# How much milk SHOULD a Nigerian Dwarf doe produce?



## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Hi all!
I have a Nigerian Dwarf doe (Squeaks) who produces about 18-20 ounces in the morning and around 15 ounces at night. Is this the normal amount, or should she be producing more?
She is registered and said to have superior genetics. She is not polled. 
Thanks so much in advance!


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## Morning Star Farm (Sep 26, 2018)

Does she have kids on her at all? Does she herself have an SG in front of her name or is that in her pedigree for some of her ancestors? How many freshenings has she had?

That's about a quart (approx 2lbs) a day which I would consider average for a Nigerian Dwarf. I liked my FF does to be giving 3-4lbs, ( between 6-8 cups a day, )and my older milkers to give me between 4-6lbs. Those were the heavy milking lines that I preferred, but I think a good Nigerian milker should give around 3-4lbs daily. Depends on genetics, feeding program, health, etc.


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## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Her registered name is Escada, and she does not have SG in front of her name. I was told she has great genetics and al lot of potential, but apparently it does not say that on her registration.Here's a screenshot of her ADGA pedigree. ​








In my post, I forgot that superior genetics was actually an abbreviation on a registered pedigree, so I really meant to say great genetics. I'm glad you pointed that out! 
She has two boys that are weaned, and she is a second-time mom. We bought her mid-way through milk last year, and we were lucky to get 2 cups of milk a day! She didn't have all the grass and leaves to eat that she has now, and she was only being milked once a day.

I have been giving her sunflower seeds recently, and gave 19.9 ounces of milk this morning but, she has only been getting sunflower seeds the past two days. It has been wet and raining but, we are finally getting nicer weather which *should* up her production, right? 
I really appreciate your help!


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## Morning Star Farm (Sep 26, 2018)

Are you just feeding sunflower seeds or do you give her grain as well? Since she is in milk, I would be offering her some grain on the milk stand. Sunflower seeds are good, but in small quantities. On their own, I would consider them as a nutritious treat.

If you click on each of those ancestors it will tell you about them as individuals. I just looked her up and did that. I like to stay within the first 3 generations when I'm looking for attributes such as SG, CH, *, +, LA scores etc. She has some really old lines on both sides. On her dam's side, her dam as an LA score of 87 which is great, but her sire only got an 83 and his dam has an 84. There are no destinations that I can see in the first 3 generations on that side. On her sire's side it's a little better. Her Grand dam is an SGCH with a score of 89, but Escada's sire only has an 83 although that was as a yearling and his sire has an 88. Her SDS is an SG buck, but other that that, those are the only two animals I'm seeing in the 1st three generations. I think she has a decent pedigree, above average, but I wouldn't call it great.

I'm not sure how much weather, other than extreme heat and cold, play a role, but nice days certainly allow them more time to be out browsing. I think you may be able to get her up to about 6 cups a day which would be very good. Some of those lines in her pedigree are slow to mature, and her production should keep increasing, especially as she's only a 2nd freshener.


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## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Morning Star Farm said:


> Are you just feeding sunflower seeds or do you give her grain as well? Since she is in milk, I would be offering her some grain on the milk stand. Sunflower seeds are good, but in small quantities. On their own, I would consider them as a nutritious treat.
> 
> If you click on each of those ancestors it will tell you about them as individuals. I just looked her up and did that. I like to stay within the first 3 generations when I'm looking for attributes such as SG, CH, *, +, LA scores etc. She has some really old lines on both sides. On her dam's side, her dam as an LA score of 87 which is great, but her sire only got an 83 and his dam has an 84. There are no destinations that I can see in the first 3 generations on that side. On her sire's side it's a little better. Her Grand dam is an SGCH with a score of 89, but Escada's sire only has an 83 although that was as a yearling and his sire has an 88. Her SDS is an SG buck, but other that that, those are the only two animals I'm seeing in the 1st three generations. I think she has a decent pedigree, above average, but I wouldn't call it great.
> 
> I'm not sure how much weather, other than extreme heat and cold, play a role, but nice days certainly allow them more time to be out browsing. I think you may be able to get her up to about 6 cups a day which would be very good. Some of those lines in her pedigree are slow to mature, and her production should keep increasing, especially as she's only a 2nd freshener.


Thank you so much for doing so much research into her lines! I've heard great things about her granddam,(SD: End of the Line Brennan) and her sire (S : EOTL Blackjack) whom is also the father to my doe Gracie (EOTL B Shady Grace) who may or may not (not sure at all) be bred. Unfortunately, she was the runt doe with four other siblings. She measures about 17 3/4-18 inches at the withers. 
She is fed mostly grain however, I do about a 80:20 ratio of grain to sunflower seeds, more or less. Of course, she is fed a quality orchard grass hay and pasture. She is fed her grain/sunflower seeds on the milking stand. She doesn't like the sunflower seeds plain, so I have to mix them into her feed. She is the only goat fed this mixture. 
I'm glad to hear her production *should* increase as she gets older, I was very worried to see how little she produces compared to others. Our goal is to have great Nigerian Dwarfs but, our 'herd starters' aren't being great at herd starting. :haha:

I have been considering evaluating her (And Gracie, when (if) she is bred and in milk) to get her LA score.
I really appreciate your honesty (not sugarcoating it ) and advice with this doe. I'll see if her milk production increases, and will act accordingly. If her milk production does not increase, is there any certain feed, supplement, treat, or mineral I can give her? I try to milk her dry every day hoping she will produce more.


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## Morning Star Farm (Sep 26, 2018)

If she is one of your foundation does, I think you're doing very well and that's a great start to build from! My first goats were a whole lot worse than yours, but gradually over time through breeding and culling, I got up to the 6lb milkers. Then of course right when I started to see the results that I'd been waiting for, I sold them all, lol. But it sounds like you're doing everything right.

If they have it in your area this year, I would definitely get your eligible animals appraised. It is such a wonderful tool for improving your herd!

You're welcome! Yes, it should increase with time, but I know there are herbs that are supposed to increase milk production on a daily basis. I never used them because if I had a poor milker, I just didn't have the time to try to add supplements and make an individual diet. I also wanted milk production from does that I didn't have to force feed to give high quantities of milk. I preferred the first fresheners who could come in from grazing all day and give me over a quart. Now I wouldn't call Escada a poor milker and I'd be surprised if her production doesn't increase with time, but some of those lines can really teach you patience. The results are worth it though!


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## CaramelKittey (Oct 31, 2019)

Morning Star Farm said:


> If she is one of your foundation does, I think you're doing very well and that's a great start to build from! My first goats were a whole lot worse than yours, but gradually over time through breeding and culling, I got up to the 6lb milkers. Then of course right when I started to see the results that I'd been waiting for, I sold them all, lol. But it sounds like you're doing everything right.
> 
> If they have it in your area this year, I would definitely get your eligible animals appraised. It is such a wonderful tool for improving your herd!
> 
> You're welcome! Yes, it should increase with time, but I know there are herbs that are supposed to increase milk production on a daily basis. I never used them because if I had a poor milker, I just didn't have the time to try to add supplements and make an individual diet. I also wanted milk production from does that I didn't have to force feed to give high quantities of milk. I preferred the first fresheners who could come in from grazing all day and give me over a quart. Now I wouldn't call Escada a poor milker and I'd be surprised if her production doesn't increase with time, but some of those lines can really teach you patience. The results are worth it though!


Thank you! 
They really do teach you a lot of patience! Goats are funny that way. We have a large garden so we could grow herbal supplements for them somewhat easily however, I agree that having goats that do not require individual diets are much easier!
Thanks so much again!


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