One of the questions that I receive frequently is, “How do I dry off a dairy doe?”
My best advice is to stop milking her. If the doe was on grain while she was being milked, either cut the grain out of her diet, or cut the amount down considerably.
A doe will continue to produce some milk as long as you milk her out. The method of gradually cutting back on the milking schedule to dry a doe off never works for me.
Best bet: cold turkey, stop milking.
I have only had one case of mastitis in my milking herd. The doe never had mastitis again in subsequent years. For that particular doe, when I took her out of milk each year, I infused her teats with Tomorrow (a long-acting antibacterial product). I infused and did not milk again until she freshened the following season.
Always watch for signs of mastitis: doe is off feed, doe is standing away from the crowd, udder is hard/hot/swollen. Keep in mind, however, the udder will swell for 3 or 4 days after you stop milking. It takes a few days for the hormones to kick in and say, “No more milk!” The body then begins to resorb the milk from the udder.
With a very thin doe, I do continue feeding some grain after I dry her off. In most cases, however, worming her (if needed), and offering her good quality hay will put the weight back on. I do not feed grain again until late in pregnancy, the 2nd or 3rd month. Increase gradually as the due date nears. A good quality alfalfa mix hay is a sufficient supplement otherwise.
I hope you found this article helpful. Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
Sheep are similar and as they aren’t milked by me, I observe that after a big lamb, still nursing is sold, the ewe’s udder will get very, very large…then after a few days the udder shrinks until it is back to pre-nursing size. I have noticed the ewes themselves limit their usual alfalfa intake until the udder has reduced.I have never had a case of them having mastitis, and the same is true when I had milking goats.
The soap in the previous post IS beautiful!
Good info Mary, thx.
I’ve never milked a goat before in my life. So I have nothing to add.
But…..
It sounds like common sense to me.
We do the same as you Mary when we would dry off our girl’s.
Amy
Kathy, I would love to try cheese made from sheep’s milk!
Thanks Amy and Becky for the comments.
[…] Humphrey, of Annie’s Goat Hill Soaps, shares the pros and cons of drying up dairy goats at the end of their season. As for Mary, she’s a cold turkey girl: […]
Mary….great advice….I’ll save this…in hopes to acquire two sweet does…..
Lylah…My fingers are crossed for you.
I found the info very helpful, I have been wondering about this.
Well….now that I’ve acquired more than 2 does (from my earlier comment)….I’m re-reading this great post, Mary, and need the courage/help to put this into practice 🙂
I’ve started to dry off my first due doe – 4/20/11 and I might be doing it the harder way…the gradual way….reducing milking down…every other day…and no grain. I think I ‘feel’ sorry for her and do worry about her getting mastitis. Suggestions?
Also…I’m not clear on your last part about when you re-introduce grain in the pregnancy.
Mary….do you have your vaccination schedule somewhere on a post? That’d be helpful too!
xoxo lylah
Hi there, Lylah!
I used to be very concerned about drying off the does as well. Seeing their udders filled with milk, looking as if they could burst, concerned me beyond words. But now I look at it this way, if we are not opening their teats (via milking), leaving behind the chances to allow bacteria to move in, we stand a much less chance of seeing a case of mastitis. Mastitis generally doesn’t happen by not milking. After 3 or 4 days of not milking, the udder suddenly lessens in volume. The doe’s body absorbs what it can. Her hormones tell her body to stop producing milk. The milk production cycle ends until she freshens again.
Vaccination schedule – I give a Bo-se shot (selenium and vitamin E) the last 30 days of a doe’s pregnancy. We live in a selenium deficient area, as is the case in many areas in the United States. The selenium helps the doe to give birth, and it also helps the kids to not be weak at birth.
I go as natural as I can with the care of the goats. I shy away from many of the vaccines on the market.
I do “up” the grain for the pregnant does. I have to think about this, and perhaps do a blog post on it as well! Good idea! I re-introduce grain into their diet one to two months before they kid – on average, one cup of grain per 100 lbs of body weight.
