Please tell me it gets easier? :(
 

One full week of milking down. I hurt everywhere! :'( Legs, back, shoulders, arms, wrists...
Ivory is still a brat on the milking stand. Yesterday I had to hold her in place against the back of the stand with my head, while blocking one leg with my milking hand and holding the bowl with the other. It must've been a ridiculous sight, but I milked her out while she screamed her protests.
Copper (the tiny teated one) finally had her kids separated from her last night. Her teats were larger! I actually got my thumb and finger around them correctly. I still could only milk with those 2 fingers, but it was easier. I hope and pray they continue to stretch. It took me a full 45 minutes to milk her this morning and I didn't even fully milk her out! (The kids went right after her when I put them back with mom, so I don't think that will cause issues.)
Ebony got loose on us Saturday. It took me, DH and both girls about an hour and a half of slowly "chasing" her through the woods and round and round the barn to catch her.
I waisted a bunch of money trying to follow online directions for a diy milking machine. It sucked water up fine, but when I put it on the goat she screamed like she was in pain until I took it off. Yup, not using that...

Please please tell me all of this gets easier? I'm exhausted, sore, and I broke down into tears yesterday when the machine refused to work right....week one of owning goats has not been a great one...
On a positive note, I got more milk from Copper than Ivory gave and she was super patient on the stand. She stayed calm and still, except for a few little kicks, through most of the process this morning. If I could just stick Ivory's teats on Copper I'd be golden! LOL

Aw, yeah it does get easier. I know I threw things and used a lot of language when I started milking. Having cooperative goats does help but honestly I still don't have the world's most cooperative goats and I manage. I know their quirks and how to mentally prepare myself for them.

The soreness does go away...especially the hand cramps. I learned that it helps to check your frustrations at the door because they really seem to sense all that emotion. Go about it stoically, paying as little attention to their antics as you can...just keep milking. If they make it impossible for a moment, snatch that grain away. No milk...no grain. Put it back and try again. Goats aren't exactly as trainable as a dog but they do get the picture after a while.

Have you tried hobbling them? I never used one but it might help if you have a dancer. I have one that likes to raise one leg as high as she can get it when I milk on that side...lol. I just keep milking and ignore the behavior. If it's a battle, I won't let them win!

It can be rough and I feel your pain. We have Nubian's and they have the right size teats for me, there are some that will be FF this next month and I will leave the babies to help with the size on them. You can always rig up some padded hobbles for the back feet it is not mean and works, if they eat faster than you can milk someone recommended putting marble size rocks in the feed bucket to slow them down. I do have a milking machine for when I am not here for my husband to use it takes longer to use because I am a fast milker. Also I got 2 stainless steel buckets from the feed store they are in the dog section the smaller one to milk out it works great, and then transfer to the larger bucket if we have more. It WILL get easier with time, I am not looking forward to the first week of milking because my body will hurt cause it has been 4 months since I last milked. Take your time you will do great. By the way Goats are drama queens and play it to the hilt.

Lol Thanks, that does make me feel better. :) I haven't tried hobbles yet. I was hoping she'd calm down without them. I think I'll check TSC and see if they have some. Do they ever get to the point where they go willingly to the stand? So far I have to chase them around a bit, get a lead on them, and drag them bodily to the stand. Ivory barely even munches the grain. Copper sticks her head in as soon as she realizes the grain is there, but she still has to be dragged out. Ebony won't come near us at all without darting away the second we move. I'm in with them as much as I can be. I talk quietly to them and give them treats. Copper comes right to me and likes to be petted. Yet, to get them on the stand is a fight.

