Precocious milk?

[Olivia1204goats]

I have a question I’m hoping you guys can help me with. We got a buck and 2 wethers in February. Now my goat alice ( a Saanen Boer cross) seems to be producing milk. We don’t think she is bred yet, and even if she is she wouldn’t be producing milk yet. We did milk her all last summer, but in like late October early November of 2017 we completely quite and she dried up. But we have noticed that her and my other goat who is pure saanen have fuller udders.
We looked it up and understand that it could be precocious udder, but what we are unsure of is if we can drink it, or if we should milk her at all? Since there is a boy around will it spoil the milk?

 

[Alaskan]

Since she isn't a Virgin doe, I don't see any reason why you couldn't just start milking her.

Does already in milk naturally increase their production in the springtime. Once that sun increases the hours of daylight, their production increases.

Maybe she wasn't fully dried up and the springtime kicked her into gear.

Of course. ..maybe she IS pregnant, and she is bagging up before kidding, in which case it would be very bad to milk her. If she is only carrying a single kid, it might not be obvious.


If your bucks are stinky and next to your does, yes the milk might taste nasty... but it wouldn't hurt to try.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I have a question I’m hoping you guys can help me with. We got a buck and 2 wethers in February. Now my goat alice ( a Saanen Boer cross) seems to be producing milk. We don’t think she is bred yet, and even if she is she wouldn’t be producing milk yet. We did milk her all last summer, but in like late October early November of 2017 we completely quite and she dried up. But we have noticed that her and my other goat who is pure saanen have fuller udders.
We looked it up and understand that it could be precocious udder, but what we are unsure of is if we can drink it, or if we should milk her at all? Since there is a boy around will it spoil the milk?

BackYardHerds.com ask my friends at our sister site.

 

[Olivia1204goats]

Since she isn't a Virgin doe, I don't see any reason why you couldn't just start milking her.

Does already in milk naturally increase their production in the springtime. Once that sun increases the hours of daylight, their production increases.

Maybe she wasn't fully dried up and the springtime kicked her into gear.

Of course. ..maybe she IS pregnant, and she is bagging up before kidding, in which case it would be very bad to milk her. If she is only carrying a single kid, it might not be obvious.


If your bucks are stinky and next to your does, yes the milk might taste nasty... but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Thanks. The buck isn’t stinky so we should be good. Although it wouldn’t be good for milking, it would be great if she was bred!!

 

[Alaskan]

I think Saanens are particularly prone to being precocious milkers....

mine bagged up as a Virgin doe I didn't milk her then.... and she never got huge. She kidded for her first time last spring, and she is still going strong over a year since kidding! Her production went up when the daylight increased enough. My other 2 girls are pregnant, but I wanted to see how long the full Saanen could be milked, so I didn't breed her.

Below is a photo from yesterday... the Saanen currently being milked is Feta with the horns. The white little goat in front of her is a Saanen x nubian dwarf, Mozzie, and in the back if you look close is a brown one a 3/4 Nubian 1/4 Boar, Mocha.

 

[Olivia1204goats]

I think Saanens are particularly prone to being precocious milkers....

mine bagged up as a Virgin doe I didn't milk her then.... and she never got huge. She kidded for her first time last spring, and she is still going strong over a year since kidding! Her production went up when the daylight increased enough. My other 2 girls are pregnant, but I wanted to see how long the full Saanen could be milked, so I didn't breed her.

Below is a photo from yesterday... the Saanen currently being milked is Feta with the horns. The white little goat in front of her is a Saanen x nubian dwarf, Mozzie, and in the back if you look close is a brown one a 3/4 Nubian 1/4 Boar, Mocha.
View attachment 1321099

Thank you. I'm glad to see that it is a fairly normal thing.
Feta, mozzie, and Mocha are very cute. Mozzie kinda looks like one of my sisters goats sunshine!

 

[cassie]

I once knew a Saanen doe that produced a gallon of milk day in and day out for years. She produced a little less in the winter and a little more in the summer. The thing is, she had never been bred and had never even been exposed to a buck in her whole life. Go ahead and milk the doe and use the milk. She will be a lot better off if you do. By the way, whether the buck is stinky or not doesn't matter. For the record, precocious milkers are not confined to does. I have known several bucks that produced milk. In these cases the bucks need to be milked out periodically or they can get mastitis and die. In fact I once had a milk producing buck myself and we had to milk him out every week or so. As a lark, I sent a sample of his milk off to the lab and it came back 3.2% butterfat and CMT negative. I tasted it and to my utter surprise his milk had very good flavor. It wasn't bucky or anything.

 

[rebrascora]

For the record, precocious milkers are not confined to does. I have known several bucks that produced milk. In these cases the bucks need to be milked out periodically or they can get mastitis and die. In fact I once had a milk producing buck myself and we had to milk him out every week or so. As a lark, I sent a sample of his milk off to the lab and it came back 3.2% butterfat and CMT negative. I tasted it and to my utter surprise his milk had very good flavor. It wasn't bucky or anything.

Surely that has to be a late "April Fool"!

I know nothing about goats but my mare produced milk each Spring even when she didn't have foals and would get mastitis if I didn't milk her.

 

[cassie]

Surely that has to be a late "April Fool"!

I know nothing about goats but my mare produced milk each Spring even when she didn't have foals and would get mastitis if I didn't milk her.

No it is not an April Fool, late or otherwise. Precocious bucks aren't common but they really aren't all that rare either. You find them high milk producing lines.

 

[Alaskan]

milking bucks!!