[moody_mare]

Hi,

My adorable Dairy goat is still milking crazy amounts (8 pints a day still). She is putting everything into it, and I would like to get more weight on her. She is currently on Ad lib Hay, Dairy nuts, Barley and some Dengie Alfa Alfa. She has been wormed recently, but is still a bit ribby.  I was thinking about drying her off and bringing her back into milk in the spring, but have some questions :

• She isn't a maiden milker, she had kids in April. Would it be easy to bring her back into milk?
  
  Would she milk less if I brought her back into milk?
  
  How would I dry her up?
  
  Am I being silly and should just keep milking her?

[wytsend]

Milking at that rate will be very difficult to dry up !!!!!!!

The weather may reduce the amount over the next few weeks..... you could try simple things like vary your milking times by as much as 2 hrs  until you are milking 3 times in 48 hrs.... this might reduce the milk flow.
If not then I am afraid nature will have to take its course..... it is very difficult to keep any weight on a goat that is determined to milk like this.

You are doing the best thing for her but you could also try reducing the dairy nuts, but to be honest I don't really think it will make a lot of difference.

Did you have a mineral sample from Denis Brinicombe ?   If not, this might be a way forward to get a little more weight on.

Let me know and I will speak to them as this is quite an individual case.

[Anke]

What breed of goat is she and how old? Just saying this as my BT type girl last year (when she was a two-year old first kidder) was really scrawny all summer right until I dried her up - she was still growing and whatever I tried to feed her it didn't make a difference.

This year (after 2nd kidding) she still milks about 3.5kgs per day and is actually looking a lot better. She is fed on dairy nuts, oats, sugarbeet and of course hay. They also get some "All grass" if I remember, plus carrots, garlic and Caprivite.

Actually I think if she is milking well and you have a use for the milk I would keep milking her while maintaning the amount of feed and just see how it goes. It is not guaranteed that she would come back into milk without a kidding, so if you do not want to kid her again it would be better to continue milking - you could alsways get a couple of pigs, or freeze the milk and sell to local farmers for surplus triplet/orphan lambs.

[moody_mare]

wytsend - I have not tried the mineral supplement, could you message me with the details? I thought her yield would drop, but have seen no evidence of that yet.

Anke - She is as you described, a 2 year old first kidder. She is a British Sannen. We have just had our first pigs (fed on goats milk) slaughtered and they are yum  . How much sugar beet and oats do you feed a day? how big are the feeds in total? 

[Anke]

I would put her into kid again, and then sowly dry her off - I did it last year by not stripping my girl out, just eased out a bit of milk so udder is not full. After about two weeks she dried off. It needs careful watching for the first few days, in case udder gets too tight, you can always take some milk out, even if it is more than twice a day.

I feed my BT milker almost adlib, she is fairly thin but no ribs showing. My feeding regime is quite complicated... at morning milking time: about 1/2kg of dairy nuts and half a scoop of oats, lunchtime a scoop of soaked sugarbeet shreds with garlic and caprivite (recommended amounts), again half a scoop of oats, another 1/2kgs of dairy nuts, plus some carrots. At evening milking the same as in the morning. All these quantities are approximate, I only weigh the feed for my GG's in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy because they seem to get pregnancy toxaemia quite easily.

For drying off I would reduce the dairy nuts by half the first week, then to very little in the second week, but still keep up the sugarbeet and also oats. She will need some protein etc for growing and to put on some condition. You could also use an "all round" type goat ration when she is dry.

You can still milk her for the first two months of her next pregnancy with no problems, then start to dry her off before her last 10 to 8 weeks.

[moody_mare]

I had thought about kidding her as she is such a lovely goat with nice pedigree, her dam is Q*7brCh and she did well showing as a goatling. I have one of her last kids, she is cracking.

I have never kidded or breed though (purchased her with kid at foot). her breeder isn't too far away. maybe I should chat with him. how do you chose the billy, what prep does she need before going to billy? through pregnancy?

I see my hubbies eye rolling already 

[Anke]

She's out of a Q*7 - wow are you a lucky lady!!!! Well you know what that means - you need to kid her, show her and get that next Q*!!!

I would have a chat with her original breeder, s/he should be able to suggest a suitable male.  I don't breed BS, so wouldn't know about what males etc are in your area. - Where in the country are you?

[jaykay]

If the breeder is nearby they'll be able to show you what makes a good Saanen billy. I personally don't keep a billy, I just take mine to one when in season - though you have to that night!

As for drying her off - as well as adding an hour each time (doesn't that end up with you milking in the middle of the night?) you can go as follows:
Milk in the morning as normal, take enough off in the afternoon to make her comfortable, reducing the afternoon amount each day.
Carry on like this for 3-4 days.
Now don't milk the whole bag out in the morning either -  take off some to make her comfortable, reduce it as you did for the afternoon.
Now work at reducing pm to nothing, then am too.

I've just taken Ellie, whom I'm milking, to the billy today. If her condition holds with the cobalt/selenium drench and cattle nuts, I'll dry her off late Jan/early Feb.

[Hopewell]

If she is milking that well I wouldn't be thinking of drying her up, just to kid again in the spring. There are more problems around kidding time than at any other time, so if you keep her in milk you will avoid a lot of problems. Obviously it depends on what you want her for and if you are desperate for kids then that's a different matter.

[wytsend]

wytsend - I have not tried the mineral supplement, could you message me with the details? I thought her yield would drop, but have seen no evidence of that yet.

Please PM me with your full name & address & I will arrange for a sample to be sent to you.

How many goats do you have ?

[moody_mare]

She's out of a Q*7 - wow are you a lucky lady!!!! Well you know what that means - you need to kid her, show her and get that next Q*!!!

Her Dam is Q*7BrCh, one the dam side her great dam is Q*6 and great sire is 3*BrCh, her great, great dam is Q*5BrCh.

On the sire side, Her great dam is Q*2 and her great, great dam is Q*6BrCh. 

I know this is good! and that she her self was a successful showing goat ling, BUT I have no idea what it all means! can anyone enlighten me on the Q*?BrCH etc? 

I am in the south west, Gloucestershire!

[Hopewell]

BrCH = breed champion
Q* = an award for getting enough points in a milking competition. Points are awarded for yield etc, so basically a goat that milked well on that day and therefore a good milker.
Q*7 = 7 female generations in direct line that have all gained the Q* award.
The BGS (British Goat Society) website does have an explanation on it as to what these and other abbreviations are for, as well as giving details of just how much milk the goat needs to produce to get the award.

[plumseverywhere]

I've just had a thought moodymare - the goat I was telling you about yesterday is saanenX (not sure what she was crossed with) but she's an amazing Maiden milker...she's from very near to you and I wonder if our girls are related!! shot in the dark but that would be a funny coincidence and I know her lines were very strong milkers and I was told to expect her to come into milk without mating!   

[moody_mare]

I've just had a thought moodymare - the goat I was telling you about yesterday is saanenX (not sure what she was crossed with) but she's an amazing Maiden milker...she's from very near to you and I wonder if our girls are related!! shot in the dark but that would be a funny coincidence and I know her lines were very strong milkers and I was told to expect her to come into milk without mating!   

I have pm'd you