Please read at this post for how milking is going so far. It is up and down, but I’d say mostly on the up now. Today felt pretty good. At play so far: our inexperience along with our doe’s adjustment to a new home, not liking her food, and not wanting to be apart from her babies. (Having said that, though, she seems happy here and ceased calling for her herd within 2 days.)
As I said, today felt much better. Belle was happy just eating hay, rejecting the alfalfa pellets and the supplemental grain we tried on previous days. She gave us a generous (as opposed to scant) 1-1/2 cups of milk and I was able to do the milking alot more quickly. I think I’m getting the hand of feeling whether her udder contains more milk or not.
Since we continue to get only 1-1/2 cups of milk each day, and know this is not nearly what we desire, we have been shopping for more milking does. It is amazing to read advertisements where (it feels to me that) sellers boast that their goats have been “bottle-fed on pasteurized milk”. I know why they do this – to prevent the passing down of the dreaded CAE disease, which transmits through mother’s milk. But since they test their animals at least once a year for the presence of the CAE antibodies in the blood, why then deprive the young kids of a strong start in life through its mother’s CAE-free milk? Most goats we run across are sold this way.
We are not interested in goats that didn’t have the benefit of their mother’s milk, just like we are not interested in goats who have been medicated frequently throughout their lives. It is hard to know where to draw the line. We’ve come down to insisting that at the very least, our goats drank raw milk as babies. This preference has limited our selection. But you know what? We are not worried. We leave it in God’s hands to bring healthy goats to our home and we leave it in His hands to show us how best to raise them and protect their health, come what may.
Last week, I posted an ad on Craig’s List asking for a raw-milk-raised milking doe. During that time, one person responded. It happened to be someone in our homeschooling community who was a potential source of raw milk for us, with whom I’d corresponded already. She put us in touch with her aunt, who has a milking doe available – naturally raised in general, and in specific, nursed on raw milk from her mom. We are going to see this doe today and may bring her home. She won’t come with her baby, which I know will be good for us in terms of milk production, but we do hate to take a doe away from her kid. (The owner is keeping the kid.)
Should be a fun day! We are praying for another relatively-smooth transition.
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Congratulations on your milking ventures, Wardeh. Wow. I’m reminded of when we first embarked on our homesteading years ago. What a long learning curve! We look forward to getting back to that life.
I’m glad you have helpful people in your network who you can contact for advice. Experience is worth so much when it comes to animals. Well, in most everything, actually.
But when the health and well-being of animals are in your hands, it can be rather overwhelming — especially when you don’t know if they are sick, nervous, picky, lonely, or just ornery.
Wishing you the best!
Hi Bethany! You’re right about how it is hard to tell what is going on. I think in Belle’s case, it is all of the above. But we’re getting somewhere! I’ve learned that she needs an evening feeding even though we don’t milk her then – I can’t believe I was so stupid and didn’t realize this.
I hope you can get back to your homesteading life. I feel as though we have so far to go. But then when I think that two weeks ago, we felt having dairy animals was still a year off, and look what we went and did, it feels like all things are possible!
Love, Wardeh
I can’t wait till the new goats here!
Naomi – isn’t Honey great? We’re going to have so much fun with her! Love, Mama
Some thoughts as I read your posts on goats….
First, it is always hard to find good info on ‘non-modern’ methods as people have been listening to big Ag-business recommendations for several generations now. So most of what you’ll find is based, if not all then in part, on higher yields production and non-natural management (different goals).
I find the same scenario with my chickens, as I make my own feed mix. My egg shells can be thin, and my chickens, not being free to range all the time need more protein (bugs). I have raised worms for this purpose, but this violates another life rule I’m trying to incorporate
where I have to micro-manage a situation. I want to find God’s self sustaining balance for the cycle of life I’m trying to achieve. More work than I can manage is self/life defeating.
So I’ve done a lot of research into how things were done way back before modernization, and it seems we cannot completely revert to the old-ways from old-days (To much on this topic to go into here). Also, in going ‘natural’ we do loose a little in production/uniformity that’s normal. However, as you promote here on your blog, what we gain in health, connection with our creator and families is so much more than what is lost.
That being said, your 1.5 cup does seem extremely light. What was Belle’s production at her old house, and what is the new goats? Of course they probably supplemented with things you won’t want to use, but it wood be useful info.
Can’t wait to see your new goat pics!
Love,
Jami
Jami — Belle’s previous diet was similar, but we’re using alfalfa pellets instead of alfalfa hay, at least for now (its what we’ve got). So she’s eating much less. As I wrote in my post today (http://suchtreasures.com/2009/05/19/honey/) we messed up by not giving her an evening feeding. Since yesterday, with her eating in the evening, she already had more milk for us this morning, by 1/4 cup. Which isn’t a huge increase, but I think these things take time? Compared to our newest goat, Honey (who gave us almost 4 cups this morning, though she has no babies), Belle has a ways to go. Her previous owner thought she could give us 3/4 gallon per day, 1/2 of that for the babies and half for us. So I want to get her up to 6 cups. Some with Honey. I want 6 cups at each milking, because we will milk her twice a day since she doesn’t have a kid.
I appreciate hearing how you balance a natural life cycle with today’s available means, whether it be commercially available feed or what our own land can provide. I know in time we will figure more and more of this out. I look forward to it! Where can I find black sunflower seeds? Don’t you use those for your chickens? I want to start giving some to our milk goats.
Love, Wardeh
I buy the black sunflower seeds from DC, Coastal, Big Lots or where ever the price is good at the time. I wish I knew you were looking for some as Coastal just had 20% off sale on everything this last Saturday.
I do use BSS for all our animals, I make a protein mix for chickens and ducks, removing the protein element for the rabbits. I also plant many of the BSS right now around the yard, they are soooo easy to grow. When they start to bother me in an area I pull them up (easy to do) and toss them to the chickens and rabbits. I let many go to seed and we collect these for re-feeding. They are beautiful and useful
in every way! I have never looked for a bulk – organic source…. I might just have to.
I’m glad you figured out about the night feeding for your Belle, because if I ever get goats your going to be my ‘expert’ *wink*
Love ~ Jami