Author Topic: Drying off milkers (Read 2201 times)

katie · « **on:** July 09, 2012, 05:44:30 pm »

Hi, everyone.
I'd like a bit of advice on drying up my two milkers. They kidded in March and I left the kids on them. I started milking them recently but they haven't got much milk and because I don't live on the land all the time, I haven't got the facilities to sterilise equipment or cool the milk down that I would have ta home so it doesn't seem worth doing.
Is it best to separate the mothers and the kids totally and gradually reduce the mothers' hard feed down to zero? I'm not looking forward to this .....

Thanks for any advice

Katie

jaykay · « **Reply #1 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:46:22 pm »

If you've got the kids still and are keeping them for now, I'd just leave the kids on and as they gradually drink less and less, their mums will dry off naturally. And as that happens they will gradually need less hard feed - just watch their waistlines

katie · « **Reply #2 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:52:00 pm »

Oh, thank you. That sounds much less stressful!

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #3 on:** July 09, 2012, 07:06:15 pm »

Katie, I left reggie and ronnie on Avocet and it was just as Jaykay says (although I did keep her in enough milk for us to have a little bit but she would have dried right up)
I've not milked Puffin at all what with vanna knocking out 9 pints a day

so Hellboy is just taking what he wants and she has a small, soft, pretty empty udder now.[size=78%] [/size]