You’ve given me ideas for future blog pots…or for digging up ones in storage.
Have a wonderful day, Lylah!
Hi Mary,
I had goats now for about 3 years, wonder ins and handed over ones no one wants anymore.. I got the most sweetest girl about 2 years ago, she was then about 4 weeks old and the year after a very healthy buck, you can guess the rest 🙂 I’m in the moment in the painful progress to dry her off, have tried the slow version and I’m giving it now a shot of the cold Turkey, will feel sorry for her and for me, but the slow way does not work.. I’ll keep you posted on how it works for us.
Have a great day 😉 Ela
Hi Ela. Best of luck with your shift from the slow way to cold turkey. Her attentions and wanting to milk will shift quickly now. It sounds like you have a nice little dairy herd started!
Hi Mary,
the update on my progress.. she is that full that she started to drip and milk herself, but her udder is still not overly hot, just swollen. I wouldn’t call my herd a dairy herd, she is a feral goat, but with a very nice temperament. Over the weekend she tried to convince me to milk her again by putting her udder into my hands, I stayed firm, just 🙂 I’ll see how it goes over the next couple of days and keep you posted.
Cheers and have a great day Ela
Ela, don’t milk her. Don’t do it. I am smiling with you, trust me. It isn’t easy. They like to be milked. But if you do it, you know what will happen. Cheers to you too! I love your updates. Mary
Hi Mary,
my update… That little goat of mine is as full as ever, I’m not quite sure what she does when I’m not watching, but I do suspect her from milking herself 😦
I haven’t milked her in over a week and not going back to it either, you don’t have to tell me.
I’m feeling a bit stupid, but I’m running out of ideas what to do to make her dry up, I don’t want to hassle you every time with my problems either.. trust me! I’m normally the type of person who tries it first alone and second alone again before asking for help or advise. Do you have any ideas you could through my way? By the way she’s with kid(s) again and we hope to have more of the ratbags by 13.6.12. I know it’s still some time till then for drying her up, but they will be born in the middle of winter and we want to give them the best of chance for growing tall and strong.. I know the winters here in Australia aren’t as bad as in some other places, but just to be save.
Thanks again on answering back and I hope to hear from you soon
Cheers Ela xo
Oh, my. If she is nursing on herself I can think of a couple of things, the first is a collar (similar to a cone collar). The other is alfalfa rich hay, high in calcium (just in case her body is in need). There is nothing that will make her dry off except for no milking and patience. You have quite the milker there!
Hey,
when I looked this morning at her udder, it shrank to half her size from the days before, the teats have gone back to before miking size.. I don’t know but it seams that she may has finally understood that I’m happy with it not wanting her milk anymore.. Not that I got tonnes out of her to start off with, the best I got was just over 2 pound in 2 milkings in a day (enough for hubby and myself for a days supply of fresh milk, nothing more, nothing less). I started to milk her 16 weeks after she had her little one, which was a big strong and healthy girl over 7 pounds 😉 (she didn’t let me touch her before that..) So I missed the peak of her milking anyway. And over the last week with not having miked her I think I got a bit unpatiened with her not drying up as soon or as fast as what I hoped for, it still took her 9 days to start, but I think we’re finally on the right track 🙂 she understands and I can keep concentrating on extending the goat family, next time I’ll get a propper milking goat ( Alpine or Toggenburgs) nothing wrong with her, but I would like to get started on cheese making and and and…. it’s not possibe with these little amounts
Thanks again for your helpfull advise and your patience with me 😉 I do appreciated your help!
Cheers and have a wonderful day Ela xoxo
PS: I was feeding her already alfalfa rich hay, and she loved it, and the others do to, but they are not getting hers. She has a whole cage for herself.. lucky girl 🙂
Ela’s hormones kicked in, told her body to stop milk production. That is great news. The next thing you will be telling me you have beautiful new kids on at your place. And Ela will happily be in milk again! Mary
Hi Mary,
Remember me? I’m the one who didn’t know on what to do when it was time to dry off my girl. We managed to dry her off and yesterday morning she (Galaxy) gave birth to a very healthy beautiful boy (3.5kg) 😉
Just wanted to thanks you again for your help and let you know on how we went on.
