearling ff that gave me about 3/4 of a gal. it depends alot on the doe & how her udder developes. the one that gave me a gal aday her grandmother gave me 4 to 5 lbs a day as a yearling ff & gave me 13 lbs a day as a two year old.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

how many pints in a gallon?  oh and Imperial Pints are bigger than US pints...

Whissy's mother gave me 12 - 13 pints a day on her 2nd freshening and was about the same as Whissy on her first freshening.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

In a US gallon 8 lbs(lb is a pint) to a gallon.
I have only milked 2 first fresheners, one was a LaMancha and she peaked 8.5 lbs, and my other one, a Saanen(both her granddams were Top Ten does) is milking about 8 lbs as a first freshener. I really wish these heavier milking first timers would get bigger teats though. :roll:


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## myfavgoats (Oct 8, 2007)

Whoa. Please correct me this.. Are u saying that 8 lbs is 2 gallons a day??? That is a lot! Well I had two FF. One of them gave 6 lbs a day.. The other one gave about 3/4 a gallon a day.. But one who gave 6 lbs and she is 3 years old now.. The other one is 1 year old. So it is on depends..


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

No, 8lbs is one gallon a day. 16 lbs is 2 gallons.


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## Droopymole (Oct 5, 2007)

Little help here...I have a ff doe (I have no IDEA how old she is....) and I milked her for the first time this morning, and she only gave me about a tablespoon! It almost wasn't worth milking her....of course, there was a lot of struggling going on, as she DID NOT want to stand still, and she didn't appreciate my cold hands touching her udder....but only a TABLESPOON? Is that normal? And yes I agree with Goathappy, I wish these ffs would have bigger teats....argh....


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Is she nursing? If she is, I've found that if they are nursing and aren't used to being milked that they will actually hold milk back.


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## Droopymole (Oct 5, 2007)

yeah, she's nursing....the baby is two weeks today...how much longer will she nurse?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Remember does are not in peek production until about 6-8 weeks after freshioning.

Your doe is nursing her kid, not use to being milked and was upset when being milked so those all play a factor in how much milk you will get from her.

I say keep at it eventually she will be producing enough and you working with her to stimulate more milk production will be good.

Do you have a milking stand? that really helps.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Also how much you are feeding her is going to play a role in how much milk she's going to be giving you. How much are you feeding her? Also, what breed is she? I've found that when they nurse their kids, they take most if not all the milk. My herdqueen can fill the bucket each milking when she's not nursing kids, but when she's nursing, she barely fills the bottom. Lil' pigs :roll:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

yup that is why I would separate the kids during the night once they reached 4 weeks so I could actually get some milk!


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Yeah, we could do that too, except her kids fly, really I mean they fly right out of their pen. Sooooooo.....


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

make the pen sides taller :wink:


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## Droopymole (Oct 5, 2007)

She's a Nubian.

No I don't have a milking stand, but I should probably build one....she's good about standing still, I just tie her to a post, and she sits there and east her grain while I'm milking, she just kicks a little...but she is giving next to NO milk, yet the baby is eating...weird...lol


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## FarmGirl18 (Oct 5, 2007)

I have found with my ff that it takes several days of milking for them to get the swing of things and let all their milk down. Also like Stacey said it takes a while for them to get to their peak production. But definately lock the kids up at night or they won't leave any for you. And also a milking stand makes everything much easier.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

oh feed them on teh milking stand! Very important especially for FF


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## Droopymole (Oct 5, 2007)

lol Thanks Stacey, that I knew, my goats are crazy about grain...it's weird....lol ll I have to do is SMELL like grain and they are jumping on me looking in my pockets and stuff, it's awesome. I should get a stand built probably though....hmmm....


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

LW, for how old these kids are now, it's not worth making the pen taller for them. Their mom is bred anyway and we don't need the milk so they'll let go one of these days :wink:


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

i had 4 ff this year & only one of them had small teats. the one that kristen has erin is a ff & there is a picture on my web site of lacy who is a first freashner & they have very good size teats. as for the amount of milk. what stacy said is right if she just kidded she is not going to give near as much as she will in a month.


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## Firegoat (Oct 7, 2007)

Gotta jump in with a question. Is a first freshener a doe that is lactating for the first time?


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

yes it is


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## toggtalker (Oct 7, 2007)

i had 4 ff this year. 2 of them were my top milkers they were giving me over a gallon a day at peak. the other two were giving me between 1/2 and 3/4 a day. i do get you when you say you wish their teats would be a little bigger as ff.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

Whissy's teats were small to start off with but they're a decent size now - about 1.5 inches long I would guesstimate.


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

I had two FF this year. sold one and kept the other. The one i sold was milking nine lbs a day at four weeks fresh. Needless to say she went to a dairy. My other doe had a level lactaion of about 8 lbs a day. 8.6 lbs is one gallon. 
beth


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## alpinemom (Oct 29, 2007)

I had 2 yearlings freshen this year one gave 7 lbs a day the other 9 lbs Then I had a 2 year old first freshener milk 15 lbs a day 7months later she is still milking 10 lbs a day


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## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

Last year my two alpine yearlings, one gave 6.5 lbs and the other 5 lbs.


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## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

My MiniNubian first-freshening does milk anywhere from 2 lbs per day to 5 lbs. Some have nice sized teats and some smaller. My favorite FF this year gave 5 lbs per day and has wonderfully sized teats. Here is a picture of her udder (her dam milked 10 lbs a day!). These are MINI Nubians!


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## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

Wow! MINI nubians milking that much? BTW, I love that udder! do you have a fore pic?


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## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

I do but it's really dark. Let me see if I can find it...


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## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Sorry those aren't very good. I didn't clip her udder far enough forward and her belly was really fuzzy.

Here is another picture of her rearudder:


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## morganslil1 (Nov 13, 2007)

Very nice udder.


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## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thanks!

Here is her dam (FGCH Hidden Creek's Patches *P):



I am mighty happy to have this does daughter. I LOVE her! Dannette has some awesome MiniNubians.


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## ozarksvalley (Nov 22, 2007)

I'll say she does!  Both of you do! Very pretty does.


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## eliya (Nov 20, 2007)

Thank you! Again.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

WOW nice udder


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## fritzie (Oct 6, 2007)

you have a very nice doe there & a great udder.


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