# How to dry up 2 doe's (in serious need of help)



## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

So I need a little help i can't find any good answers on other websites. 

I have 2 Nigerian dwarf does in milk They use to give me 1 1/2 pints of milk twice a day each milking but today i got less then a 1/2 a pint of milk tonight. 

So I am thinking of starting tomorrow of going down to once a day milking starting in the morning and not milking in the afternoon. I will not be giving them grain on the stand just milking them. 


But I am curious on how many weeks do i do once a day milking then every other day or can i just stop milking them. 

I got around 1 cup from one doe and around 1 1/2 cups from my other doe. 


I have had goats Off and on for almost 5 years but I haven't studied a lot so i have lost all the knowledge on milk goats. 

So please anyone who has more info on this one please i need help.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Just quit milking. Unless they are tight, don't milk at all. When they are tight, milk just enough to relieve the pressure.


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## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

Okay thank you i thought so i just wanted to be sure and this place has helped me out a lot ever sense i got goats. yeah I will have to put them on the stand just to check as they don't let me touch there udders unless they are on the stand. 

I can sleep in for once although i may not because i can't sleep that long once i am up. So I will got about an hour til i check on them I will probably not have to relieve pressure but I will keep an eye on them. 

Thank you very much this has relieved my very high stress that i had worry about mastitis.


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I do a taper. Once a day for a few days, then every other day for a few days, then stop.


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## DawnStar (May 19, 2013)

gosh I wish my does were that easy to dry off lol.. it took 2 years to get my la mancha dry-ish :shocked: ... she is still producing ugh! And my mini manchas are about the same. Only our Nigerians are easy to dry... and they don't produce the volume of our other goats. Sometimes a dry doe is the only 'vacation' I want lol!


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## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

Lol yeah i had a saanen doe when i first started with goats that would not dry up


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## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

Well today eased my worries

Jersey my 1 doe that gave me 1 cup was even tight so i didn't touch her udder. 

Bella on the other hand i squirt 3 squirts out of each teat to relieve the pressure a little bit. (for a first time freshener she has a better udder then Jersey does)

But my girls were mad at me for 2 things when i put them back in the pen. 1 thing they are mad at me for is not getting grain they love there grain mixture that I buy 2nd thing is they are mad about not getting out of there pen this early in the morning LOL.

The 1 thing i worry about is a friend lives down the street that seen a Cougar and I just pray that are busy street we live by keeps it down the street. I also herd there was a bear siting down the street as well. 


But I don't think it is worth the milking even once a day to get 2 cups of milk out of both doe's so time to dry both of them up. I want to give them a few months rest and me a few months rest of milking and this season i can choose the time i want to milk. 

I am going to be checking them at 12:00 today to make sure Bella's udder is okay and jerseys I am going to be checking there udders every 5 hours just to make sure there not to tight or what do you guys think.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Is their milk OK, no mastitis, as to why the milk volume went down all of a sudden? Feed change, may be not enough grain? Not drinking enough water or getting alfalfa hay.

Otherwise, if you are wanting to dry them off, checking once a day should be fine.
Drying off doe suggestions in these threads:
http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f183/proper-way-dry-off-134929/

http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f217/how-do-i-dry-off-doe-188428/

Feeding no grain is best and offering a less hot feed (hay) will help dry them. I use oat or rye hay. Do not take away water.


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## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

toth boer goats said:


> Is their milk OK, no mastitis, as to why the milk volume went down all of a sudden? Feed change, may be not enough grain? Not drinking enough water or getting alfalfa hay.
> 
> Otherwise, if you are wanting to dry them off, checking once a day should be fine.
> Drying off doe suggestions in these threads:
> ...


No mastitis they don't have blood in there milk no stringy or anything milk taste great. They are eating Timothy hay as that is what i have on hand til i can get more I will be buying alfalfa/grass mix hay here by next week.

they have been tapering off slowly it isn't really all the sudden I just forgot to mention that in my first putting it on here. but I am drying them off so they can have a few months off til I either have them Bred by another buck or wait til my new buck is ready to breed my 2 goats.

I really want them to have babies so i am drying them up for a few months. And waking up at 5:30 to milk at 6 Is really killing me so. I am drying them up until either my new buckling is ready to breed both does Or when i have the money to breed to Jasper's father who is a really beautiful buck.

They get fresh water every day I make sure they have fresh water in there rubber trough every day sense it is getting warmer. They drink a little every few hours.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Sounds like you are doing the right things.


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## wndngrvr (Dec 10, 2011)

If I want to dry off I do as Crazydog. I go to once a day milking and after a week or so I stop. This year I am going to try to milk a few thru - I have heard a few people say that their does dropped the amount at the end of the lactation and if they kept milking the milk came back up toward spring. But she has lamanchas I have Nigerians. I have a couple of very good milkers so hoping this will work for them. We also have cougars and a bear. Outside lights help I think - we have it pretty lite up around the pen area and I have Niteguards on all corner posts and on some trees further from the pens shinning into the wooded areas. So far things are fine. A neighbor lost quite a few sheep to cougars last year - his field is totally black at night. I also have a radio in my milk area and I turn it up a little at night hoping a predator would stay away if it heard voices. Such a worry.


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