I use to tag team milk with my daughter.. but had brain surgery a couple years ago.. that left my right hand too weak to milk..so my daughter has been doing all the does by herself.. I'm so impressed.. she is milking 20 does .. 2x a day .. by hand.. while wearing her 6 month old son.. in a baby wrap!!!!.. she is bringing in between 8 & 9 gallons per milking.. (has to make several trips to the house to get all the buckets inside).. and she gets them all done in 55 minutes or so... (I remember 10 or so years ago.. trying to teach her to hand milk. she was awful.. couldn't get the milk to flow.. hands cramping on her.. so frustrated.. now she is true pro.. (so yes.. it does get better.. you improve technique wise.. the goats improve behavior wise.. you all learn together... don't give up.. (and remember they will feel the vibes you put off... calm & sure will take you a long way).. (side note of the 20 she is milking.. 9 of those were first fresheners this year.. who had never even seen a milkstand...

susie, mo ozarks

That's amazing! Major kudos to her. :) I hope I can get there soon. I don't need to be a pro at it, I just want 2 goats not to take over an hour and a half to milk! LOL :) My DH wanted to try and help, but his hands are huge and he was pinching the udder instead of the teat...poor goat. :(

I have a grain ration we mix up, Alfalfa Pellets, Black Oil Sunflower seeds, Whole Oats, and Shredded Beet pulp that works for us and I also give a little in buckets to help train the goats to eat it. Also they are so eager to get their food that I have got them trained that when I whistle they know they are getting food and run all the way to the barn no matter where they are. Mine that had never been milked with time did very well on the milk stand. It takes time and for them training, we also put ours on the milk stand to trim their feet, the stand we built ourselves and the platform is wide enough that I just get on the stand and straddle the goat to do the back feet, front are easier to do when I am on the ground. Also by training them to the stand it is so much easier to give shots or oral meds. Hang in there.

How much of each do you use? I bought some Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, but I'm not sure how much to give them. Right now they're getting free choice minerals, free choice hay (Timothy, Alfalfa, Brome, and Orchard Grass, 3rd cutting and about 30% alfalfa), and as much grain as they want on the milk stand. Ivory is not producing very well right now, we're only getting about a quart a day with twice a day milking and we were told she produces 3. Her udder never seems full when I milk her, but I'm not sure why. I'm doing my best to milk every 12 hours, though sometimes it's +/- an hour or so. The only time so far her udder has seemed full is when I missed a day (the day Ebony got loose I didn't milk anyone). The next morning when I milked her she had a FULL udder and gave a full quart! The next milking she was back down to 2 cups again...that was yesterday, this morning was only 1.5 cups. I'm sure I threw her off with missing Saturday, but she's been pretty consistent in 1.5-2 cups per milking and never seeming full. Is there something I should be doing to increase her production? Different grain or more alfalfa or something?

I mix one 5 quart feed bucket of each together, they get 2 cups on the milking stand, the rest that I will not be milking but have babies will get the same ration. But your girls are mini's so I am not sure how much to give. Do you have free choice baking soda out for them? Not sure about the lack of milk but then each goat is different and each breed is also different.

No I don't have baking soda out. I'll add that. :)
I think I'm going to give your mix a try when this bag of grain gets close to gone. It sounds like a good healthy mix. Can I still feed the hay with that or will it be too much alfalfa?
Should I be rationing their feed to a specific amount each time? So far I've just been putting a couple scoops in the feed bucket and letting them eat as much as they want while I'm struggling to milk them, then taking some in to preggers and trying to get her to eat some while she tries to stay as far from me as possible. The kids got a bucket of grain last night for overnight, though they didn't eat much of it of course.
How slowly do I need to switch their grain over?

You can upset their tummy so take it slow. The kids don't need any right grain now. You can still give free choice on the hay the grain mix I would say about a cup and a half at each milking. We have 20 acres the goats have to roam in so no hay for now. You can get a 50 pound bag of Bicarbonate of Soda at the feed store for about 10.00 at least out this way, cheaper than the grocery store. If you want to slow down the eating then add some rock to the feed and that should do the trick. Use a rubber maid type of container with a lid and make up a weeks worth of grain mix that is a lot let time consuming.

