Dairy Goats. Tell me what I need to know!

[Cara]

Quote:
Is that really true? I know that a woman who has not given birth is able to breastfeed. She just needs to continually nurse a baby and after a week she can bring in a full milk supply. That's how in some countries grandmothers are able to breastfeed their grandbabies while mama is working. This is good knowledge for a woman looking to adopt an infant.
So, couldn't this be the same with any mammal?

While trying to keep this topic simple, the OP cannot buy a female goat and reasonably expect to be able to milk it without breeding it.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Okay, thanks.

I thought they would have to be bred in order to milk, but I was thinking they had to constantly be bred. Mom kept on saying that I was wrong.....*sigh*

So, they are bred the first time, and when she lactates, milk her every day, even througout when she has a kid?

But eventually, she will dry up and have to be bred again?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
Is that really true? I know that a woman who has not given birth is able to breastfeed. She just needs to continually nurse a baby and after a week she can bring in a full milk supply. That's how in some countries grandmothers are able to breastfeed their grandbabies while mama is working. This is good knowledge for a woman looking to adopt an infant.
So, couldn't this be the same with any mammal?

While trying to keep this topic simple, the OP cannot buy a female goat and reasonably expect to be able to milk it without breeding it.

Yeah, I stated that I was newbie and that I didn't know much about goats.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
They will come into milk shortly before giving birth (or sometimes immediately afterwards). You don't want to milk her until about two to three weeks after she kids, as the milk will not taste good at all (it has a high colostrum content, full of antibodies and much richer than usual milk).

You can then milk her until she dries up, usually up to a year after kidding but the amount of milk she produces will decrease the longer she is lactating.

If you want to breed her again it is important to 'dry her off' (gradually decrease how often you milk her until she stops producing milk). Usually this is done at least two months prior to kidding to give her body a rest. Lactation and pregnancy are both quite demanding on an animal.