Cheers and have a great day
Ela
Yes, I remember you. I felt your pain! How in the world do we feel guilty for drying off a doe? I don’t have that answer. I just know how it is. I am glad it was successful for you!
I love the name Galaxy.
Congratulations on the new buckling!
Have a wonderful day,
Mary
Hi Mary,
Remember me? Just an update on our ever growing herd…
Once again we had another little buck, to another doe this time, but healthy and beautiful… We kept him intact just as a back up for the day to come when daddy goat is willing but not capable anymore 😦 (dad is about 12years old)
Since we separated the buckling from mummy I finally have a doe which is easy and willing to be milked 😀 this time we keep milking till the time comes to refreshen or she decides not to give the milk anymore. In the moment I get about 5pounds out of her in one day, (she’s a feral Nubian cross) we only separated them two yesterday, so I’m sure to get more out of her as time goes on… 🙂
Cheers and have a great day
Ela
Hi Mary,
Remember me? Just an update on our ever growing herd…
Once again we had another little buck, to another doe this time, but healthy and beautiful… We kept him intact just as a back up for the day to come when daddy goat is willing but not capable anymore 😦 (dad is about 12years old)
Since we separated the buckling from mummy I finally have a doe which is easy and willing to be milked 😀 this time we keep milking till the time comes to refreshen or she decides not to give the milk anymore. In the moment I get about 5pounds out of her in one day, (she’s a feral Nubian cross) we only separated them two yesterday, so I’m sure to get more out of her as time goes on… 🙂
Cheers and have a great day
Ela
Ela, I love your news!!
5 pounds of milk a day? She is a star milker! 5 pounds would be over a half gallon. And she will surely produce more milk as time passes. Not bad!
Looking forward to chatting with you again,
Mary
Hi Mary,
Mum had a bit of a struggle to come to terms with her little boy not being there… So she decided to drop back a bit (actually a fair bit), but with time gone by I’m slowly working her up to the production again.
Had saved some of her milk over the last couple of days and have made my first batch of ricotta, yum…
Otherwise all good in the land of down under 🙂
I’ll keep you posted and I’m looking forward to our chats too 😀
Cheers Ela
Hi, I stumbled upon your blog about drying off goats! I had a nice Alpine doe that was pretty much dried off, which was good, I was milking 6 others. My daughter thought she was still milking and milked her for a week! She started re-lactating and was up to about 7 lbs. a day! I finally got her fully dried off by using peppermint candy! The peppermint is a drying agent for milk!
She is due in a couple of months and needed the “down” time to prepare for the new kid!
I love your story! Obviously, your Alpine is quite the milker. I’ve used peppermint before, but not candy. Amazing how you used it!
I added a touch of peppermint essential oil to unscented lotion and used it on the udder of a doe as extra treatment for mastitis (the one and only doe that ever had it on our farm).
Best wishes for the upcoming kidding!
My wethers left Sunday pm. I thought they were weaned as I never saw them nursing ,just trying. Her bag was ok yesterday full but not really full. Her udder was tight today Tuesday am so I just took some milk off. I did not milk her out. The wethers were 3 months old. I was supposed to take her to be bred tomorrow. But now I am wondering if I should wait and make sure she is dried off. Maybe I should not have milked her. I have been giving both my does a little grain once a day. Maybe I should stop that too to help her dry off all the way. They are nigerian dwarf. Real sweeties.
Hello Mary –
She does not need to be dried off to be bred. I wouldn’t milk her any longer though, not even to take off the pressure – that is, if you want to dry her off. A little grain will not hurt either.
Best wishes!
