# Nubian Doe not letting down milk?



## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

My lovely, 5 year old Nubian doe is giving me grief. I've had her for almost a year now and last year she let down her milk, albeit slowly.

Now this year she kidded April 19 with twins - buck/doe - and we disbudded the buckling at 3 days old. She tried to reject him then. Now she tolerates him being by her / mothers him but does not let him drink (she lets the doeling drink) So he's on a bottle.

We started milking her today and she simply does not let her milk down! She doesn't like hand milking (which we did last year) but stands nicely for the machine. We can milk for 10 minutes and barely get anything! Both kids are there with her, and she gets her feed on the milk stand.

Is it just because she's fairly fresh? Because she's a brat? Should I give her more time?

My last milkers were so nice, and let their milk down for me...but I also started milking them when their kids were 4 weeks old. Does that make a difference?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Massage her udder, keep her calm and relaxed. Let her sniff her doeling before/during milking.


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

Are the kids taking all her milk?


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

No, they're not. This morning her udder was quite full but she didn't let down all the milk, but more then yesterday.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Does the milk look normal? 

Udder look and feel normal?


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

Yes, and yes. Udder is soft and pliable, milk is white and creamy.


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## Cedar Point Kikos (Oct 16, 2013)

Okay, so she's still not letting down all her milk BUT she's also started dancing and jumping around when she's finished her mix on the stand. When she's done eating she apparently thinks that we should be done too!

Last year she didn't do that. Sigh. Now what?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would keep working with her even if you lose the milk. I have always just continued through and eventually they get it.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

I usually give my does a handful of their grain to get them into the stand, and more thought milking if they stand quietly and behave. If they run out of grain in their trough and start acting up, I massage and touch their udder without milking (no spilled milk that way) and as soon as they have calmed down I either give them some grain or continue milking. They get all the grain that's left in the grain bucket at the end of milking. This has worked really well with my misbehaved Alpine doe. The other two get the same treatment just in case


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