OK, goaty people, come back from the land of poultry for a minute. I have a basic milk goat question: How long will a goat produce useable quantities of milk before she needs to be re-bred? Will she milk as long as you keep milking her? Or will she taper off to a trickle at some point and require re-breeding in order to start lactating again?
Thanks!
Goat question!
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm#milk
This is the most specific info I found. Saanansandy is the only one I can think of offhand who does dairy goats. She sent a bunch of good goat links which are on the reference thread...
I know from having a goat when I was young that they do need to be rebred to keep lactating and that you need to let them dry for a while before breeding. Now how long the milk is supposed to last I do not know, but I think Daddy always had them rebred in each spring. So my guess is about 9-10 months or so.
There are so many more qualified people on here and you should have a more certain answer soon.
Sheila
Okay, this is from my Goat book.
The amount of milk a doe gives increases for the first 4 weeks after she freshens (begins lactation after giving birth). It then levels off for about 15 weeks. After that, milk production gradually decreases and eventually stops until the doe freshens again. The amount of milk depends on age, breed, health, and ancesrty. (Damerow)
I hope that helps.
Jeanmarie
JM, does it have anything about drying off and how much time to give the doe? And how long to let her go if she's not being bred back?
Okay it says...If your doe is a dairy bread, stop feeding her grain and stop milking her two months before she is due to give birth so her body can rest. This is called drying off. Nothing is said about not being bred back. Only they will slowly stop making milk.
Sheila said they must be dry to rebreed. I don't think that is correct. If, like a milk cow, they can be bred anytime, but need a dry period before freshening again.
Butt me in the butt if I am not right.
Bernie
Drying off takes place two months before giving birth the book said. I dont have goats. Only books. hehehe
Thats me Jean Marie i could look up something but thats all i'm good for on this subject
Hi! Well, everyone does things differently! Keeping that in mind, you can breed her while milking but you must maintain a good quality feed for her as producing milk takes energy. I know people who will milk a month or so into the pregnancy. Personally, I've tapered the milking off so the doe is dry before breeding-just to keep her in the best condition for breeding and to give her a break. I would either stagger the breeding of does to keep us in milk or just go without for awhile.
As far as graining, never abruptly change feed for goats as they are ruminates which basically means they have bacteria which breaks down the food for them and a sudden disruption can throw off the bacteria in the goat's rumen, which can cause the goat to bloat, or the rumen to shut down. When changing a goat's diet, do so slowly, to give the bacteria in the rumen time to adjust.
Great information! Thanks Sandy.
Ok! Didn't completely answer your question, did I! I've had goats that produce copious amounts of milk while others will dry up sooner than you want. I think it depends on breed and the goat's heritage. After drying up, she must be bred and give birth to produce more milk.
Also, I always give my goats grain- the amount just depends on if they are dry, pregnant, milking or a buck. I also like to give them black oil sunflower seeds-great for their coats!
here's a link you may like: http://fiascofarm.com/goats/feeding.htm
This message was edited Dec 29, 2008 8:10 PM
Thanks everyone! We raise Icelandic sheep, and they can be milked. We don't milk them, but some people raise them for that. I'm thinking farther down the road it might be nice to have a goat specifically for our own milk production (and maybe cheese, yogurt, etc. :-)
Dang. I knew I remembered you and couldn't place your story!! If you have any good sheep reference links I'd love to have them for the reference thread...the goat links there are good for a lot, but goats aren't sheep....
We are thinking about getting back into sheep again. Your Icelandic sheep sound very interesting. How many lambs on average to they have? Considering their milking capacity, I would think they could handle triplets easily?
We are considering Hampshires or Suffolk but have not found a breeder as of yet. I did find an excellent place that raises horned Dorsets but I'm looking for a larger breed that have an open face and fast growth rate.
Sue found some good sites and put 'em on the reference thread. It has tons and breeders
Sheep sites there too, now. Including Icelandics info
This message was edited Dec 30, 2008 7:21 PM
Gallesfarm - we raise Icelandics too! We have 6 right now (small flock!) but three of our ewes are due on April 27 or May 2. All three have previously had both twins and triplets, so we are hoping for that again! We have one ram and 5 ewes. We recently joined ISBONA.
Sue - Icelandics are well known for multiple births and sextuplets are not that uncommon! They often have triplets, but their first birth is often a single. They have fabulous fleece well loved by spinners and felters. That is why we have them, plus we want to do sheep's milk cheese and sheep/goat blend cheeses too. We love their hardiness and the fact that they have a dual purpose on the farm (fleece/milk).
Claire
Thanks grownut!
Hi Claire!!
Are you planning on starting a grade B dairy? or is it just for your own use?
Right now it's for our own use, but if we can develop the proper facility (i.e. for health inspection purposes) we would love to do artisan cheese, yogurt & ice cream for the local markets and restaurants.
That would be fantastic! You can do goat and sheep cheese-yummmmmm! Ok, now do you grow your own herbs to add into the cheese? Oh and a nice touch(just a touch) of hot pepper flavored just so....where's the crackers?!
LOL! Kelly would love the hot pepper....me...not so much.
I grow rosemary, basil, fennel, oregano, and thyme. I would like to try some feta cheeses marinated in herbed brine. We also grow a lot of tomatoes, so some sundried tomato cheese would also be good!