Hi Mary I have one doe that her bag has never been the same since she had mastitis, is that normal she has knots and bumps on bag one is tet is longer then other ??? She did have a nice bag at one time. Is there something I should or should have done ??? Thanks Cindy
Hi Cindy –
Some udders and teats return to their normal size and length after the mastitis is cured, and some remain lumpy and uneven even after the following season when milking begins again. I feel the severity of the mastitis has a lot to do with it. Some udders and teats return to normal size and appearance once the doe begins nursing and milking again, yet some look damaged for life. Unfortunately, I know of no particular remedy for returning the udder back to it’s original appearance, even when it is confirmed free of mastitis.
I hope that helps.
Mary
Thanks so much, one more thing she she good for breeding, or milking anymore? Or would she be retired.?
Myself, and a close friend, have bred and milked goats that had prior episodes of mastitis with no repeat cases occurring. Unless your doe is extremely old, I would not retire her. That is a personal choice, though.
I have also heard of cases where treatments were given prior to freshening that appeared to help prevent the return of the disease. This is an except for a Dairy Goat Journal article written by Nancy Nickel, “Sometimes udders that have gone uneven from sub clinical causes in a less dramatic manner than our little yearlings can be brought back in following lactations by the prudent use of Naxcell before kidding. Our second success was such a case of sub-clinical mastitis of a nature that we were never able to determine. The culture and sensitivity done by the lab was muddled and inconclusive. We treated her with a variety of drugs without any visual success or increase in production from the light side. When she was dried off we dry treated her and followed the plan to use Naxcell on her 10 days prior to kidding. She freshened with a slightly uneven udder that did not seem to be responding to the increase in size one sees when a doe comes into production. Our vet suggested we give her Erythromycin in addition to Naxcel for five more days. This was a stiff treatment of systemic antibiotics, making us fear we would destroy the microbials in her rumen. Probiotics and “rough hay” were added to her diet and grain ration was reduced to a minimum. This doe did not milk well that year. Most likely the low protein ration and reduction of rumen flora from the antibiotics did not allow her the nutrition she needed to start an excellent lactation. Does milk at a deficit of calories and protein both during the first 90 days fresh. To save the evenness of the udder we were willing to make this sacrifice. She did milk her full 305 days and the next year, came into milk with a lovely, show quality mammary system making the 3,000 pounds plus as we had hoped she would do.”
I would keep a close eye on your doe, I know you will, if you should decide to breed her again. Keep her in an extremely clean area and watch for sign of mastitis, even to the point of frequent testing.
I hope this helped.
Mary
Hi.
I have a 3 year old goat Lola who had her 1st kid , Grimelda, a year ago and all was going well with Lola weaning Grimelda and slowly producing less milk when the animal sanctuary i volunteer at got a very baby goat in so i decided take her home and started milking Lola to feed this little one who was only a few days old. Now I am wanting to dry Lola off as Dagoda (baby) is doing great and eating well and in great health but I cant put out Lola in paddock with Grimelda who she will still allow to nurse so I am thinking I will have to keep them all tethered for awhile in hope that i can dry Lola off or I was wondering what you think of just allowing grimelda to nurse and Lola to wean her again? That way they could go into paddock , but Im not sure if its good for Grimelda to still be nursing at a year old? She is such a big healthy goat and she was born with precosious udder which hasnt gone away and is quite big now – looks like shes pregnant but she isnt. I have to go away next month and was hoping to have Lola dry and all 3 in psddock while i was away, but perhaps it would be O.k for Grimelda to continue nursing??? (Lola wont let Dagoda nurse from her).
Hope that all makes sense!!
THANKS.
Hi There –
Yes, it all made sense.
Lola sounds like a healthy doe. Good for her (and you)!
This is my philosophy, when I bottle feed kids, especially when I use milk replacer, I normally wean and feed kids according to this schedule: https://anniesgoathill.com/2012/03/25/bottle-feeding-goat-kids/. But when the kid(s) are nursing from the dam, I allow the dam to make up her mind when it is time to say no to nursing. I let nature take its course. If the doe is healthy, maintaining her own weight, and not constantly having to fight the kids off (beyond the normal nudging them away), I see no issue with allowing the dam to nurse as long as she wants.