It does get easier, and I am a newbie! I just started milking mid March, and struggled quite a bit at first with one goat in particular. She ate fast and threw a fit on the milk stand each time I tried to milk. Her teats are just oddly shaped enough I struggle, and I really considered selling her because of the rodeo in the mornings! Then one day she just quit, and has been nothing but a pleasure to milk! I'm glad to hear other say the hand cramping goes away because that is what I hate the most right now!

Susie, I just had to reply to this. I have no children yet, but probably will within the next few years. To hear your daughter does this is an inspiration!! If I could do even half of that when I have my own I would be estatic! Thank you for sharing!

Susie-
Don't the kids need grain when I take them away from mom at night? I thought for sure I'd read that. :( I picked up a little thing of baking soda at the grocery store today. I'll check the feed store for the big bag next time I'm up there. Thanks for the tip.
I'll start limiting their grain then. How slow should I go on the switch over? Should it take a week, a month?

mrstillery09-
That is encouraging! :) I keep hoping that will happen.

Tonight Ivory was good and Copper was a pain....ugh! Darn these goats! LOL

The kids don't NEED grain. However it makes it easier to get them into the kid pen ("oh boy! snacks!"), and it doesn't hurt them any. I grain mine, give them medicated sheep pellets (bonus: helps prevent coccidia!). Ask ten goat raisers and you will get eleven ways to raise goats. You'll figure out what works for YOU and everything will be fine. :)

You're getting alot of goat love here as it should be. Remember though, God put the goats on the left. haha. There's good and bad in everything "homestead". Hard smelly sweaty dirty sleepless up early up late sickness death then it fizzles out all together. Don't let it bring you down. Building relationships with livestock require time. Its not natural for a doe to milk out to a hand so you will have to take TIME to earn trust in your does. No time...no trust. Someone here said learn together...true. Remember though, we learn in different ways.

Thanks marusempai. :) That makes me feel better. I'm not even sure the kids are really eating the grain, but they like to nibble it! :) I think I'll keep leaving it in at night. Makes me feel better. :)

I'm really learning that EricMidgette. I was raised a city girl and have never had more than a dog or a pet bunny before last year. DH is the country boy. :) We started with chickens, then added rabbits, now goats. Goats are by far the most taxing thing. I know I'll build the muscles eventually though! :D

I've been thinking about how to explain this since last night. Hopefully this will help
. -- When training any animal to a specific task, the best way to do it is to convince them that it is something that they want to do.--
Rewards are a must. Forget the milking machine right now. Maybe even forget trying to get clean, usable milk. Take some of the stress off of yourself, and your goats and consider it practice for a few days. Your goats need to see the milking stand as a place where they want to be. Cut back on the feed a little for a bit and find out what they REALLY like to eat. Use this as a reward, or bribe, to get them to do what you want. Tortilla chips, graham crackers, carrots, apple bits, peanut hay, raisins, peanuts. If they don't like any of these, put some carrot or apple bits in their feed to get them used to it. You're going to have to spend some time with the ones that run from you. I know it's hard when you're milking. You get done with the morning milking and the evening milking is right around the corner, and you have to fit the rest of your life in between. But your goats need to see you as pleasant person to be around. Having to chase them and force them to do something is so hard, and makes it even harder the next time. Lavish them with treats, pets and scratches. You may have to just sit in the pen a bit until they approach you. Once they are more comfortable with you and will accept treats, use the treats to lead them to the stand. Reward them for just standing next to it while you pet them. Eventually you will be able to get them to jump on it on their own. When they are up, pet them, talk to them, give more treats. Rub their whole body. Don't stress yourself out about the milk. Just take it easy. Take deep breaths. Do what you can to make it pleasant for the goats. Get them to want to be there. Work on the details of milking after you and the goats are comfortable just with the situation. Milk them, because you have to, but don't worry if they kick or put their foot in the bucket. Some of these behaviors will extinguish on their own when the goats are more comfortable. Others will just have to wait a bit. Once the goats figure out that you will give them good things to eat, and they get lots of pets and scratches, it won't take as long as you would think for the rest of it to fall into place. At least, that's my theory. Goats create chaos. But maybe this will help a little. It does get easier. I thought I was the only person who cried because milking was so frustrating. But it got better.

