I found a goat in milk... questions.. :)

[miss_thenorth]

Ok, I found an alpine/saanen X doe in milk, first freshener, who had twins, but now only has one kid on her. her milk production has obvioulsy gone down, but the owner says she still has a big enough udder for a first freshener. Will I be able to get her production back up if I start milking her? The owner is not milking her, nor has plans to. Is it worth it?

She is said to be extremely friendly, and the owner says she should be suitable for milking. any thoughts? I know the owner, and have no doubts she is healthy. She is asking $160. yay or nay. ????

 

[glenolam]

For just her or for her and the remaining kid? How old is the kid? How old is she? Have you looked at her?

FWIW, yes, you can bring her production back up. It'll take some time and patience, especially if she's NEVER been milked. You'll have to be the one to train her.

My FF milker was a PITA for a few days until I got the hang of her. Now, 3 weeks later, I milk over a quart from her in about 5 minutes. She's got these tiny little teats, though, so it's not your standard milking technique. It's more like grab the teat between the palm of your hand and finders and squeeze.

 

[freemotion]

How long has she been lactating? Is she being hand-milked daily now? Has she ever been hand milked?

 

[miss_thenorth]

She kidded april 10, and no I haven't seen her, but I know the owner and I trust her word- I have bought critters from her before. She is very reputable. She is not milking her, and has no plans to. She is going over to a completely registered herd, she has quite a herd of registered myotonics and nubians, so this one does not fit into her plans .The $160 is just for her, add $80 for the buck kid, which I don't want. Before I go to look at the doe, I just kinda wanted to know if it was worth it or not.

 

[freemotion]

What happened to the other kid?

 

[miss_thenorth]

She sold it as a bottle baby. she is trying to sell the other buckling too, since she only wants purebreds from now on.

 

[glenolam]

Before you decide I'd go take a visit to see her. That doesn't really sound like a lot for a doe in milk by any means, but if you buy her before you get her up on a stand, you may regret the outcome. Is she disbudded (if that matters to you)? Is the kid disbudded?

I can't remember - do you have goats already? If so, then you'll know what to look for. If not, then you may want to consider getting the kid as a wether, then weaning him when he's 8 weeks old.

If you buy the doe, how's the lady gonna feed the buck kid? He's only just under 3 weeks old....it'd be heck to start him on a bottle unless she's got a knack for that...

IF everything checks out when you visit her, meaning you can get her on the stand and attempt to milk her (it will probably be hard, but it'd be a good indication of what you're in for), I'd put in an offer of $200 for both the doe and the kid as a WETHER. Of course, you can't wether him now, you'll have to wait.

 

[freemotion]

Those are both top producing breeds. Will you be able to get her bred this fall/winter? Maybe you could get that included in the price as a bargaining point.

Ask to come milk her, and give the lady a few days to work with her first. You are a horse person, right? So you understand training principles? But you shouldn't be the one to milk her the very first few times....she can do that for you. It will likely be rough the first few times. Unless she is related to my Ginger, then she will be perfect from day one, except for a bit of pooping and moo'ing.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Before you decide I'd go take a visit to see her. That doesn't really sound like a lot for a doe in milk by any means, but if you buy her before you get her up on a stand, you may regret the outcome. Is she disbudded (if that matters to you)? Is the kid disbudded?


I can't remember - do you have goats already? If so, then you'll know what to look for. If not, then you may want to consider getting the kid as a wether, then weaning him when he's 8 weeks old.

If you buy the doe, how's the lady gonna feed the buck kid? He's only just under 3 weeks old....it'd be heck to start him on a bottle unless she's got a knack for that...

IF everything checks out when you visit her, meaning you can get her on the stand and attempt to milk her (it will probably be hard, but it'd be a good indication of what you're in for), I'd put in an offer of $200 for both the doe and the kid as a WETHER. Of course, you can't wether him now, you'll have to wait.

right now i have two sheep, a calf, two horses (and chickens ducks rabbit and quail) I don't have room for the buckling (he is not wethered yet). The doe is disbudded, utd on shots etc. she wants to keep the buckling with the doe until she can sell him separately (or together, but I don't want him)She would like to keep him onher for another 5 weeks. She is not far from me, but I just wasn't sure if it was even worth the time to go see her, my main concern being, that her production has gone down since the other buckling has been sold. If it is a go, I will go to see her, and check out the udder etc. Bing that she is friendly, and I have milked sheep, I am not really concerned about making her into a good milker, I have experience with that.

Like I said, my main concern is whether I could get her production up again, so that I will have enough milk. I have no experience with that. It owuld be alot easier if the owner was milking her, but she has no desire.

 

[glenolam]

Well, there's always the option of bringing her and the kid home now if you really wanted to have a milker now. If she's not that far from you, then why not just go and look with the notion that you're not going to make a decision that day?

Yes, you can definitely bring most goat's production up with time. And then there's always rebreeding to help.