Udder Update

I am pretty please with all three does' udders and milk production, and yesterday I took some pictures.  We milk twice a day and weigh each doe's milk individually, so we know what they are producing.  Once our machine milker gets here (I have really bad hands/wrists, and with soon to be 4 in milk, my hands are dying milking them all), I may pour off each doe separately to be weighed, or may do it all together, by my husband will continue hand milking at least a couple times a week, so we know who is doing what still.

Amber freshened first, and was doing at least 2lbs per day (there are about 8 lbs in a gallon, so about a quart/day) from the start.  Yesterday, she did 3lbs in a 24hr period (2 milkings)!

Here is her udder at 14 hours in milk, 2 weeks fresh yesterday morning:

And yesterday evening, about 10hours milk, 2 weeks fresh (so the next milking):

Peekaboo kidded two days after Amber, and her production this year is surpassing what she did last year (this is her 4th freshening).  She started out at just under 2lbs/day, and by 3 days fresh was over 2lbs/day.  Now she is at about 2.75lbs/day.  Her teats are good sized, have nice open orifices, and great udder texture making her quite nice to milk.

Here she is yesterday morning, 13 days fresh, 14hours milk:

Peekaboo last night (the next milking), 13 days fresh, 10 hours milk:

Lindy freshened on 3/10, with a single buckling for her first freshening.  I am very, very impressed with FF udder!  I had read/heard so much about tiny udders and very little milk from first fresheners, that I wasn't expecting much.  She sure has surprised me!  By 2 days fresh, she was giving over 2lbs/day, and is now giving about 2.5lbs/day.  She is by far my most easily milked doe, with great teat placement, large teats, wide open orifices and great texture!  I am so excited to see how the rest of her lactation goes, and to see what she does next year in her second freshening!

Lindy however, does not like to pose nicely for pictures, but this should give a good idea at least. Here she is at 11 days fresh, 14 hours milk (please ignore the bad trim job):

This is the next milking, 11 days fresh, 10 hours in milk.  The pictures are a bit blurry, but show the overall shape of her udder.

Alibi is not due until 4/8/2012, so we are expecting babies sometime after 4/4 (all the other delivered 3-4 days before their due date).  Her udder is coming along as well.