# How long to separate to wean



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

I am weaning the three kiddos. I want to put the doeling back with the does as soon as possible. How long does it take a kid to "forget" so she won't nurse when I put her back?


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Good luck with that. 

Seriously, it seems to depend on the goats. Sometimes it takes a couple months. Sometimes it doesn't work if you separate them for six months. Sometimes it's easy. The one I had last year that I gave up on kicked her kids off at six months. Sometimes they never do. This year I have one who will be relieved to get rid of them, and since they are all bucks they will get separated early and permanently. Except for one wether. It's going to be interesting to see how she handles that. 

This year I plan to leave them together during the day and separate at night, and just milk them in the morning until they stop on their own. Easier on everyone and I get enough milk anyway. It has the advantage of being able to leave for a couple days if you need to, you can just leave them together. I hope that's going to work anyway.

Jan


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree.....it varies... from Doe to Doe....some do it after 1 months time...while others take a very long time......

I'd try to dry up the Doe first...and then... try to introduce them back again...if the Doe allows the kid to nurse...then separate them for a bit longer.... :wink:


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Okay, thank you! I guess they'll have to be separated indefinitely then, because I'm milking and they are pretty well bonded.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

It might not be that bad, sometimes they do stop. You could try it for a month and see if they've stopped and if not separate them some more. I thik sometimes they figure out that if they stop the nursing they can stay together.

Jan


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Good luck.

When I first retained a doeling from Bootsie, I ended up taping her teats, Tilly got the picture pretty quick and stopped trying after almost 2 months. When Bootsie freshened 2 years later, Tilly was freshened as well...once their kids were weaned and sold, I milked both 2x a day and noticed that Bootsies production was really dropped after the first week, I caught Tilly nursing from her at 2 1/2 YEARS OLD!! Then to top it off after I had to tape Bootsies teats again, Tilly turned into a self nurser! :hair: I was finally able to "wean" her from her mom after she spent 3 months at my moms place...total change as she wasn't recognized when I brought her home...never did cure her of self nursing either.
This is worst case scenerio...I'm sure that not all does are like mine.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Oh no! I can understand the hair-pulling. Well, I'll just play by ear I guess.


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