Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLDrying Off a Dairy Doe
Mary Humphrey, of Annie’s Goat Hill Soaps, shares the pros and cons of drying off dairy goats at the end of their season. As for Mary, she’s a cold turkey girl: Stop milking.
“A doe will continue to produce some milk as long as you milk her out,” Mary said. “The method of gradually cutting back on the milking schedule to dry a doe off never works for me.”
(Ed. Note: While does vary, and some never have a problem with rapid drying off, in order to avoid mastitis drying off gradually is the standard practice. Drop to once a day for a couple days and then once every other day until lactation becomes minimal or ceases. -NJ)
