I have had a lovely Nubian doe (with two month kid) for about a month. She wasn't milked before we got her. We have tried for a couple of weeks to milk her following text book methods. But we can only get about a tablespoon of milk in the time it takes her to eat her grain ration. There's still about a litre (quart) in her udder after milking. Any suggestions?

-- gregory barton (gbmillion@hotmail.com), March 29, 2003

Answers

Have you milked animals before? And this one is not letting her milk down? Are her teats small and hard to milk? If her teats are easy to milk, and you are an experienced milker, the problem could be due to her saving the milk for her kid, she is afraid you will take all the milk and let the kid starve! If the kid is a male, butcher it. If it's a doe, you can pen it up overnight away from it's dam, and milk the doe in the mrning, then let the kid out to nurse and roam with her mother during the day.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 03, 2003.