# Goat drinks her own milk



## fibromom (Mar 31, 2013)

:crazy:Hi There!
So, Ma'am, the Oberhausli/LaMancha loves her milk stand and her grain! She also LOVES TO DRINK HER OWN MILK and I figured that's great! She's very thin nursing 2 gorgeous twins. She free ranges during the day and eats well. I just de-wormed her with lactating-friendly pellets.
Is it ok that she drinks her own milk?


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## Talron (Nov 17, 2013)

The milk wont hurt her, some people feed goats their own milk to boost their immune system.
She might be lacking in something and doing this as a sign of that though, does she have access to good loose minerals?


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

If you're not planning to milk her, that should be fine, but it's a VERY hard habit to break if you plan to let the udder fill and have her be a milk goat.

If she's just a pet I'd probably let it be.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

If your not planning on using the milk I would have have let them. My gabby does the same thing if I let her.


Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Does she drink it from her udder or the bucket?


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## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

Oh my. That is very interesting. Our goat Gabby tried it once and hasn't done it since!


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I've seen my goats drink milk from their own udders when the udders are really full.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

its not a good habit to encourage if she is self nursing...if you milk her and feed it back to her its fine...but a self nurser may take what the kids need...especially colostrum when kidding comes around...


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## fibromom (Mar 31, 2013)

:lol:OOooops! NO, she is not self-nursing! Goes to show what lack of communication does for making some interesting conversation!
No, she's milking fine and I doubt she associates drinking from the dish links to her teets!
Good, I'm glad it could be good for her... seems to me it would be. The LaLeche League for breastfeeding humans recommends serving breast milk to the entire family!
Interesting that she might be lacking something: loose minerals? She free ranges and has a salt lick with selenium + minerals. I do have some loose stuff that I can include in her grain while I'm milking her.
What does TOO MUCH selenium and mineral look like? I know we can kill an animal by forcing too much selenium into them (ie dogs.)
THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH FOR POUNCING ON THIS POST! I was just getting set up to go milk and realized I need to check my emails to see if any goat wisdom came across... and sure enuf... it did!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Oh good! From the dish I think it should be fine.

Goats often need to be given selenium and copper even if they're getting a good loose minerals. The copper bolus company recommends that you do not bolus more than every 8 months. Signs of copper deficiency is a rough coat, proneness to parasites, copper or lighter than normal tinge to the coat, and (I've noticed) brittle hooves and/or horns.

Selenium deficiency can show up with weak pasterns, or (with young kids) weak kids with no sucking reflex, floppy ears (if they are a breed that is supposed to have stiff ears), and no co-ordination.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

My Mochalo LOVES her milk  When I'm not using the milk , i let her have it , she really enjoys it , lol. When I need it for puppies , i still give her half  She is so used to getting it that when she finishes her grain , she turns and looks to see if I'm done . I put a small bucket ontop of her grain dish while on the stand , she slurps up her milk and conveniently knocks the bucket off to finish anything left in her dish 
I should video her , its pretty funny , lol. Then she's like "I'm done mom , I want off now"  My spoiled child


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I had a doe that did that when she was pregnant and like a hour before she kidded so I always new when she was going into labor. She would just get so big and tight she was not comfortable.


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## ELAINE KIMBROUGH (Apr 10, 2018)

I know this is an old post but really need an answer. Miss Elsa cut one teat, got mastitis in it. Used the Today treatment on her, no more clumps or pink milk. She has started lettng the kids nurse. But when I was milking her out she started trying to drink it. Didn' Want her drinking that infected milk. Could she be lacking in something? This is her second kidding and didn' have any problems with her first.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Was she trying to drink it from the pail or the teat?


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## ELAINE KIMBROUGH (Apr 10, 2018)

From the pail.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Actually that is ok. Helps create antibodies.


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## ELAINE KIMBROUGH (Apr 10, 2018)

Thank you. This is only my second year of kidding and didn' happen last year with any of my 3 does. It has been a hard year, one had to many babies for her(Booberhead) and had to have a c-section with 30 days to go, lost them of course. Then this one (Elsa) had triplets, got mastitis, then started this. Has been a hard year. Sorry I'm chatty just feeling a bit lost.


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## Firsttimegoatmom2018 (Feb 8, 2018)

Our girls get a sip of there milk if they want it, as a treat for being good on the stand and letting us milk.


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