How to wean a goat to suck its own milk: causes and solutions

Almost all owners keep goats in order to obtain delicious, nutritious milk. Self-milking of goats is a common cause of reduced milk production. Therefore, farmers are concerned about the question - how to quickly wean a goat to suck its own milk. Of course, it is desirable to first find out the reasons for this phenomenon. Various methods are used to fix the problem.

Possible causes

When breeding goats, you need to consider that these are very "food dependent" animals. And if individuals find a source of tasty or plentiful food, then it will be difficult to drive them away from food. Often goats, once tasting milk, begin to constantly suck it.

Common reasons why a goat suckles its udder:

• during pregnancy, the amount of calcium in the body of the female decreases, so the goat seeks to restore calcium levels with milk;
• the female's udder quickly fills up and is not completely emptied during milking. Naturally, a full udder after a while begins to cause inconvenience, which she tries to get rid of on her own;
• in some individuals, the process of sucking milk causes pleasant emotions (endorphins are released). Therefore, whenever the opportunity arises, animals will seek to have fun.

Goat's milk is a nutritious food, so it's not surprising that some females take to suckling. Moreover, sometimes the owners begin to give the female the first milk after lambing (within 15-20 days).

How to stop a goat from sucking its own milk

Many owners agree that weaning an animal from the habit of milking itself can be very difficult. Sometimes it is impossible to understand the cause of the problem, and you have to resort to drastic measures. Owners use improvised means to "isolate" the udder:

• bras-bras are specially sewn. But more often than not, animals manage to pull off such ammunition;
• clothes are put on the animal - a T-shirt or a knitted dress, which are tied at the level of the udder with special ties. The female will no longer be able to get rid of the outfit;
• a kind of collar is put on the neck, which is made of a soft insulation pipe. The porous pipe is wrapped twice around the neck, and the ends are fastened together.

Not the best option is to lubricate the udder with any means, as some compounds can spoil the taste of milk. It is possible that the lubricant, on the contrary, will appeal to the animal.

How to prevent the problem from occurring

A common solution is to rethink the milking routine. To prevent the udder from becoming too full of milk, the number of milkings is increased (4-5 times a day).

It is also recommended to provide milking after the birth of kids with a balanced diet so that the animal does not look for additional sources of useful elements.

It is undesirable for a long period of young goats to be soldered with milk. Experienced livestock breeders recommend not giving milk to two-month-old animals, especially since at this age goats are already accustomed to graze and eat food. Alternatively, if there are few animals, some owners feed their newborns with milked milk on their own.

Goat breeding is a promising chance to establish a dairy business or the opportunity to feed a family with natural products, given that these small animals are unpretentious in maintenance and diet. In order to constantly receive milk, it is necessary not only to provide pets with appropriate care and diet, but also to prevent the phenomenon when goats suck their milk.

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