# New to milking



## ReUnitePangea (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi guys Im new to the goat milking game. My 3 year old Monica gave birth to two healthy girls yesterday. 

My first question is,my assumption is you must take the babies away at some point and give them milk by hand no? At what age is good to do this and start milking the mother on a normal schedule? Or ive read about taking the goats away for part of the day and milking the other. For a first timer its pretty confusing and I just dont want to do the wrong thing. For me it would be easiest to take the babies away full time and feed by hand (we have a powdered milk formula here for goats) and keep the milk of the mother for cheese. 

I guess thats the only question I can think of right now. All opinions appreciated. 

-RUP


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## comingsummers (May 6, 2010)

Well it really is personal preference how you do it. I personally leave my kids with the doe just because that is easier for me. You can seperate the kids from the doe overnight starting at a couple of weeks and then just milk in the AM. Some people milk twice a day and leave enough for the kids too, but you need a pretty heavy producer for this to work. Or you can pull the kids and bottle raise. I just have to say that if you do bottle raise it seems that powdered milk replacer is NOT the way to go. I've heard way too many stories of dead or sick kids from being fed that stuff. I hope that I was of some help. I know that more experienced people will be on here soon to give you advice too. Most importantly enjoy and have fun!


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## ohiogoatgirl (Jan 31, 2010)

i like to leave the kids with mom for the first four days to get all the colostrum. day five mom goes to in with the rest of the milkers and babies start getting bottle fed or pan fed. still getting momma milk but you are measuring in between. "raising goats for milk and meat" by rosalee sinn. very goos book, i think its the most informative and easy to understand.
hope i helped!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I leave kids with moms, I don't bottlefeed and don't wish to. I separate at night once the kids are 3-4 weeks old, milk in the morning and kids have mom the rest of the day. Though my girls are mini's, I still get plenty milk for my use and the kids benefit as well.


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## ReUnitePangea (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks for the info guys, I like the mention of personal preference, Im going to try separating part of the day and milking once a day and see how that works. Thanks!


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Milking once a day really makes life easier. I have one that I kept doing that this year until she kicked her kids off at 6 months, I hadn't ever done that before, and I really liked the way they turned out.

Jan


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## nigerianmeadows (Dec 12, 2010)

Starting at two weeks we separate the kids at night and milk in the morning. Works great! We enjoy giving them a bottle in the morning, just a little since we are milking mom, but they see us as a food source and it makes even the shy kids people-friendly. Just don't use milk re-placer, as mentioned above. If you need a supplement for the does milk, you can use whole cows milk with added heavy whipping cream. I use 2 cups milk with 1/2 cup whipping cream when I have too, never canned or powdered milk sources.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

IMO the only way to go as far as milk for the kids is goat milk. It's what nature intended the kids to have. We raised a little saanen on kid milk replacer and she was behind the growing curb the whole time. So like they said above Do NOT Use Milk Replacer unless it's a life or death thing. We had no way to get goats milk and she was our 2nd goat ever and 1st bottle baby, so we didn't know at the time that it was so bad. Well the stuff smells like vanilla, how can that be close to milk. Yes they didn't die, but they didn't reach their full growth either. 

We are going to do the share with mom and milk once a day routine with ours this year. Good luck and welcome to Milking you'll either love it or hate it. LOL


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## black-smith (Jan 20, 2011)

Hey, I'm new on here but have had goats for many many years!
Bottle raising Kids is a full time job! (I start by feeding 4 times daily for the first week, then 3 times, and finally down to twice daily)
If you want to separate them at birth, make sure to give the kids the first 24 hours of milk straight from mom, because they need the colostrum.
Also, if you're bottle raising, mom's milk is by far the best. It will be the healthiest for the kids, and I've found doesn't cause nearly as many problems.
If you want the Doe's milk right away, maybe try leaving the kids with her, but milking her once a day. This will encourage her milk production, and keep her udder even.
I like to leave the kids with mom all day, and separate them at night. (Make sure to milk the doe out completely at night if you do this.)
Eventually the Kids will start eating more hay, and drinking less milk...
At this time I let the kids in with mom all the time, and just milk her out morning and night. Soon the kids can be weaned, and mom continues to be milked twice a day.
Hope you found some helpful tips, 

Good luck!!


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## farmer22 (Feb 4, 2011)

I am new to this and in no way ready to start breeding, but this post has been extremely helpful for me. I am going to bookmark it to reference and come back to it. Hope everything worked out okay for you and that you were able to get some info. I know that I have.


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## ReUnitePangea (Jan 26, 2011)

Glad you got something out o it too farmer22. I started building my milking stand today but ran out of sun, Im going to put some of these ideas into practice and see what works best, thanks everyone!


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