I searched the archives, and didn't see this question (though I didn't read everything)....

I understand the concept of milking at the same time interval...some folks say every 12 hours, others say you can decide, depending upon what works for you, and I have read further that it depends upon your particular animals.

I understand that they need to be milked at the same time daily, and they say in the "same order" each time. However, how true is this?

Specifically, I would rather milk at 9am every day. It is convenient for our lives. 8am I could deal with. But, ONCE A WEEK I would need to leave for church at 7:30 in the morning and would want to milk earlier. How far could I push it once a week?

Also, if I CAN push it back an hour or two once a week, would I then adjust the evening milking time back on that day as well?

And lastly, can I push the evening milking time up or down an hour or so once in a while if needed? I assume a person milking 100 goats with machines a day, taking 3 hours, wouldn't always manage to milk them in the same order, so on different days they would be milked at different times. Or, maybe everyone in the world is more structured than I am, and more perfectly organized.....

Input would be helpful. I would hate to have to milk EVERY day at 7 am just so I could go to church on Sunday!

-- marcee (thathope@mwt.net), January 03, 2002

Answers

We have had goats for over 20 years now. I do remember how I would panic when I wasn't home on time to milk the goats for the every 12 hour idea. That gets old really fast in our busy lives. I don't mean to say that it isn't good to milk on a schdule but within a couple of hours I surely think your goats will survive. The heavier milkers will probably become uncomfortable but they will be fine. I never have given my goats watches to wear either. They do know when it's milking time...or should I say time for their grain. They will start to call me up to the barn. If you plan to be away from home from early morning to late..late at night..like midnight. Get a neighbor to do the chores and milk for you. Or milk in the morning and milk them out again before you leave in the afternoon and again after you come home late if you are uncomfortable leaving them for that long of a time. I'm sure you will be fine and your goats will do wonderfully for you. Like most animals, goats are very forgiving. Good Luck !!!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), January 03, 2002.

If you sneak in out of order, and espeically take Poptart, Amber or Cookies place at the door, and to the grain first, you are SEVERELY punished when you return :) Yes ironically after milking for awhile the does do come into the milkroom in order, and a call of a name will bring them forward even if a meany is standing at the door. Your does will be fine with milking early on Sunday morning, it would be loud at your place if you wanted to every Sunday milk at noon, but they would get used to that. And that is the secret with goats, they like the same people around, the same food, the same dogs, the milk stand facing the same way, the same music, and things only bother them when you change. They will get used to the early Sundays. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

marcee, As a previous poster stated, the goats are forgiving. I milk at 5:30 AM and PM Monday thru Friday. On the weekends I do try to stretch it to 6:30 & 6:30, but the girls let me know that I'm late. In the spring, after all have freshened, I try to set up an order for the girls to follow, and try to stick to it. (I do have one goat that is first, will always be first, no matter who or what is in the way, and there is nothing anyone can do about it!) They will learn that order. They do want routines. And an upset of that routine can cause some chaos, and could cause less milk to be let down. But it's not detrimental.

Each morning, as part of the routine, when I walk into the barn, I sing a chorus of a "wake up song" that my mom always sang to us as kids. This summer I got 6 new goats, and boy, did they look at me funny when I started singing, now, each one comes up to greet me and see how I am.

Marcee, it's great that you are trying to learn all there is to learn. I've seen many many people (especially with dogs) get the wrong kind or breed just be cause they like the "looks". They find out later that it just wasn't right for them. People who have a slow lifestyle need a basset hound, not an active border collie, but they blame it on the dog anyway.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), January 03, 2002.

I'm no expert but I know that there is a hormonal component to milking goats. They have a milk let down in response to the routine that they are used to. As they see you, and you enter the barn and bang the milk pail or whatever you do every time, the hormones start flowing, they know they will be milked soon. I felt much better after knowing this. I am sometimes late to milk my doe by an hour, and she is fine. I try to do 8 O'clock morning and night, so I can do it before school and before the children's bedtime. When I wake up late, she has to wait until my daughter is at school at nine, because otherwise my human child will be late to school. This doesn't happen a lot but knowing that her let down didn't happen yet helps me feel like she's not very uncomfortable waiting though some of the milk might re-absorb.

I do try to split the difference though in the next milking. If she has to wait until 9 in the morning, I'll milk at 8:30 at night to help her get back on schedule.

I still have much to learn, but am reading all I can.

-- Bobbi (the_bee_lady@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

The "every twelve hours" thing is very flexible!! In over 20 yrs, of goats (and two dairy cows), I have never followed that time table. For my goats it's about 8:00 a.m. and 5 p.m. When they're milking heavy, I try not to alter it more than a hour either way. And they ALL definitely know the milking order!! My problem is keeping my buck from standing in line with the ladies :-)!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), January 03, 2002.

My goats have their own order and I have one that I have to milk first or she pulls ears, bites tails and won't let any of the other goats up to the milk gate. She is my favorite! :) She will let her milk down the minute she hears the milking room door bang and the sweet sound of the grain being poured into the feeders. If she doesn't get in first she squirts out quite a bit of her milk. Had a bit of a time at her first shows because everytime she looked at me she would start dribbling milk. A big no-no at shows! I can milk any time between 7-9 AM and 6-9 PM without any problems at all. If you get your goats on a strict schedule then you will have problems altering the schedule.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), January 03, 2002.

What do you do when you need to go out of town for a day or so? I have no neighbors who will milk goats, most of my neighbors are city folks who moved to the country, but have no animals of any kind. I have waited to get milk goats as occasionally I do have to go out of town with my husband for a day or so. This happens maybe once a month or every other month.

I would love to have a couple of dairy goats, and except for the occasional travel, am at home every day. Is everyone who has goats just tied down to their farm 24/7? I know some of you must have to travel some, even if it is to goat shows. Any clues?

thanks

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), January 06, 2002.

Marcee, that is the way I used to think when I had my first goat 5 years ago. Well since then I have found out I can pretty much milk whenever. Some days she gets milked twice a day, other days only once. I probably don't get as much milk as I could if I followed the schedule you talk about, but can't use what I get now. As for Clover being unhappy, she doesn't seem to mind. In fact I milked her for 4 years before I got her bred again! She kidded last March & I'm still getting milk from her and don't have to worry about having her rebred for another 3 years! She is a very satisfied goat. So don't worry too much about your milking schedule. Clover is the only one to milk so far, so I don't have any experience with more than one. Good luck!

-- Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania (kirklbb@penn.com), January 06, 2002.