Thanks Farmer Jayne. :) I actually do spend a lot of time our there just sitting with them. Copper loves graham crackers. Ebony is just scared. Ivory doesn't seem to like me much, but she's coming around. :)
I had a very successful milking today! Copper's teats are increasing in size, making her easier to milk, and her patience is still lasting the 45 minutes it still takes to milk her. I'm hopeful that it will take less time as her teats get bigger and she lets her milk down more. I thought she was milked out, massaged her udder and got nothing, and so I put the milk bowl away and brushed her again and she nibbled a little more grain. Then I looked and to my shock she looked full again! I wasn't about to try to get more though after she'd done so we. She gave a full 2 cups! She's going to be so awesome once her and I get the hang of things. :D
Ivory did great today too! No kicking or even really fidgeting! Then, the minute she was empty, she laid down on the stand and wouldn't get up!! I had to lit her back end in the air (with her maintaining the laying down position) while DH dipped her teats....it was interesting....lol
Still, I managed to finish milking and feeding and get to work (mostly) on time, so I'm counting it as a huge win. :D

per haps our seringe is to big and creeping tto far up on the teat. I also have found that leaveing the teat damp from cleaning leads to a better seal . yet I like the advice from farmer Jayne about working tward befriending and gaining the trust of our goats while training them to the milkstand .don't give up things will get better as the girls get used to the routine , and learn that milking time is there treet and attention time . I suppose I should of considered my self lucky in starting with a full sized dairy lamancha with such a calm and tame personality . be their friend yet be the boss . always speak to them and always have a treat to offer as even the smallest bit of apple or palm of grain will soon have them meeting you at the gate. experience is a gift I wish ,could be givein more freely .

They're smart little buggers...they're getting to the point that they stand at the gate and call if I'm out in the yard and they meet me at the gate when I come in...unless I have the lead! Then they run from me. lol

we don't grain kids.. hay yes.. 24/7 it's available.. (we pull all our kids and bottle. so they are only getting fed on a schedule.. so they go longer between meals then dam raised and they still don't get grain until 6 to 8 wks.. then I put out just a little bit of the calf mana for them to nibble on.. and some chaffhaye.. (a type of bagged alfalfa).. we are not big grain feeders tho.. even milking does get very limited grain.... we have lots of forage & hay. that is the mainstay of their diets

susie

That makes sense. :) I have read a lot of differing opinions on grain vs no or little grain. I'm still not sure where I fall on it though.

Hobbles help before I started using them my doe would try and put her hoof between my hand and her bag I was worried shed rip it open with the hoof

I'm not sure what DIY kit you did I bought one it didn't work but I hand milk into a 60ml syringe which runs to tubing and then a mason jar keeping milk much cleaner and basically spill proof. I'm a newbie to first milked 3 weeks ago. Good luck

If it uploads here's some chèvre I've been making

Trying again

RonTgottagoat- I didn't get a kit, DH and I looked at several online and made our own, but it doesn't work. I think I'm gonna try a few more things before giving up on it. After watching a few YouTube videos, I think the main problem is that we're not getting enough suction.
I like the idea of milking into a syringe, though I don't think my aim is quite up to that yet. :p
DH wants to make cheese too. Right now we're not getting enough milk for that, but if I can ever milk Copper effectively we should. She gave a little over 2 cups yesterday and I know I didn't milk her out. She still isn't letting her milk down and her teats are still so tiny!

It is getting easier though. Week one was a nightmare, but week two is just bad. I have high hopes that week three will be marginally tolerable. lol