# Letting Dairy Does Keep Their Kids



## SolidRockFarmTX (Apr 12, 2016)

I will admit now that I might be overthinking this, so ya'll can tell me if I am, lol.

I raised dairy goats for about ten years, and we always took the kids off the momma and bottlefed them so that the udder stayed in better shape for show and we could keep more milk. A couple times towards the end of that period when I was in college and busier I tried to leave the kids with the mom, but it both times it was with does who had kidded 3-4 times before and it was like taking their kids away had erased their mothering instincts. They didn't want anything to do with their babies.

Now fast forward, I took a break for a couple years and now have goats again, totally new herd, new blood, new state. I have three young Nubian does who are getting ready to kid for the first time. I am no longer showing and want to leave the kids on the mom, while maybe milking her once a day so that we can have some.

So my questions for anyone who has experience letting a doe keep her kids and milking her: How does one go about that?? How do you know how much you can milk and still elave enough for the baby? When should you not milk at all? Do you think these will raise their kids alright cause they've never had them taken away? Any other tricks or tips? 

Sorry for the long post and so much background, and thank you in advance for any info!!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Starting at two weeks old, I separate the kids from their dams at night and milk in the morning. The kids get the milk during the day. This has worked very well for us.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I have left many of my nubian kids on their moms (after cae/johnes testing). Even the ff were great moms and I've had no trouble. I do a once a day milking as well. No issues with taking too much, my girls are high producers.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

I start locking up at night at two weeks of age with hay grain and water available. Milk in AM and then let them be together.

You may have to milk a little pressure off first thing and hold the new mom's to let them let babies nurse.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

All you can do is try and be there at the birthing and assist the mom in cleaning off the kid (s) and helping them to find the teat. Make sure they get enough colostrum- usually they nurse a bit and stop. The doe should be watched to make sure she is letting them nurse. 

I have a group of Nubians from show stock. All of the kids were pulled at birth so the mom never gets to clean off the kid, or even see it. When these does kidded for me, it was a major challenge to make them understand the kids were theirs. (all had kidded before). Some were super moms, others were awful and I had to bottle feed them. It all depends on the doe.


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

We dam raise our kids.

And we show and do milk test. (Successfully I might add with several finished grand champions and star milker's)

They aren't mutually exclusive.


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## SolidRockFarmTX (Apr 12, 2016)

Thank you guys, I will pray for the best and take them of at two weeks  Also our goats are from a CAE/Johne's free farm, so I wasn't worried about that aspect of it. 

IHEARTGOATS that's awesome  I was always taught (in my little bubble) that it didn't work well so I'm glad to hear that it does


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I also show, and I don't pull kids normally, however, I will pull multiples over 2 and bottle feed. In my experience, bucklings are more aggressive with mama's udder than doelings. If you get a single, make sure you milk out the opposite side the kid does not choose.


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

Some people also leave kids with mom 24/7 and milk once or twice a day. If the doe is a high producer, you can still get a decent amount of milk this way. I've done both. 

I found that when I was separating at night, I got pretty much the same amount of milk, but I got it all in the morning. I gave up miking in the evening because the babies would compensate for not getting milk at night by drinking it all up during the day. This might not be the case with super-high producers.

When I didn't separate at night, I milked in both the morning and evening, and it always added up to about the same amount that I got in the morning when I would separate. 

I'm not at all against separating at night, just sometimes it worked better for me not to. When I did, I penned all the babies together, right next to the mamas, so they could still see and smell each other, and had the other babies for company. Nobody seemed to mind a bit. We had pallet fencing between them, with the larger gaps filled in, so there was no possibility of anyone getting their heads through and nursing.

And yes, like Goatblessings said, definitely keep a close eye on those udders from day one if you have any single kids. They will very, very often favor one side, so if you want good production, what to speak of avoiding possible mastitis, congestion, etc. you'll have to start milking that other side right away.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I'm a fan of dam-raising, so I leave kids with moms 24/7. Like Lilaalil, I haven't had a problem getting enough milk for household use even with leaving babies on. I only milk once a day so I would run into issues if I were selling milk shares or products, but we have enough for personal use until the babies get to be 2-4 months old. I leave the kids on for at least 3 months, so sometimes in late summer there's a short period where don't get much milk! So what I do is I leave one doe open each fall and milk her through. That way I've got milk all winter and through the next summer. I dry that doe up in fall and breed her and leave a different one open. This works very well to keep me in milk and it means I don't have to find homes for quite so many kids each year.


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

SolidRockFarmTX said:


> Thank you guys, I will pray for the best and take them of at two weeks  Also our goats are from a CAE/Johne's free farm, so I wasn't worried about that aspect of it.
> 
> IHEARTGOATS that's awesome  I was always taught (in my little bubble) that it didn't work well so I'm glad to hear that it does


You do have to work on it even though the babies do most of the work.
Like a couple of others mentioned, we often leave the babies 24-7 and still milk once or twice a day just to stimulate production.

Also, sometimes doe and buck twins will pick one side and the boy may nurse more so milking a couple of times a day helps keep the udder even.
It takes even more work if you get a doe with a single buckling.


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## SolidRockFarmTX (Apr 12, 2016)

Got it, monitor everyone closely  Do ya'll treat first fresheners any different, cause they might be producing less milk for the kids?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

No. My FFs' kids gain weight and do just as well otherwise as any of the other kids.


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## SolidRockFarmTX (Apr 12, 2016)

Thanks ya'll! You've calmed me down lol it doesn't sound so hard as I was building it up to be


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