Best wishes for you and your goats,
Mary
hi mary.
thanks for response. The issue here though is that Lola had pretty much weaned Grimelda (who was 8 months old at the time) when I got Dagoda the baby goat and then I started milking Lola to get milk for Dagoda (who was only a few days old when found orphaned). This has made Lola go back into full milk mode and she is producing mayb 3-4 litres a morning and now Dagoda is 3 months old and doesnt need milk so I am wanting to dry lola up. If they go into paddock together Grimelda will nurse off Lola (grimelda is over a year old now and would have been weaned by her mum if i hadnt intervened and started milking her for Dagoda the orphan kid).
I dont think Grimelda needs to nurse at all as she is huge , but if i put them in paddock she will so i was wondering if i should keep them seperated and try to dry off Lola? Lola lets grimelda nurse off her and Lola is skinny and could do with a break. All a bit tricky, but ideally I would like to find a way to dry off lola.
I have read that it is not good for older kids to continue nursing either…and i know i have upset the balance to have milk for Dagoda (whom Lola wont allow to nurse off her). Grimelda certainly doesnt need to milk..she is a big solid goat and too big for a sanaan really.
I know this is all a bit confusing to follow…hope you get what i mean?
Should I allow year old kid to feed off mum when she would have been weaned months ago if i had let nature run its course. or should i seperate them and try to dry off lola? Lola is skinny and Grimelda is HUGE. Dagoda is just outrageously cute and has made a great recovery from sickly frightened thin kid she was when we rescued her so Thanks to Lola she has come good but now i’d like to try and do the best thing for Lola.
Thanks Mary!!
Hello!
Ahhh…I see, she is a Saanan, they give their all to milking!
I would separate Lola, keep her in a separate paddock, allow her to dry off. She’ll regain her weight.
Dagoda sounds like a sweet goat, so lucky to have you to take care of her. I love to hear success stories!
Mary
Thank you Mary.
I have never done this before and this morning I just milked Lola a bit to take the pressure out of her udder and put her and grimelda in paddock together to see what happened , and have now just read your reply.
Do i seperate them and just stop milking Lola completely?
– Her udder is so full in the mornings (I bring goats in each day and they are tethered to their houses by the my house, then they go in the paddock in the morning after i milk Lola) and i know mastitis can be an issue.
And yes Dagoda is a happy story, she is a nubian that was found running on a rd in the city and the people who caught her couldnt get her to drink from bottle so by the time i got her she was only apr 5 days old and thin and sad with eyes all clogged up etc so it is lovely to see what a fiesty wee healthy cheeky goat she has become. She is a real sweetheart and we love her and delighted we got to have her.
Thanks again Mary for your advice.
meg.
Hi Meg –
The more you milk a goat, the longer they continue to produce milk. When you stop milking, or when a kid stops nursing from the dam, the udder swells and looks uncomfortable, but it eventually will decrease in size and the doe will stop producing milk.
If you milk a goat to release some of the fullness the goat will continue to produce milk.
Drying off a doe should not cause mastitis. Mastitis is normally caused by bacteria entering the orifice of the teat after milking or nursing.
Saanans produce large volumes of milk. My Saanan’s udders filled hugely after they stopped nursing before they began decreasing in size a week or two later.
I hope that helps, Meg.
Best wishes and please come back and let me know how this works for you! Your doe should dry off beautifully.
Mary
my goat is a virgin milker and has been giving milk for 3 years. I milk her every 3 days to keep her udders small because they hang to the ground and she tears them. If I let her go with out milking she has huge udders that are hot and tight skinned. Do you still suggest I stop milking and also is there something I can put around her to hold her udders up off the ground so as not to tear them\/
Wow, good job on the great milK volume. Yes, I do recommend that you stop milking. I believe some of the caprine supply houses sell udder harnesses. I have also had friends that made their own harness (elastic and cotton) to hold the udder up, which protects it until it becomes less full.