# My adventures with a FF nubian



## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Talala's production has been anything but great, and it's not like I can blame her, or her previous owner. She was milked once when she kidded, for the colostrum, and she pitched such a fit, nobody had time to spend a half an hour just to milk her.

So, when she came to me last week, she was mostly dry. Tiny, tiny udder, most of the milk was always in the teats it seemed. I got *maybe* a half a cup from her the first day, and it was quite the fight just to get her up on the stand.

Now we come to today. She looked pretty well bagged, considering I forgot to milk her last night  . Not a great bag like a FF should have, but so much better than it's been. I might also mention that at this point, I can milk her, in the pasture, loose, without even so much as a kick or a twitch. I just squat down and get to work. I can't even do that with Jenny, who seems to get a sudden case of ADHD every time I try, though I swear she has that anyways...

So after checking out her udder this morning, I decide I'm going to start a production chart for her, and post in this thread at least once a week with her progress. I'm hoping to build her up enough to take her to a show May 27th, if not, I may try to sneak her into the dry yearling section :laugh: (she's nearly 2 now).

So, without further ado:
Day 1: Milked about a half cup (innacurate, I kinda mixed her milk with Jenny's)

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Day 6: Milked a full cup in the AM, no PM milk being kept. Couldn't get a good rear udder shot, she kept dancing to see what I had in my hand.


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

Sounds like her milk is beginning to come in for you. That's great!

Let me get this straight...you don't have to put her in a stand or tie her in order to milk her? WOW!


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Nope. She even squats a little bit so I can reach better, same as she does for Barclay, who she's all but adopted.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I stupidly didn't get a full udder shot, but I did get the one after she was milked out, and totally empty (minus a little bit on the other side, she wasn't letting down for me all that well), she's now the same size as she was full. I didn't keep any, but it certainly was a good amount. She's also taken to lifting up her leg whenever someone is milking and very carefully setting it farther back.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

That sounds like a really good girl. The only time I can get milk out of them without the milking stand is colostrum right after they have kidded.

Jan


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I know the yard is horribly messy in these, no matter how many times I neatly stack buckets, this is how it ends up the next day....oh well. the kids love 'em.









She's still uneven here...no matter how many times I milk, how long I fight with that side, she hides half of it and lets it down later....
















Oh, and HA! Best milking doe I've had. No kick, no impatience, no nothing.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

What a good girl! I guess she just doesn't like the stand??


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

She's been on it about 5 times in her life, but she doesn't mind it. She's still just not real sure what it's about, and prefers to be milked out in the backyard, which is fine by me.

I'm still just trying to teach Jenny that trick....


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Wow, definitely an improvement!


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I'm crossing my fingers that it will be big enough that the judges will like it.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

No photos today, but she's a cup shy of a quart this morning. I won't be getting an evening amount as I'm still stripping her out every time I go outside.

Jenny, however, is drying off quite nicely. Her udder is routinely soft and nowhere near full in the mornings, and stays roughly canteloupe sized all day, which means she's making just enough for the kids, which *should* mean drying her off won't be a problem.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Better photos from this morning. Didn't get to find out how much she produced, but I do know her udder's not going to be as good as I hoped. The whole thing seems to slant forward, and the right teat still points out to the side...


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