# 3x a day milking schedule?



## happy vagabonds (Jun 24, 2012)

I was thinking to milk my does 3x a day for a week or so after they freshen. I know that it's recommended to milk 12 hours apart when milking twice a day. What is recommended for 3x a day?

Last year I milked at 9AM and 7PM. 

Do I need to do 8 hour interval? Is 7AM/3PM/11PM kinda crazy? An 11PM milking doesn't seem reasonable to me...

Thanks for your input.


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## todog (Dec 10, 2011)

i usually milk 8am and 8pm but when i did 3 x a day i did 2pm in the middle. so it would be 8am,2pm and 8pm. thats how i kept my girls going for 2 1/2 yrs. since i work now that option is out. good luck.


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## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

Ive not milked goats 3x daily but I have cows. We milked 2 am 12 midday and 7 pm. Now Im not saying do this, but with cows milked 3x daily, if you increase their feed intake by 3%, they will produce 10% more milk. Different animal I know, but if you are going to milk 3x daily anyway, it might be interesting to see if the same applies to goats.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I would think that if you milk a goat 3 times a day, she would make more milk. I base this on my experience of pulling kids off does at shows. I notice those goats have more milk than ones I've been milking twice a day with no kids on them. When I pull kids at shows and milk out, this is done at the same time I milk out the rest of the does.


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

3x a day milking will increase output but why bother unless you are trying to squeeze that last bit of production to make top 10? like Frankie points out it would be a lot of extra work and a pretty crazu schedile for a minimal gain. Now a large commercial enterprise with staff around they clock and looking to maximize profits it might make sense - bit I don't think there are many of us in that situation on this forum


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

11pm is fine for the goat if it is fine for you. Sometimes I keep an 11am, 11pm schedule. It was convenient, but over time I got worn down and had to switch to something more typical.


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## todog (Dec 10, 2011)

from experience it will increase production quite a bit, but the main reason i did it was the milk through aspect. towards the end of the second year i did away with the middle milk. it will increase production and lengthen the production time. i really do not like dealing with the babies so i dont breed every year and no i am not commercial. just pick a 12 hr. schedule and plunk a middle milk into that. try it with one of your does that you think could increase her production. do not increase the feed at all three milks. feed the normal amount at each milk. for example if you feed a cup in the morning and at night, just feed a cup in the middle. hope this helps.


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## Xtra (Jan 1, 2010)

Last year I milked 3x per day as we needed the milk to operate our Orphan Foal / Mare replacement program AND still have enough for all our kids + personal use. We did it at 8 hour intervals, but I feed kids anywhere from 2-4x daily depending on age, and foals sometimes need to be fed up to 10x day.

We may not be a "large commercial enterprise with staff around they clock and looking to maximize profits it might make sense"........ but we are a round the clock full service facility and we do whatever it takes to provide the best care possible for our animals and clients animals.

This year, we will be down to 2x per day @ 12hour intervals for milk testing. But last year it was both reasonable and necessary for us. The 6am, 2pm, 10pm schedule worked great and the girls appreciated it.

There are SO MANY personal situations.....do whatever works best for you and your girls. Best of luck!!!

*CZ


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## Holly Govero (Mar 26, 2009)

I have to milk 3 times a day. her udder is like sooo tight and cant milk her hardly.. so today she is back to normal. So I am milking 2 times a day...


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

We milk 1st and 2nd freshners 3x a day for 7-10 days or longer if they seem to need it. 

It is less about increasing milk... though it is a nice side benefit and more about protecting udders. Our first milker born on our farm... should have been milked that often her first year... she gave so much it did a number on her udder. We learned. 

We still usually do a 10hr stretch though at night... just not 12. Also our evening milkers (ie dc) we are less convinced of them taking their time so an afternoon milking helps.


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## Dorit (Apr 20, 2011)

Are you saying that a FF should be milked 3 times a day for the first 7-10 days, then can be reduced to every 12 hours? Dorit


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

I'm not saying *should*... just this is what we do... then evaluate how they are milking and how their udder is... and decide if we need to continue longer or not...


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

3 times a day milking definitely increases production in cows, but only if the intervals are as close to 8 hours as you can get them. An empty udder signals the doe to produce more milk, a full udder tells the doe to decrease production. So if you do 8-2-8 you still leave that one 12 hour interval and you lose as much as you gain.

With my does it's more the second week where they really take off milking and where I would consider milking 3x. Not doing it though: I have more work than I can handle as is 
Marion


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## SANDQ (Dec 27, 2011)

Due to demand for our cheese, and not having enough milk to supply that demand, we have changed today to milking 3 x daily, in an attempt to increase production. How long should it take before I get an increase in milk yield?


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