# Once a day milking



## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

I have a 2yr old 2nd Freshner Nubian that is milking a gallon per day, she freshened in Feb. I am about to wean bottle kids and don't need the milk, can I move her to once per day? I thought about drying her up early but don;t want to mess her up for next year.

Any thoughts?

Karla


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## LamanchaLover (Jan 11, 2010)

Yes you can, and it`s very easy to do. Most people just switch to once a day and the goat is fine.


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## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

How do I do that without her being too full, if I am late milking(over 12hrs) she is super tight. I don't want to hurt her or mess her up. She is the first really good milker I have ever owned, so I am still learning.

Karla


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I'd hate to dry up a doe that's milking over a gallon a day, especially if you say it's your first good milker. Dry up the other ones and keep this lady going for a while. There's plenty of stuff you can do with the milk: make yoghurt, make flavored milk for the kids, get a little pig and feed it (they do awesome on goatmilk and that gives you great meat), or give it to the dog-shelter, just to name a few. I have switched to once a day milking before in the winter, but not with a doe that gives over a gallon of milk. Not saying it can't be done, just think you should be careful.


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## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

She is the only one I have milking right now. I hate to dry her up too but I have no use for the milk, I have no kids(2 legged) and dont eat pork :lol. I will milk her until I fill the freezer then decide what to do with her.

Karla


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Karla, 

I will disagree with the above advice that you can just go from twice a day to once a day like that. You will overudder your doe and risk mastitis. Gradually increase the time between the milkings. Continually keep the break between milkings longer until you end up with once a day. You can also decrease her milk stand ration. Keep in mind that the doe may copy this lactation and start dropping milk production in the following lactations. 

Jana


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## prairiegirl01 (Jun 2, 2008)

Also, you can feed milk to chickens or sell it to your friends and neighbors. I sell milk to just a couple of people and it works out great. Helps offset the cost of goat-keeping.

Chris


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Sorry but I wouldn't go to 1x a day milking with a doe that is giving a gallon a day. Why not keep feeding the kids? - they probably would still use it. That milk is already paid for - give it to them as long as they will drink it. Then use it for Soap, cheese, icecream, yogurt, kefir, - there's lots of stuff you can do with the milk.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

So okay pork is out (although you could sell that piggie and until then it makes a pretty cool pet: we always loved ours!), but there really are so many things you could do as many people already mentioned. I'd like to repeat that dog shelter idea: I donated some once for a specific puppy that wasn't thriving, and the puppy turned around right away, the people at the shelter loved it. Also: do you maybe have people around you who raise calves? They'll gladly take your milk, too. Anyway, good luck and be careful with that doe: I cherish my ladies who perform like that!


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## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

I am most likely going to milk her through until at least October (I am getting married the beginning of October and don't really want to be milking then.) I do not want to ruin her as a milker. I don't have any goat friends with bottle kids or anyone that I know of that raises bottle calves. 

Isn't it illegal to sell raw milk off the farm? I am curious about this as I could possibly sell it but don;t want to break any laws or anything.

Karla


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## BlackDogPack (Apr 6, 2011)

It is illegal to sell raw or pasteurized milk for human consumption. You can sell it, just not for human use.


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## sarafina (Dec 26, 2009)

BlackDogPack said:


> It is illegal to sell raw or pasteurized milk for human consumption. You can sell it, just not for human use.


Not necessarily - depends on the state. In Arkansas:

20-59-248. Incidental sales of goat milk not prohibited.

(a) For purposes of this section, "incidental sales of goat milk" are those sales where the average monthly number of gallons sold does not exceed one hundred (100) gallons.

(b) The provisions of this subchapter shall not be construed to prohibit incidental sales of raw goat milk directly to consumers at the farm where the milk is produced or to preclude the advertising of incidental sales of goat milk.

Laws on milk sales by state:

http://www.realmilk.com/milk-laws-1.html#ar


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## sarafina (Dec 26, 2009)

If you lived closer to me I would trade you some raw honey and hand-knitted socks for your milk!

:biggrin


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## Lissa Howe (Apr 30, 2011)

I switched to once a day milking last summer without any negative effect on the goats. Just keep an eye on the udder. If you grain on the milk stand she will start producing less as she eats less grain. I think it is best to milk in the morning so that they are carrying less milk during the day when they are up about, but that is my opinion only.

