Molly's kidding thread~Buckley improved~just waitin' on a normal poo

[savingdogs]

I'm going over to read that thread, but YES he has been an enormous pig and Ginger is overflowing with plenty of milk.

 

[BarredBuff]

Had any goats milk yet?

 

[savingdogs]

No, it could still have colostrum.

 

[savingdogs]

After reading that I think I should give him some baking soda. A different person also recommended that to me.

I have been using an herbal selenium supplement, I don't have any Bose. I have not found a vet to prescribe it locally. He walks fine though, he just seems too tired suddenly. I don't think his knees are swollen but I'm going to double check that too.

I think it isn't life threatening at this point, I saw him bouncing around a little bit ago, so I think he is just a little weak, not in danger as I thought earlier.

Thank you so much!

 

[glenolam]

How's he doing this morning?

My first thought was FKS. Baking soda would help him and also wouldn't hurt him if it turned out he didn't need it. I think around 5 - 10 days some people give kids a probios paste anyway to give them a little jump start. B12 would help him to keep eating, but if he's having too much to begin with and pigging out I wouldn't want to give him anything to encourage it.

Did Ginger get a CD&T shot about 4 weeks prior to kidding? If not, you may want to give her one now and hit up the kids in a week or two. I didn't give Eloise a shot before she kidded last year so when I brought her kids to the vet to be disbudded at a week old they gave the kids their first CD&T shot and told me to follow up in a few weeks, so I'd imagine it's OK to give him a shot now if mom didn't have one.

 

[savingdogs]

CD & T shot was done exactly a month before (I read what my smart friends say on forums!).

I am going to give baking soda this morning as soon as the sun comes up. I need to mount more lights around my barn. Up until now I didn't check the goaties at night very much! Other than the heat lamps I stumble around and don't want to fall again!

I got a good amount of milk from both does last night. Ginger had as much as Molly even with nursing two. Things are going good there except I really need a shaver. I have enough milk for their bottles now and was going to save some next for soap. After that I need my shaver and strainer or it will end up going to the dogs and chickens.

We really did not expect to have much milk this year.....I had read that FF did not make much more than what their kids need. Does this mean my does are doing well?

I have a lot harder time milking a full udder. Is that universal or is it my learning curve on how to milk? I've gotten a lot better in just a couple days. My hands are sore quickly and I need to build up muscles I guess. Can you guys milk with either hand? I seem to only be able to milk with my right (I'm right handed). If I could milk with my other hand it would be easier. My aim is still terrible, moreso with Ginger for some reason. Molly's milk just shoots right out and more straight down.

OFG it did work better to not feed Molly all day and then put her on the stanchion. She did eat the grain this time. She is still pretty scared and we have to drag her in and hoist her up and hobble her. I was wishing I had one of my dogs trained like Ti to go "get" her for me. I'll have to work on that. Unfortunately my dog with the most aptitude for it is 10 years old, the second most likely candidate is 8. And ridgebacks do not know the meaning of the word "herd."

The ridgeback fosters we have right now are AFRAID of the goats....too funny. So much for being Lion hunters.

 

[ksalvagno]

As far as milking, just time and practice. You may even want to look into a milker like Henry's Milkers or Udderly EZ milker. I'm right handed but better at milking with my left hand. The Nigerians I have to milk one side at a time but I can milk both Millie's (Alpine) teats at the same time into a bucket. The Nigerians I have to use an 8 ounce glass to milk into and then pour it into a container as it gets full.

My hands hurt when milking (even Millie) so once I have more goats to milk, I will get out my milking machine and do it that way. I know a lot of people don't want to be bothered with the cleanup of the machine and everything but my hands hurt too much and I have major problems with cramping so it will be worth it to me.

If you could milk out Ginger on a daily basis, that would probably be good to slow down the little guy.

 

[glenolam]

It sounds like your FF are doing well. As long as there's enough milk for the kids you can take what you'd like.

It does take time to learn how to milk, but I found it easier to learn on a full udder. I can milk better and faster with my right hand, so I'd milk both teats with both hands (sitting with the doe to my right - her head towards my back & I'm facing her back end) then when I couldn't get much more from the left teat w/my right hand I'd switch and milk the right teat with my right hand until it was empty too. My hands hurt a lot at first too, but after time it goes away.

The only thing I've ever used for a strainer is one of those sifter/strainer things with a handle from walmart and a coffee filter. It worked out for me - some people even use cheese cloth so they ca reuse the cloth. FWIW I never shaved Eloise's udder when I milked her last year and as I got better I got less and less hair/dirt in the milk. Fudgie's not that bad, either - I haven't shaved her at all and don't really plan to unless it gets that bad. I'm just lazy that way.

 

[savingdogs]

That is what I was thinking too.

Gosh, I never thought of milking both sides at one time! Do you stand behind them to do that?
I think I'm doing it more how Glenolam just described.

I got a lot of hair in the milk since I didn't shave. If you don't shave do you still get hairs? I washed her udder carefully but I'm sure that the hair was not clean enough to drink.

Last night my older son was my assistant in catching the does and putting them on the stand for me. He isn't much of a milk drinker, but after we were done, he says to me "I'm NEVER eating anything made from THAT." It had several of Molly's dark hairs floating in it.

It probably does not help that their back ends have bloody discharge. I tried to wash that off last night but it is fairly crusted and I was afraid I would try their patience if I was too thorough. If you don't shave that area, how do you keep their female areas clean during this time of them having that discharge? I'd like to shave them just to help keep that clean. But in the meantime, what do you do about that?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

My dad made me a stand and a stool, so I sit on the stool on the right side of the goat, sitting facing backwards. I milk with both hands into a bucket. Goat hair floating in milk isn't a problem for me...I just strain it. Before I milk I do wipe down the udder to get any loose hairs out first.

June has nice big teats, they practically fill my hands, so it's easy for me to milk. It's much harder on small teats because you can't squeeze like you would with larger teats. You almost have to use your 2 index and middle fingers and your thumbs.