Life at Marigold Meadows is always full of learning
experiences and sometimes that includes a bit of heartache.
We recently bought Peggy, a dairy goat who is half Saanan
and half Nubian. This mixed breed is for
the purpose of producing creamy milk and
lots of it! According to the
previous owner, Peggy was likely bred and due to deliver in the middle of
May. Like clock-work, she delivered
twins on May 13th. The twins
were seemingly healthy at birth, however, Peggy looked miserable. Her udder was so huge and congested that it
looked like it would burst, but according to the pictures that I’ve seen of
lactating dairy goats, this is “normal”.
Unlike our meat goats, Peggy’s twins were very quiet and
“laid back”. I never caught either of
them nursing. Peggy’s teats were so
large and her udder so low to the ground that I was concerned that maybe the
kids were unable to get her teats into their mouths. Were they able to suck? Had they gotten the
colostrum that they need so badly?
I put Peggy on the milk stanchion to see if the little ones would
suck with assistance. They both sucked. The larger one was a bit more aggressive
about it and would sometimes butt the little one away, but neither of them seemed
to work at it very hard. Were they
unwilling or were they full from eating on their own before I came along? I asked previous goat owners for advice and
the standard answer was, “They would not have lived for several days without
food. They must be eating and you just
haven’t been there at the right time.” They
suggested that I milk Peggy way down so that she would be more comfortable and
that the little ones could get a better hold on her teats. I relieved her of almost a gallon of
milk! While keeping a close eye on the
little ones, I tried not to be overly concerned.
One morning when I went out to milk, I found that the little
one had died. My heart just sank! To top that off, Peggy was not producing more
than ½ cup of milk! What were we going
to do? Not only was it important to have
milk for the other little guy, we had bought Peggy because we wanted milk!
Next learning curve… how do I increase Peggy’s milk supply?
I’m blessed with two helpful books on natural goat care:
- Natural Goat Care – Pat Coleby
- The Complete Herbal Handbook For Farm and Stable – Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Also, www.Fiascofarm.com
is a wonderful website that I return to time again.
As I researched, I discovered that the herbs: fennel, dill
and fenugreek help to increase goat milk production. Hoping that Peggy would like the herbs and
that they would be effective, I decided to give it a try. I powdered equal parts of each ingredient
together in my blender and off to the barn I went. First, I mixed 1 tablespoon of the herbs in
with her ration of corn only to discover that she ate the corn and left the
powdered herbs in the bottom of her feeding pan. Hmmm…it was obvious that I needed to
out-smart her. So…, I mixed the powdered
herbs with 1 teaspoon of molasses and she loved it! I’ve been giving her 1 tablespoon of the
herbs each morning and evening for three days now. This morning when I milked Peggy, she offered
1.5 qt.! I’m not sure if her supply will
increase any more than this, but at least I know that the Little Spud is
getting what he needs and we have enough milk to drink, bake, make cheese, etc.
Who would have thought that a few herbs would have such an
effect? It never ceases to amaze me how
the Creator of this universe has provided everything we need.
Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie
P.S. Please
feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder
or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie
Jaeckle
In Search
of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal
Progress
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