*Article in Journal of Dairy Science* J Dairy Sci. 2003 May;86(5):1673-80.
Effects of once versus twice daily milking throughout lactation on milk yield and milk composition in dairy goats.
Salama AA, Such X, Caja G, Rovai M, Casals R, Albanell E, Marín MP, Martí A.
SourceDepartament de Ciencia Animal i dels Aliments, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

Abstract
The effects of once (1X) vs. twice (2X) daily milking throughout lactation on milk yield, milk composition, somatic cell count (SCC), and udder health were studied in 32 Murciano-Granadina dairy goats. Goats were assigned at wk 2 of lactation to two treatment groups; once daily milking at 0900 (1X, n = 17), or twice daily milking at 0900 and 1700 (2X, n = 15). Milk yield was recorded weekly until wk 28, and milk composition and SCC were evaluated for each individual udder half at each milking at wk 2 and 4 of lactation and then, monthly until the end of the experiment. Once daily milking resulted in an 18% reduction in the yield of 4% fat-corrected milk compared to twice daily milking (1.61 vs. 1.95 L/d, respectively). This reduction was more marked from wk 2 to 12 than in mid and late lactation. Response to milking frequency also varied according to parity number where goats of less than four parities suffered more milk yield losses during 1X than older goats. Milk of 1X goats contained higher percentages of total solids (13.6 vs. 12.9%), fat (5.10 vs. 4.62%) and casein (2.57 vs. 2.35%) than milk of 2X goats, but milk protein percentage did not differ between treatments (3.28 vs. 3.20%). Yields of total solids, fat, protein and casein tended to be higher for 2X than 1X. Milk SCC did not differ between treatments. *We conclude that application of once daily milking in Murciano-Granadina dairy goats moderately reduced milk yield without negative effects on milk composition and udder health. Losses in milk yield would be reduced if 1X is practiced during mid- or late lactation and in older goats. An increase in labor productivity and a higher farmer's standard of living is also expected.*


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Watch out though, there's a big difference in production capacity between the dairy goats in this research and the gallon/day doe we are talking about here. Look at the production of these Murciana-Granadina goats: 1.61 L/day with once a day milking and 1.95 L/day for once and twice a day milking respectively. That's about half a gallon a day on twice a day milking so half the production of Karla's doe. I wouldn't have a problem with milking a half a gallon/day doe once a day. Plus: they were put on this once or twice a day regimen two weeks into their lactation, unlike Karla's doe, who's been milked twice a day much longer.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

sarafina said:


> BlackDogPack said:
> 
> 
> > It is illegal to sell raw or pasteurized milk for human consumption. You can sell it, just not for human use.
> ...


Here in GA a license is required to sell even "pet quality" milk.

Prairie Nights: I had never heard of a doe's future lactations being affected by once daily milking. I'm interested to know, how does this work?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Spend a week only milking her out until she is soft, morning and night, while doing this give her no grain. Then only ease out milk when you see that she is full, checking on her daily, no grain. Soon she will never get too full for a few days, so just empty her and leave her be. If you want to move to just once a day milking than pick morning or night...lets say you are going to milk mornings. So for the next week just ease out enough milk at night so she is not full, no grain and no milkstand routine. Milk stand routine lets her bring down her oxytocin, you don't want her to do this.


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## lorit (May 10, 2010)

When I bought my first goats a couple years ago, a gal who has had goats for 20+ years told me to milk twice a day if that is what I wanted in the future. That they sort of establish an internal pattern and will follow that (to a large degree) in future freshenings and milking cycles. Since I highly desire and appreciate long, steady lactations (milking thru without breeding sometimes as well) it makes sense to me and is how I do it. Time will tell I guess.  Bought a 2yr old, 2nd F this spring who didn't milk thru last year and I am going to see how she does this fall/winter.


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## icboers (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks everyone, I am going to keep milking her. I have another Nubian that will kid in a few weeks and I am going to bottle her kids this year and see how she milks, then decide if I want to keep her as well as my gallon/day milker. The one getting ready to kid has raised her kids since she came here so I dont really know how she milks.

Karla


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## Lissa Howe (Apr 30, 2011)

Last year I was milking 12 goats, working full time, and making and selling cheese. I became interested in milking once a day. Also,some people do it here in Arizona because of the intense heat in the summer. When it is >100 degrees for 6 weeks strqight, anything is a big help! I did a little research on milking frequency, and this is one of the articles that is pretty interesting. There are a lot of different ways to approach it, that is for certain!

http://jas.fass.org/content/86/13_suppl/47.short

Management systems with extended milking intervals in ruminants: Regulation of production and quality of milk

for Alpine goats--Results of the study revealed that the goats are not
adversely affected by this system, with no specific vocalization
or increase in agitation at the time when milking
was suppressed (Marnet et al., 2005). No leakage of
milk on the ground was observed and no clinical mastitis
was detected over the 3 yr.


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