Author Topic: wipes (Read 13663 times)

langdon · « **on:** April 25, 2010, 03:40:11 pm »

is there a special type of wipes that you need for cleaning the goats udder before milking
or will any brand do.
langdon

little blue · « **Reply #1 on:** April 25, 2010, 06:54:25 pm »

any dairy type will do, from a agri / smallholder supplier. not sure thay'd appreciate baby wipes or something!

ballingall · « **Reply #2 on:** April 26, 2010, 10:12:22 pm »

Langdon,

I would never recommend milking an animal that hasn't had babies yet. If it becomes absolutely necessary, then yes I would, but not before then. It would only be absolutely necessary if her udder was too hot, hard or bright pink.

Beth

langdon · « **Reply #3 on:** April 26, 2010, 10:20:20 pm »

thanks beth,

if we cant( i shall make sure before i try) what shall we do?

what is this thing about you are lucky if you have a goat who has a phanthom pregancy cos you get free milk,
free as in you dont have to pay for stud fees.
this is getting abit

Hermit · « **Reply #4 on:** April 26, 2010, 10:48:16 pm »

Maiden milkers are goats that have a phantom pregnancy and produce milk. A blessing when you live on an island with few goats.

ballingall · « **Reply #5 on:** April 27, 2010, 12:00:17 am »

It can be a blessing, but in a goat that is still under a year old, it is also a drain on her calcium levels. If she was 2 or 3 years old I would say go for it. But remember, she should still be growing and calicifying her bones this year. Also, you will never get as much milk from a maiden milker as you would from on which has kidded. I know people who have successfully kept maiden milkers for 12-15 years milking away.

Beth

langdon · « **Reply #6 on:** April 27, 2010, 08:28:53 am »

just felt mollys udder this morning and it does seem to be abit hot

what does this mean now beth?
what is the best way of treating her.
im

cos the vet who seen her sworn that she didnt have mastitis.
he could see the milk was free from clots, not smelly etc.
im a bit at my wits end with this, but i know it will sort its self out some how

any help beth will be very much app

Roxy · « **Reply #7 on:** April 27, 2010, 01:45:18 pm »

Heat in the udder can indicate mastitis.....but don't panic yet. I have had maiden goats come into milk on their own accord, but not milked them, and never had one that went on to get mastitis. When you felt Mollys udder, had she just been lying down?!!! If so, her udder would be warm from lying on the ground. If the udder is still the same size, and feels the same as when the vet looked, then its unlikely (though not impossible) its mastitis.

How much hard feed (such as goat mix) are you feeding Molly? How much grass is she on? Too much concentrates (goat mix) for a young nanny, can cause them to get milk. All my young, non milking, or male castrated goats get plenty of hay and grass, but they do not get much goat feed, as I feel they do not need it. They do well enough on what they get and are no way skinny.

Its more important to feed fibre, such as hay than give them hard feed. I am just wondering if you are feeding a lot of that? Can you give us an idea how much Molly is having .....?

langdon · « **Reply #8 on:** April 27, 2010, 05:50:51 pm »

thanks roxy for your help, and i will get that photo taken!
molly and milly are given 800grams a day.
400 in the morning and 400 again in late afternoon.
grass is little as the ground that they are on during the day is mostly gravel.
they have surrounding bushes, brambles, hedges etc to munch on.
they have their hay rack in which i make sure is allways full for them.
they are treated to munches around lunch time as a treat is well.
when they go in at night they have their hay rack in the corner of the shed.
hope this all sounds good, as we do love the girls dearly.
thanks langdon

Roxy · « **Reply #9 on:** April 27, 2010, 06:04:32 pm »

oh, I only do pounds and ounces, unless I am baking when I can just about cope with grams!!

Is that nearly 2lbs each of feed the goats get per day, if you convert it to old money lol!! Sounds quite a lot for your goats, as they appear to be smallish? But if your grass is not long, maybe not. Just thinking they are not milking goats, so I would feed them as dry ones, ie.. not as much goat mix.

I am thinking its just they are doing well off what they are getting to eat every day, and Molly has got an udder through this. The only time I would feed a lot of feed is when a goat is either milking or feeding kids.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #10 on:** April 27, 2010, 07:50:25 pm »

I only found out today that I am overfeeding my goats - the vet showed me how much they need and its considerably less than they've been getting so I guess that means its easily done?

as for wipes, I just had a delivery from Ascott, very nice they are too

langdon · « **Reply #11 on:** April 27, 2010, 08:19:37 pm »

hi roxy just been on the converter thats online and 800g works out about
each goat having almost a pound twice aday

does this sound to much now that we have worked it out in pounds.
im really surprised that this could possibly cause molly to have an udder at such a young age

could reducing the feed bring the udder down.
again thanks for helping roxy,

p.s. how is that milly is coping with the amount of feed

langdon

Anke · « **Reply #12 on:** April 27, 2010, 09:30:12 pm »

I think they get too much feed - my BT milker doesn't get that much, and she feeds twin girls and I take about 700ml of her every morning! My GG goatling gets a tiny amount three times a day, and only because the others get it, and she would try and jump out of her pen if she wasn't given a bucket with somehting in!

But they do have lots of hay all the time, are out on grass for a few hours every day and I will start to bring in branches for them again (we slowly have some leaves appearing here now too).

The only time I gave them really quite a lot was during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, and also used soaked sugarbeet then.

langdon · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2010, 10:07:14 pm »

thanks anke for your reply

two things: 1- how much feed should they get?
2- do you think over feeding could have caused mollys udder to swell?

thanks for any comments

langdon

ballingall · « **Reply #14 on:** April 27, 2010, 10:27:43 pm »

I think extra high protein food could have caused her udder to swell. What you could do is give her different types of food, like alfafa or soaked sugar beet which doesn't have the same amount of protein in it as a concentrated mix- like Spillers goat mix for example.

Ours do get quite a lot of mix- but only the milkers. We have 6 goatlings, and they get maybe 1 1/2 pounds of food between them morning and night. Most of that is the milkers leftovers as well. Fresh food is a treat for our goatlings!

However, we do feed the milkers a lot, but we expect a lot of milk from them. My Anglo-Nubian is giving nearly 6 litres a day, and she gets probably 3 pounds of food morning and night. Plus hay, alfafa, and beetpulp every second day.

Beth

wipes - The Accidental Smallholder