I'm sooo there! Starting my herb garden this year. Cow not fresh. Need Sheeep. Need dairy...
Oh man, now I am hungry again.
CMoxon, that would be great to make your own goat cheese.
I sure love it myself. People pay big for it too. I know I do. hehehe
Sure good to have you back! {{{HUG}}}
I should invite all my DG buddies for a goat cheese tasting!
Ahhh yes! Road trip!
Hi Claire and Saanansandy,
Welcome to ISBONA Claire. It's a great group of people. Are you going to join the mailing list? I have to say though that sextuplets in Icelandics are very rare. .. even quads are rare... triplets are fairly common, but twins are what usually happen, even with some first-timers (though singles are more usual for first breedings).
Saanansandy, if you are looking for a large breed, Icelandics may not be it, but it depends what you consider large. Ewes weigh 120-160 lbs and rams may be up to 200 lbs or so. Even Dorsets get larger than that I think. I like the Icelandics for their smaller size. Other advantages to raising Icelandics - they have a naturally short tail so there is no need for docking, and you can raise them to butchering size by fall, before they come into their breeding season, so there is no need to castrate the ram lambs. They do only breed seasonally though, unlike some sheep breeds that can breed more than once a year. So only one lamb crop per year, which is fine with us, but is also something to consider based on what your goals are in raising them.
We shear them twice a year. The fall clip is the prime fleece, usually used for spinning. The spring clip is usually used for felting or even for garden mulch as it is typically shorter, dirtier (from winter conditions), and just not as nice. Icelandics also do have a yearly shedding period, in the spring, where there is a natural wool break. We try to shear just after this natural break so the new fleece growing in doesn't end up with old fleece stuck to the tips.
Guess I'd better stop here, but check out the links in grownut's reference thread for more info.
Thanx fer comin' back!!
Hi Gallesfarm! Thanks for correcting me on the sextuplets - can't believe everything you read these days! I should know better! I know that the 3 ewes we got this week all had triplets last year so we are very excited about lambing in the spring. I haven't got confirmation of our membership yet (sent in by mail) but once I do, I will definitely join the mailing list.
It will be our first shearing this spring too, as well as for our 4 llamas and 4 angora goats. We are so excited!
Claire
MAJOR road trip!
wooohooo! brigidlily, I am with you!
Man, if I only had the old VW bus...
If only I still had the 27 foot RV I could pick up people along the way!!!!
Kelly had a VW bus before, he loved that thing, said it got great mileage but the heater was awful. You'd need the heater at this time of year.
I know, make it a road trip for April 27, the due date of two of our Icelandic sheep!
Oh yes! Sold! That would be so fun!!!!
We would band the ram lambs and bring them to market around 4 to 5 months of age. Nice size and they don't have that mutton flavor. We aren't into lambing twice a year either. Spring is a great time for lambs!
We sheared the whole body once a year; then before lambing, clip the ewes belly, tail area and back of the legs so the lambs can find the teats instead of sucking on the wool! Plus you could see what was going on back there in case of lambing difficulties.
The price of wool was so low we never sold any but one of my relatives took some one year and brought it to a spinner she knew. She had a sweater made out of the wool. It was quite nice!
We've put the word out in our area for the breed we are looking for but with the price of feed sky-rocketing, alot of people have already thinned out their flocks and the lambs they are expecting are mainly slotted for the freezer. But we'll see what comes up!
oh ladies with the Icelandics you are just going to be so in love this breed. I use to belong to ISBONA back before it was ISBONA. I did their newsletter for a while. The breed is so great. Very hardy, easy lamber's, wonderful fleece, their milk is incredible along with their meat. In fact when we eat lamb we only eat icelandic. Sad to say, but the group has lost two of the most important people, the founder Stephania who was icelandic and jumped through all the hoops to bring them to Canada and Susan who their her never ending efforts to promote them, have both past away from cancer... They both were incredible women and their love of the breed was something.
Cheese from their milk is out of this world....
Can ya'll not tell I love this breed. LOL They really are a dual purpose breed and they are so beautiful to look at.
ISBONA is a great group and you can't go wrong joining them. Barbara Webb in New England and Lisa Roskopf in Oregon are still around. Barbara jumped through the hoops to get the sheep across the border and into the USA.
Good luck with your herds.
Janet
Oh, just another couple of items, for those that want to milk, (I used to make raw milk aged goats milk cheese from Nigerian dwarf dairy goats milk) and I would use different herb in the feed for certain goats and they would taint the milk with a mild flavor of the herb, garlic always game out wonderful in the milk and added a unique taste to the finished product of cheese.
We had to move and these days I have no livestock and so miss them all. So I make myself be content with my six collies.
Janet
We just got 3 more Icelandics so now we have 6. I adore them. The three that we just got were shorn in the fall so they are much shorter fleeced than our other 3, but they are all gorgeous. The ram is a bit mean, but otherwise, we love them.
I sent in my ISBONA dues before Christmas but haven't heard anything from them yet. I am sure they are busy.
We would love to milk ours and make cheese but I recently read that to comply with government requirements to sell cheese, a minimum investment of $50,000 is needed for the equipment and building. That seems steep. I am trying to find out more.
I am seriously looking into them myself. Haven't sent dues or anything else, but sheep are the next thing on my list of critters to add so...If you need a home for some Icelandics....yaaah, well, dreamin' doesn't hurt, right?