milk goats is time consuming , so before purchasing dairy Capricorn it ’s good to live what you ’re make into . For serious - quality output , dairy farm goatsshould be milked twice per day , 12 hours aside . The milk activity will take 12 to 15 minutes per Energy Department , plusmilkpreparation metre .
To prepare agoatfor milking , you require to clean house the teat with a dry paper towel to remove loose dry soil and feces , douse the teat in an antiseptic - based teat dip , allow the free fall to continue on the tit for no less than three arcminute , and dry each teat trace the dip with a clean paper towel . Next , look for lump and thud in the milk by stripping three squirts from each teat into a strip cupful . Do a strip test to check for abnormality in the Milk River . If all is cleared , milk her out , souse the mamilla again , and allow it to dry . This will provide a 12 - hour protection from contagion .
In increase to the fourth dimension it takes to milk Goat , you have to deliberate the direction effort . render the right nourishment for your lactating Energy Department signify quality hay orpastureand a good cereal postscript of 16 to 18 percent crude protein twice per solar day for a full daily consumption of about 2½ to 3 percent of the Energy ’s body weightiness , look on its consistence consideration . For example , a 200 - pound doe needs about 5 pound of dressed ore andhigh - quality hay . Overfeeding hay , however , can reduce concentrate breathing in , which is want more than hay during lactation . you may bung the dressed ore at both milkings .
Many dairy farm goat producer do not allow nursing . They remove the kids at birth andbottle - provender them , first with the doe’scolostrumand then with her Milk River for 10 to 14 daytime while transitioning them to milk replacer . The colostrum is heat treat ( 133 degrees F for one hour ) to avoid infect doe kids with caprine arthritis - phrenitis ; at the same meter , heating the colostrum negatively bear on the efficaciousness of providing peaceful granting immunity to the youngster .
If you decide milking is n’t for you after all , dry out off the doe slowly by reducing the dressed ore to nothing over seven to 10 days . On the day concentrate feeding remnant , reduce its water intake for 24 to 36 hours to importantly lose weight milk production . Then put the doe on a lesser - quality grass hay or ley and water only . If she does n’t start to dry out up , reduce the hay and restrict water handiness for a few days . The Energy Department may walk the fence contrast , baa and depend uncomfortable , but if you feel sorry for it and milk it , the doe will take longer to dry up . It ’s the force per unit area that builds up in the teats that stop the suckling , and that ’s very important .
If you ’re seek to dry off the doe in the spring and there ’s lots of unripened growth in the pasture , abide by the same routine , but put her in a dry lot with no skimming . Does will normally dry up in six to 12 days .
If you’remaking cheesewith the Milk River , it ’s of import to note that the somatic prison cell counting in goats ’ Milk River shoots up higher than 1½ million cell per ml at the death of lactation and during the heat cycle . A high somatic cell count is n’t good for cheeseflower making . Also , an enzyme that reduces the milk ’s ability to clot for cheese making is release during this clip .
— Terry Hutchens , cooperative extension caprine animal specialiser and head of sheep and goat production at the University of Kentucky
This clause in the beginning appeared in the March / April 2011Hobby Farms .
