Milk Flow Rate and Milking Frequency in Red Sokoto Goats

Twenty-four Red Sokoto goats were hand milked for 120 days to determine milk flow rate. The does were grouped into three for once, twice and thrice a day milking to determine the effect of milking frequency on milk flow rate. The average daily milk yield and milk flow rate was 466.9g and 3.5g/sec, respectively. Milking frequency significantly (P<0.01) influenced milk yield and milk flow rate. The higher the milking frequency, the higher the milk yield, but with a decreasing flow rate. Milk yield and milk flow rate were significantly (P<0.01) and positively correlated (r = 0.88). Both milk yield and flow rate reached their peak at the 4th week of production. The optimum milking frequency for Red Sokoto goat in this study was the twice daily milking, since there was 52.7% increase in milk yield from once a day, with a marginal 7.9% reduction in milk flow rate.