| It's Thursday! |
 It's Thursday!
|
Jul. 15th, 2010 @ 08:05 am 
|
|---|
|
and life is buzzing along. Didn't sleep well last night; in fact, today I am back in the post-surgical wrist brace. :sigh: I *have* to take fanatical care of this wrist - I do NOT want to go under for the 6th time. :sigh: Hence the search for an affordable milking machine.
The stars were out this AM - very pretty. Sweet Geek saw a shooting star go thru Casseopeia (the "Queen of Heaven")....not sure if it means anything, but if I hear something out of Rome today, I wouldn't be surprised. :nods: It was all quiet....the bucklings all decided to jump on me, and now my shirt smells of buck. :ick: It offends me - it's going in the washer tonight!
The does have settled into the routine - first out are Annie, Mocha and Rosa. I finish Annie, and move to Mocha. When she's done, they both go in, and Zorra comes out. I usually finish her about the same time Sweet Geek finishes Rosa (he's slow, and she gives a half gallon per milking. Himself is even slower - he is usually JUST starting Mocha when SG finishes!) Rosa and Zorra go back, and I yell "I have a bucket" - the other girls come running, and I feed them. Then toss hay. It's a lot less chaotic than it was.
The kids have scraped out the coop - we're picking up new pullets Saturday. I need to get shavings...tomorrow.
Gotta rest my arm! Current Mood:  sore |
| From: | (Anonymous) |
|---|
| Date: | July 16th, 2010 01:07 pm (UTC) |
|---|
| | nervous!! | (Link) |
|
I. Am. SOOOO. Nervous... I'm thinking Rose is going to have her babies any day. Her udders have 'dropped' - they're full and VERY visible, and she's quite wide. So this weekend we're going to separate her from the other goats and... I am so not ready for this. I've milked ONCE for five minutes over a year ago on a full-sized goat, and I'm SCARED!!! ((SToP LauGHiNG... it's not funny.)) Kind of freakin' out over here... cuz it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now...?!?!??!?! DEEP BREATH. Go to www.dairygoatinfo.com and get reading - Dairy Goat 101 is a good place to start. Just because the udder has dropped doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to pop - how are her ligaments? The ones that attach the tail to the spine? When she's close, they'll be *gone*. Breath. You can do this! :grin: Also, you don't have to milk her right away. You can a) take the kid(s) and bottle feed them (lots of work, but best if you want the most milk for you) b) let her dam raise, and milk in-between (OK, but you won't get much) or c) dam raise, but separate at night (after the colostrum is gone - about 2 - 3 days) and milk her out in the AM before letting the kid(s) back on her the rest of the day. We did a and d - Zorra dam raised Jayne; when I weaned him last week I started milking her 2x day. She's giving 4 pounds/day, like the 2 PB Nubians, and I'm happy with that. |
|
| Top of Page |
Powered by LiveJournal.com |
