# How many times can you milk a day?



## Bethel (Oct 4, 2008)

Has anyone every milked more than 2x a day? If so can you tell me some of the effects? As long as therer is 8 hours in between do you still get the same amount each time and quility? Thanks!!!


----------



## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

I've never done it. The literature says you get more milk if you milk three times a day. Some commercial dairies do. Physiology of it is, a cow/goat makes milk faster in the first two hours after milking than in the last two hours before milking. Whether it's worth it is going to depend on the individual animal--and how much extra feed is the extra milk gonna cost you.

Tom


----------



## Leo (Mar 10, 2008)

I've done it, but it's more like 5am, noon, and 7pm milking. Sometimes(with some lines more than others) their udder looks so full it looks painful so I add an extra milking to relieve pressure for the first few months, then by about 5-7 months fresh I cut out the afternoon milking. Not quite 3x at equal intervals, I just can't do a midnight milking. 
Megan


----------



## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

The only time I milk 3 times a day are when I have heavy milkers. When you go out and check on the girls mid-day and notice them laying with milk oozing out thats an indication you might want to milk them 3 x's a day. We try to stay in a range of 8 hrs per milking if possible, 6:00 AM we would start with them first then milk about 2:00 PM, just them, and then lastly milk them about 8:00PM. The first milking of the day was always the most.


----------



## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

I routinely milk my saanens 3 times a day when they first freshen. My first fresheners I don't want that much MILK in there the udder looks like its going to blow! and that gives them 3 times a day to enhale feed, instead of two times.
So I would say if possible for the long term health of the milkers udder, that 3 times a day is better for those girls that really pump out the milk. Like Bernice said I'd do 5am them first, than the others, them again at 1 pm, and then evening at 5 with them Last.


----------



## mill-valley (Feb 22, 2008)

The more often you empty the udder, the more milk the doe is going to make. So yes, the yield certainly should go up on any goat. There is obviously something to it or all the cow dairies wouldn't be milking 3 x a day. Considering their extra labor/feed costs, it must be worth it. I have a hard enough time getting two consistent milkings in a day, much less 3. Also I really don't need that much milk.


----------



## SALTCREEK_Nubians_Linda (Nov 13, 2007)

It makes sense when you consider that it is the pressure within a full udder which signal milk production to stop.


----------



## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

You need to consider what this means for the condition of your animal.
Just because she is capable of that is it a good idea? Milk does not come from just what you are feeding her. She has to store calcium in the bone and then call it back out to make milk and there is a very complex cycle here. You would be putting off breeding too if you want her in good flesh before starting to gestate. Milk removal stimulates production but it seems like you could totally exhaust your doe demanding a 3rd milking.
If you don't need it to feed your family why stress the animal?
Lee


----------



## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

Keep in mind that the average productive life of a commercial dairy cow is three lactations. Then it's off to the packers.


----------



## Leo (Mar 10, 2008)

> When you go out and check on the girls mid-day and notice them laying with milk oozing out thats an indication you might want to milk them 3 x's a day.


I think in cases like this, one is not _demanding_ the doe to milk, (maybe it's a Nubian thing too ). Sure it's controversial, but I would rather milk my doe out 3x/day for a while, than invite infection from leaking orifices, blown teats or whatnot. And as they say the eye of the master fattens the cow, if you know how to manage these high maintenance gals. JMHO 

I've had people complain that I shouldn't force my does to milk, since I milk every day, and I should give them a week off every now and then.  Then there are others who only want to milk 1x per day or even every other day. Some does need to be milked more than others, and aren't good candidates for homes that require less milking.

Okay, off my soap box. 
Megan


----------



## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

I talked to a man who keeps Saanens. He milks his girls 3 and 4 times a day when they first freshen. But then, his girls also milk through two years easily w/o rebreeding. He said his motto was "Feed 'em, don't breed 'em".


----------



## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

I have milked a high-producing Alpine 3 x a day, without any ill effects... We once had a doe (we had purchased her and she had triplets, but had NO milk, due to mastitis probs in the past...) we milked another Alpine 3 times a day for quite a while to increase her milk production so that she would have enough to help feed those triplet doe kids. I also milk them more than twice if they are producing so much that they are uncomfortable... If we do not need it at the time, we freeze it for future use. 
We milk our Boer crosses 3 times a day too, for a while, if necessary, as we raise calves on the goat milk... Has worked just fine for us. The Alpines get a bit thin, (even tho they are hefty at kidding) but, they ARE dairy gals....


----------



## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I used to milk 3 times a day at our cow/goat dairy. I milked at 0500, 1300 and then again at 2100 hrs. It increased our over all production by a little over a 1/3, but the fat % went down a little (it was the cows fault, the goats overall fat% stayed the same). The amount gained was worth the extra expense and time. But that was for a commercial dairy.


----------



## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Milking 3 times a day will usually increase the amount. If a goat is not strutting between milkings then every 12 hours is sufficient.


----------



## DostThouHaveMilk (Oct 25, 2007)

During the Spring, when the grass was lush, dad would milk the cow herd every 10 hours. The production was great. Once the grass was past it's peak, he would back off to our approximately every 12 hour milking schedule. Every 10 hours was usually near the beginning of their lactations, if they calved in March/April and it didn't affect their condition much because the good forage had enough to support the extra demand.
I barely get does milked twice a day. lol, but we have at least one mobile milking machine on each doe so twice a day isn't as neccesary.


----------



## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

Our cows were kept until they were old or unless they had chronic mastitis. We bought the herd and 2 female family lines had mastitis all the time no matter what we did. Once I sold them off, we didn't have problems again. Ours was a smaller family farm, so my cows stayed for as many lactations as they could have. I had a couple who were 10 years old! Its sad that nowadays they are sent to slaughter before they even reach their prime.


----------

