I read a post in the archives about this, and I know a woman who has bred for this trait....she is now on year 2 and 3 of milking some of the same goats without freshening....which means less kids to worry about getting rid of (bucks mostly).

I want to know HOW you determine if a goat is this type of milker. Do some of you all have experience with this? I would hate to NOT freshen them (or one) and then have her dry up because I guessed wrong....but I would likewise rather not have to breed them all the time.

My two goats are from a dairy herd I bought a few months ago. One is a LaMancha on her 3 or 4 freshening, and one is an Alpine/Nubian mix that is about 10 months and may or may not be bred (I hope not....she is just too physically tiny still.

Now, the woman I bought them from told me the LaMancha was an excellent milker (I got her cheap because she got mastitis drying her off and the woman was selling off her whole herd, and the farmer didn't want to mess with her). Well, she had papers, and I traced the breeder, who told me she SHOULD be a great milker because her mother was a 5 star milker! So, this goat seems like an excellent candidate for NOT needing freshing.

Any words of wisdom?

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

Answers

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

A 5 star milker only means that 5 generations of this bloodline have been on test and milked a certain amount of milk, most well breed and not so well bred swiss and LaMancha goats can eaisly earn their stars, it is a minimal amount of milk. It really is more about the will power and the pocket book of the owners of the goats to pay for DHIR testing, and to milk every day for 305 days every year day in and day out, the whole herd............;) If I had a young Saanen or Alpine doe, perhaps a Togg, and she freshened for the first time at my house, then yes I would milk her through. But you will be lucky if these purchased goats milk at all what folks say. There are so many gallon milkers out there that once they hit the milk room are milking 2 quarts a day ;) You can't buy a doe who is not used to milking for 10 months and even get her to do that, let alone continue through lactation for 2 or 3 years.

"Which means less kids to get rid of" It still amazes me that folks would raise stock that they then can't even sell! You just need to let folks know you have goats. Also if the doe previously had mastitis you will want to infuse her with a drycow med, so it sits up in her udder until she freshens. You don't want her freshening with mastitis and making her babies sick also. Vicki

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

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

Marcee, just try to keep your does milking as long as you can 2 times a day. Hopefully you can keep them going. Your best bet will be the younger one. Breed her and just keep milking her, if you let her dry up earlier then in her next lactation she will probably try to dry up at about the same time as you let her before. Your milk production will slowly go down over time so if you want great quantities then rebreed yearly. My friend has a doe in the national top ten for milk production, fat and protein and this was the second year in a row for her without being bred that she stayed in the top 10. Good luck.

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

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

There are herds that favor does with long lactations. Redwood Hills, Greene Herd, and Three Rings all come to mind. Give these breeders a call and tell them what you are looking for. Redwood Hills is a dairy, they are very reputable and they have a definite interest in long, level lactations and high milk production. Fancy does that don't milk are simply useless to somebody like that. They will cost more than the does you got, unless your does were really expensive, but when you buy a doe from a good breeder she is worth every single cent you paid for her, AND her kids are worth having!! Buck kids to get rid of ? They are delicious when butchered at 2-4 months old, very tender, mild meat.

If you would like the links for the breeders I mentioned, I can post them for you.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 03, 2002.

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

Here are the links

Greene Herb They have bred mature does for sale at reasonable prices.

Redwood Hills

Three Rings

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 03, 2002.

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

Redwood Hills Sorry it didn't work the first time.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 03, 2002.

Response to heavy milkers that don't need freshening....

I breed my Alpine doe every two years to cut down on the unwanted buck kids. She tops out at about a gallon and a half after freshening and then levels off at approximately a gallon a day until I breed her again. I've heard of other folks breeding every other year as well. I never knew it was "odd" or unusual. We kept her doe kid this year and plan to do the same with her. I think if the genetics for being a good milker are there coupled with on-going, good, proper feeding, this can be done successfully with just about any quality doe.

-- Cheers, Renee M.

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), January 05, 2002.

Marcee, I probably just ended up being lucky, but ended up with Clover simply by buying her from a lady that had goats. She always rebred hers & let them dry up. In my previous post I should have mentioned that Clover in the beginning would give 2 quarts/day and in year 4 would give about 1 quart/day. I would just keep milking and hope for the best. I'm lucky that I don't have to have Clover bred every year as I would hate to have to part with the kids. And if I don't part with the kids, I don't think my wife is too keen on having more! I understand goat is good to eat, but I stil have a wether that I bought for that purpose 5 years ago and still have him! Can you tell I'm a soft hearted?!?

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