c cagle wrote:Most goats increase lactation amounts after the first time 'round.
I'm laughing again, Cathy. It's her second lactation - the first one we got about 100mls once a day but then she had a lil baby to look after that time round (I was just practising). She's not had an easy time really with this childbirth thing. The first she gave birth just fine but walked off the minute the kid popped out just leaving her in the grass. Thank goodness I knew that she was birthing as I was able to step in immediately and 'do my bit'. A long story cut short - after two weeks of penning them up together and having to hold Mummy still whilst the baby drank, she finally accepted that she'd become a Mum and did a wonderful job after that. This second one was again a single kid but stillborn after a very long and arduous birth where we actually had to 'go in' and pull the baby out. Maybe you can see why I'm so close to her - we've worked together a lot! That's why I'm scaling it down right now on milking as she didn't come on heat last week and they're running with the bucks so I'm guessing she's fallen - I appreciate Nicholas's advice but all things considered I think she needs time to be strong again without me sapping some of her energy.
Good to know that there are other lactation folk out there who go on to use their knowledge to help animals
Oh and she's a full-size French Alpine.