I ♥ Milking!

With the weather mild, the doe(s) well trained, and the gentle sound of the milk swishing into the pail it all combines to create a very pleasant, relaxing experience.  Right now I'm down to just having Allie in milk, and I am starting to dry her off in anticipation of her kidding in a few months.   She may be down to only giving a cup a day, but the children are sure going to miss having that rich creamy milk on their oatmeal.

Some goat breeders prefer to dry a doe off before breeding her.  But since I come from a cow background where drying a cow off before breeding would result in an unbred cow, I prefer to be certain a doe is bred before drying them off. 

So my days of milking are numbered, at least for now.  And I will miss it during the approximately two month break until Mame kids at the end of March.   Two weeks after she kids I will start separating her kids at night and milking her in the morning before letting the kids out to spend the day with their dam.  

With the increased size of the herd, I shouldn't have any problems with gaps in milking once the first doe kids this year.  Although the later half of the year will be all first fresheners.  I am going to bred Ramie and Rita in late spring for November kids, and the other 5 doelings will be bred in late fall for March/April kiddings next year.