better for the doe if she is dryed off two months before she is expected to 

 drop kids. 



It is often necessary to milk does three times a day when they are fresh, 

 and with some it may be better to milk them that often for several months. 



Where goats have been handled most intelligently in Europe for family 

 use, the plan is to have not fewer than two does for each family. One of 

 these should kid in the springtime and maintain a milk flow for not less 

 than six months, while the other should be so managed as to kid six months 

 later than the first one and also to maintain a milk flow for six months. 

 This plan provides for a constant supply of milk, and is especially desirable 

 if there are small children in the household Bureau of Animal Industry 

 Bulletin No. 68. 



About the first question a person will ask in regard to a milch goat is, 

 "How much milk will she give ?" They might just as well ask, "How tall will a 

 tree grow?" for it makes lots of difference what kind of a tree it is and 

 how well it has been cared for, and it is just the same with the milch goat. 

 This is, if course, a very important feature of the industry and one that 

 varies considerably in individuals as well as with breeds. It is surprising 

 sometimes the amount of milk a good milch goat will give in comparison 

 to the size of the animal. From the writer's experience along this line it 

 may be safe to say that the average dairy goat of the Swiss and Nubian 

 breeds will give from two to four quarts a day. With the Spanish and 

 native milch goats from one to two and one-half quarts a day, yet with 

 some individuals much more is given. Some of the three-quarter and seven- 

 eighth Swiss and Nubian does are the best to be found in America. Of 

 course such individuals have had the guidance of an experienced breeder 

 and are the result of scientific breeding. Some of these does give as much 

 as five quarts a day, but such a large yield is unusual and such an animal 

 is very valuable and it is a hard matter to induce a breeder to sell such a 

 doe. She would be a good investment on $100.00. Selling her milk at 20 

 cents a quart would be an income of $1.00 per day, with feed cost of only a 

 few cents. Then her kids, if sired by a buck of equal value, would be 

 excellent stock. If a doe yields two quarts per day and has a period of 

 lactation of from six to seven months she is to be regarded as a very profit- 

 able animal. 



Owing to the fact that good stock has been very hard to secure from 

 the leading milch goat countries, there are very few animals in our country 

 that will produce the quantity that is claimed for them by the German 

 writers, as their literature is full of instances of goats that yield five and 

 six quarts per day, but as an average the best Swiss goats in Switzerland 

 and Germany produce not far from three quarts per day. It is stated by 

 German writers that the milch goats of these countries yield in milk from 

 10 to 16 times their body weight annually. With the cow the average 

 weight of milk produced is 5 times its body weight. The average Swiss 

 goats will weigh in the neighborhood of 66 pounds, which the reader can 

 see is very light compared to the cow. Yet in its form the milch goat ex- 

 hibits the complete type of a milk-producing animal. 



"We in England have been breeding goats now for nearly fifty years 

 with a view to improve the strain for milk, and we certainly have attained 



17 



