# When to start milking



## Maureen (Jul 6, 2012)

Our Alpine doe just kidded yesterday. 
We are leaving her to dam raise the kids but will be using her as a milking goat for the next year or two or however long she goes. 

When do you start milking them, if you intend to use the doe for milking? 

She was producing almost 2 gallons a day last summer, but her udder is not overly full right now.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I believe "most" start locking kids up at night around 2weeks of age, then milking in the morning. My does had crazy amounts of milk, even with 3 kids each... so I had to start milking at about a week old, just because their udders were always full. I didn't separate the kids yet, but would milk when I saw full udders. Plus, I intended to milk them as long as possible... so I figured an even higher demand might pay off in the future. Definitely make sure they're getting all the nutrition they need though, if they're nursing AND milking. Creating milk takes a lot out of the body.


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## Maureen (Jul 6, 2012)

Thanks. That is kind of what I thought.

She is getting free choice 2nd cutting Timothy/Alfalfa and free choice alfalfa hays. Typically, when on the stand, I have done free choice feed while on the stand. (Ends up being about 2 to 2.5 quarts of goat feed/alfalfa pellets/boss mixed AM and PM then) So I am working her back up towards that amount as she does look thin to me. She also has minerals, salt, baking soda, kelp and molasses water. Hoping she gets what she needs before I start to milk her.

When separating the kids in a couple weeks, the kids stay in a separate stall over night and you milk the doe in the morning, correct? Do you milk them out in the morning or leave a little for the kids?


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## GoatieGranny (Jul 26, 2013)

When I start separating them at night, I use a large dog crate and put them right in the pen with mama. But a different pen would work, too, as long as they can't get out and they can see her. I think it would cause a lot of stress if they were calling for each other and couldn't see that they were ok and right over the fence. I milk in the morning and right after I'm finished with her, I let the kids out and they bee-line it to her. They always drink after I milk, so I think she holds some back for them. If not, she will have more shortly. I always have water and hay available for the kids overnight.


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## Maureen (Jul 6, 2012)

Super! Thank-you. 

Yes, we have a little room in our goats pen that slides shut but she'll be able to see her kids/touch etc.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

I do exactly as GoatieGranny. Giant dog crate (which also gives them something to climb on/bounce off of :roll. I really expected my does to freak out when I locked the kids up for the first time... but they seemed REALLY relieved, as if to say "FINALLY!!" HAHA. 

Sounds like you're giving all the nutrition needed, from what I can tell. I've been having some issues lately with copper and selenium, despite using a good mineral... so having to bolus/supplement. Do yours have access to pasture as well? The spring grass seems to really help fatten them up.


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## Maureen (Jul 6, 2012)

Unfortunately, no. They do not have any pasture. Our first goats (gone for well over a year now) had CL and so I moved these guys to another part of the barn the previous goats hadn't been in. The vets I'd talked to suggested letting the land clear for 2 years so, meanwhile, all they have access to is a 45x70 sandy run. So I've tried to offer her several hay options.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

They can have colostrum in their milk for 3 weeks. so not before then, the colostrum can taint the taste of the milk. I personally don't start separating the babies until about 2 months old. By then they are eating a little bit of grain and hay and drinking water. 3 week old babies are generally not drinking water out of a bucket yet. But I read on here that a ton of people separate out at 3 wks. I choose to let them have their mom through the night longer. But I also wait til 3 months to wean. A lot of people wean at 2 months . . . . I think that 3 months makes a healthier, bigger, and stronger weanling.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

I start drinking their milk right away cuz I would rather have it a bit sharp from colostrum than drink milk from the store. (I had a long dry period this year.) My first two fresheners this year had plenty every morning. My babies are drinking water and eating a bit of hay when I separate them at two weeks. I do not wean so that is not an issue.


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