# Drying off - Should I stop milking now?



## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

Ok, so I am two weeks into the drying off process. I have gradually worked down her grain and now she isn't getting any. Right now I am doing every other day milkings. When I go to milk her, her udder is not full and tight. Should I stop milking her now that she producing much less milk and let her reabsorb it or should I now go to every two day milkings? Her body condition is looking very good and she is gaining weight and a nice shiny coat. Thank you.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I'm going threw the same thing with mine. But she is so bad about drying up. But what I would do is since she is t right at every other day I would go 3 days and see what her bag looks like. If it's real tight I would milk her but not all the way out. I just feel so bad when they get so huge 


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

You aren't stripping her are you? How often is milking? Once a day? 
What breed is she?
If you are just relieving pressure you can go to every other day.

With the Boers it takes about two weeks. just enough to relieve, maybe 20 squirts every other day then down to every few days once daily.


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

Yeah, I'll try going a little longer between milkings. I've got to send her away for breeding in October so I am hoping she will be dry by then. I've heard that some of them just refuse to dry up. I have the added bonus that when her udder gets tight she self-sucks :GAAH: So she has been drying off with "the collar of shame" around her neck. I find it amusing, she wants to kill me lol. I took it off tonight with the hopes that she will keep her mouth away from her teats. She doesn't do it every time she is tight but there have been some days where I've seen her and milk production is low that day. Good thing I love her so much


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

She is a Saanen x Nubian. I milk her most of the way out every other day right now. So maybe I should take less?


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

I milk her just once on those days


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Yes take less each time.


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

ok, thank you


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## laurelsh (Jun 26, 2013)

Sorry but this is confusing me, as on the other thread about drying off does, I was strongly cautioned to make sure to milk her out each time, that only partially milking her could cause mastitis. Just different ways of doing things? How to decide if it's OK to partially milk vs milk out each time?


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

laurelsh said:


> Sorry but this is confusing me, as on the other thread about drying off does, I was strongly cautioned to make sure to milk her out each time, that only partially milking her could cause mastitis. Just different ways of doing things? How to decide if it's OK to partially milk vs milk out each time?


Everyone has a different way of doing things. Just decide which way makes more sense to you, or would work best in your situation.

(I'm trying to dry off my best milker right now, too. It's almost impossible! She just keeps on producing. I guess we could have worse problems with our girls. )


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## laurelsh (Jun 26, 2013)

Okay... wish me luck!


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

Well it's been about three days. Her last milking I only did about 20 squirts. Her udder is still not tight. I've been feeding her sage so I suppose that is contributing. Should I still milk her a little even if she is not tight? Her udder looks healthy, just not full.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

When was this goat fresh? When is she to kid?

Seems to me Sept is really early to dry off a doe unless she's due in Nov?

If you dry your goats off early you run a greater risk of mastitis and also permanently reduce your milk yield on subsequent lactations.:thumbup:


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

She freshened at the end of April. I am drying her off to get her ready for breeding in October.


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Amanda83 said:


> She freshened at the end of April. I am drying her off to get her ready for breeding in October.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


You don't dry a goat off when she's bred. You milk her for 10 months and dry her off for 2 months before she kids.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Again, this is subjective. We milk and when we're done milking....we quit. We don't spend time milking every other day or partially milking out etc. Stopping milking earlier than someone else might isn't going to cause mastitis....if it did every goat that ever kidded would be in danger of getting it. We've never had a case of mastitis (knock on wood!) and we never milk for a full 10 months or take our time drying them off or whatever. The only risk there truly is from drying off early is that you might affect subsequent lactation time and amount. 

Having said that. If her udder isn't FULL and you want to dry her off....quit milking. If you have one that produces a ton of milk you might have to relieve her some rather than just quitting, but that would be the only time. Cutting off her grain will help her quit producing but that will also lower your chances of multiple birth....you want to feed more before breeding so that her body says "hey! there's enough food for me to raise more than one". I have a tough time getting that thru to my hubby....he wants to feed the most right before kidding and then cut back until a month before the next kidding. Sigh....


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Hollowdweller said:


> You don't dry a goat off when she's bred. You milk her for 10 months and dry her off for 2 months before she kids.


