# Questions on Udders



## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

I have two questions 
1. is shaving the udder before birth necessary?
2. How do you share milk with goat kids?


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Kids are due between the 2 and 14 of December it’s her second time kidding but her first time with me.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You don't need to shave the udder. You would wait at least 2 weeks before milking. Make sure kids are nursing and growing before milking.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Ok


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

ksalvagno said:


> You don't need to shave the udder. You would wait at least 2 weeks before milking. Make sure kids are nursing and growing before milking.


How do I share the milk though:shrug:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You would lock the kids away from Mom at night and milk in the morning.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Ok thanks


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I dont shave my goats unless they are super hairy..
When kids are two weeks old and in good health I pen them in a safe kid pen with a tiny bit of feed to get them started on and chaffhay and hay and a small dish of water. I milk mom in the morning at 12 hr mark..then they get babies the rest of the day. I milk mom totally out..she will save up some for baby so no worries about stealing into their portion. The first several days they all act like you did the most terrible thing lol soon moms will be yelling at you that its bed time to come get the kids lol. Both babies and moms get into a routine. Increase babies feed amount as they eat more and tummies get used to it.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Ok will do she has a lot of hair so I might trim it or just dry it when she delivers


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Shaving makes the udder very prickly and you don't want those spiky hairs discouraging brand new kids from latching on and suckling. It's also too cold this time of year to shave udders. Those girls need every bit of the scant hair they have in that area. Brrrr! 

Good luck with those kidlets!


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Ok so then I will just dry her off, thank you!


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## Kass (Apr 26, 2020)

A lot of people start at 4 weeks and separate the kids from the doe at night, and then milk in the morning and allow the kids to nurse during the day. Thats what I plan to do when my does kid.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Awesome are you expecting any kids?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Damfino said:


> Those girls need every bit of the scant hair they have in that area.


Lol..good point. We kid late spring so not an issue here..but definitely would be a bit chilly this time of year. I have had only one doe we had to shave..she was so hairy couldn't even see her teats lol.i tell yah. She was part buffalo or something lol.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

Haha


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I don't shave the udder, however I do shave around the escutcheon and under the tail - less gooy mess to get stuck and you can keep an eye on udder health and development.


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## Jubillee (Dec 22, 2017)

Sometimes I shave them, sometimes not. This season, I chose not...mostly because I didn't feel like doing it. None of my girls have super hairy udders, and we're in the cold season. In the summer I give them an all-over shave so their udder gets shaved then. 

We will milk twice a day from kidding. But we don't keep any milk until after 2 weeks. Mostly because that's how long it takes here for the taste to adjust. We separate kids at night and milk mom in the morning, then allow the kids back with her during the day. But we also milk in the evening, whatever is left. We have some that produce more than their kids take.


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## Kass (Apr 26, 2020)

Ana said:


> Awesome are you expecting any kids?


I have a nigerian hopefully bred... she will have an ultrasound soon. And I have a nubian I'm waiting to come back into heat so I can breed her. Very exciting.


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

T


Kass said:


> I have a nigerian hopefully bred... she will have an ultrasound soon. And I have a nubian I'm waiting to come back into heat so I can breed her. Very exciting.


thats awesome post pictures when you have them


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## Ana (Jan 29, 2020)

So from this thread I have gathered that I won’t shave just dry her off and I will lock up the kids at night, milk in the morning, and then let them play with her the rest of the day


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Ana said:


> I will lock up the kids at night, milk in the morning, and then let them play with her the rest of the day


Yes, once they are at least 2 weeks old and strong and healthy.


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## 12345 (Nov 22, 2020)

When I treat my doe's udder with today or tomorrow, should I milk it out each time even if she is dry?


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## 12345 (Nov 22, 2020)

How about when this is the 2 or 3 treatment?


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## CBPitts (Jan 29, 2020)

I shave udders. Not bald but close to it. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to wash dried blood and discharge off a newly fresh udder in freezing weather  I also clip the underside of the tail, bob it, and trim the hair down the whole back end that might get covered in uck that's hard to wash off.

I have some very high producing does but even with lower producers I milk from day 1. I don't strip unless the doe has a single. Every milk doe I've had has outproduced her kids intake in the first few days. I want them to make a lot of milk so not keeping the udder empty "tells" her to produce less milk.

These are market types but they've just gotten their kidding clips for this year. On the black doe I can just follow the brown lines! Then I tidy the back of the udder and clean all the long hair away from the teats.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

:up::nod:


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## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

Ana, I have not seen where anyone said anything about the colostrum milk. The udder will fill up and the kids will drink all that they need in the first 24 hours. The colostrum will not do the kids any good after the first 24 hours. After that milk all the colostrum out of the udder and it will start making good milk for the kids. If the kids cannot handle all the milk the doe produces, then milk most of the milk out at least once a day and this will help clean the milk up faster and also help relieve the udder and increase milk production and take care of the udder. Good luck.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yes, always milk out the today-tomorrow before reinserting new.


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## Hounddog23 (Jan 13, 2021)

I had to shave my girls before milking my nubian crosses had really fuzzy udders.. also my nigerian dwarf so is super shaggy. Helped with less hair in my milk. I shave em all right before they freshen. Helps with less transfer of dirt and bacteria. This just works good for me


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