There is no set in stone way. If you want to dry off a month after weaning the kids, by all means, go ahead.
If you want to milk for 2 years, so ahead. There's nothing saying you _have_ to milk for 10 months, nothing saying you cant dry up at breeding time.

Ive been in the game a long time, and I dry them up whenever I feel like it. If I have enough milk and I am lambar feeding, I'll just dry the doe up when she kids.
I often dry up before breeding, I often dry up at 10 months, sometimes 5, it really doesn't matter 

Everyone has their own way and reasons


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

I am also in university as well as working and so my schedule is all over the place. I milk at a set time each day and with such a crazy schedule it would be difficult to keep to this schedule. 

I am curious about drying off early and the risk of shorter lactation time and amount. I thought the udder produced milk for as long as there was a demand for it. Could someone please explain this to me? I am still new to goats and milking and so I am always seeking information. 

Thanks for all the info everyone. There truly is no set way of doing things and we all want to do what is right for our girls without causing harm to them.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

^ you can dry off when ever you please.. I've been told and have found that if you dry them off early they will kinda 'mellow out' on their production (I'm fighting with one of my girls I dried off early last year right now lol!) but, I have a doe that I'm drying off now that has been in milk since last year.. Have a doe I'm planning to milk till next fall right now too.. It's when ever you want to  I personally dry most of my girls off when I kNow they are bred (so at about two months bred when they are dry) that's what works for me


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## laurelsh (Jun 26, 2013)

I really like the last few posts, taking off the musts and must nots and making it much less stressful trying to "do what's right." I also really like the point about reducing grain will reduce multiple births. It's a much more "keep it simple and don't worry about it" way. Thanks to kccjer, LittleBits&Pieces and JOY farm! (sigh of relief)


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## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces said:


> There is no set in stone way. If you want to dry off a month after weaning the kids, by all means, go ahead.
> If you want to milk for 2 years, so ahead. There's nothing saying you _have_ to milk for 10 months, nothing saying you cant dry up at breeding time.
> 
> Ive been in the game a long time, and I dry them up whenever I feel like it. If I have enough milk and I am lambar feeding, I'll just dry the doe up when she kids.
> ...


Very true. Most people just like goats for the pet factor anyway and don't really care if the goat they buy can't sustain a 10 month lactation.

I just think that when a breeder dries their goats off early that they should put that on their website so the potential buyer can know. As a buyer I've often been took by people whose sales lists claimed their goats were heavy milkers, only to call them in Sept and they had NO goats milking! So it's important not to misrepresent "spurters and stoppers" as heavy milkers.

Conversely a lot of people aren't really into milk and don't want the discipline of milking so they would welcome an animal they can freshen, play with milking for a few months and dry off easily.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Well, I think we may have different definitions of heavy milkers. I have a close to 3 gallon a day milker, I consider her a heavy milker whether I milk her for 5 months or two years. Heavy milker means heavy milk production.
A long lactation milker would be one that can milk well past 10 months, even if it's low production.

And then there are some does that are heavy milker, that can also milk threw long lactations. Like 2 gallons a day for 2 years straight. 

While I agree that when they are selling a doe, they need to list whether or not she is still milking, I don't find it important to list when they dry their breeding stock up.


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## laurelsh (Jun 26, 2013)

Now my other FF had a heat cycle, was bred & appears she's not letting her 3-mo-old doeling nurse anymore, and her udder is full & tight. Looks like I'll need to relieve some pressure, but want to dry her off too. And I'm going out of town Sunday - feel sorry for my pet sitter (who just learned to milk for me).


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## laurelsh (Jun 26, 2013)

Just to leave this thread with a completed thought, my pet sitter did fine! And we are relieving pressure with every other day milking, I'll reduce that soon. Going well! Thanks for all the help.


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## Buckleberry Woods Farm (Dec 20, 2013)

My doe is now dried off with no complications and will be bred soon. Thank you for the help everyone!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Just to add to this 'do your own thing' discussion. I am drying off my Guinen, who is easier to dry off, at 7 months and drying 'down' the other doe, at 5 months, so that she only gives me about a quart a day. This is all milk I need and want through the winter.


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