Taming a future milker?

[MelissaW]

Hello again! Rather than cram two unrelated questions into one thread, I thought it would be best to start a second one. I've been reading your excellent forum for awhile, and now I must beg your expertise! If you were bringing home your first doelings...hopefully your future tame, gentle milkers...what are some of the things you would do to prepare them for their future career? I'm already assuming handling, brushing, collaring, leading, and providing good nutrution. Anything else? Thanks again everyone!

[myheaven]

Touching the udder when your rubbing her so she is use to your touch on her udder. It my feel odd at first but shell be use to it by the time she needs to be milked. Getting her use to treats on a milk stand.

[pookshollow]

I've got a young doe who is due in June, so I'm starting now with her to train her to the milkstand.

Last night was her second time. I call her name and let her out of the pen, then guide her into the milking parlour. I have her food already in the bucket, so I rattle it and show it to her, then put it into the feeder on the milkstand. She knows it's there, and puts her front feet up, but she hasn't quite figured out jumping up all the way, so I give her a boost behind. Once she's got her head through the stanchion, I close it and let her eat for a bit, then I sit down beside her and just touch her, starting with less sensitive parts (back, sides, flanks), then move to her more sensitive parts (belly, teats, legs), talking to her all the time. If she gets twitchy about some parts, I'll stop moving my hand, but I'll leave it there until she calms down, then I remove it.

I have another FF due in a week or so, and I've been doing the same with her, although she was a bottle baby, so she was quite used to being handled (lap goat ), and it was hard to keep her off the milkstand if she got in there. She was still quite kicky when I first started handling her teats though! I found that if she kicked, I could just grab that leg and hold it until she gave up on the idea.

Basically, it's just patience and persistence and gentle handling - with liberal helpings of treats! Like most animals, goats will do a lot for food.

[GoldenWood Farm]

You know I have never handled my does before the kidded and every single time they have been fine for me to milk....granted most are bottle kids but I am hand milking a FF mini mancha who wasn't bottle raised and she doesn't kick or nothing. Hard to get her on the milkstand but other than that.

What I have done with mine is I don't do anything special when kids (other than do things with them on the milkstand so they know what it is and its ok). When they freshen I have never had problems with kicking really...at first sometimes they will lift their leg a bit or crouch but after a week or two they are old pro's at it. They learn when its their turn to come out (I call their name and touch them when I want them to come out). I have found that if I try and touch them before I need to milk they will be much more kicky and stubborn versus me not doing it before I start milking.

With my kids from the get go I put them on the milkstand for trimming hooves (w/grain) to sometimes graining or if I need to worm them that kind of stuff....and I am talking about 2 months old I will do this. I never have tried to touch their underparts or anything on purpose but my kids get handled so much (bottle babys) I guess they never really have had anything to worry about. When they are bred I bring them out onto the milk stand to be grained starting about a month before due date so they get used to coming out. I try to bring them out in the order I will want to milk them. Like I said once they freshen then I start touching them there as I have to milk them but before that I don't as they are much worse at kicking and what not versus when they are milking. Sounds weird but thats what I have found. Ok hopefully all of this has made some sort of jumbled sense to you .

MotherClucker

[HazyDay]

(THIS IS HOW I TAMED MY FIRST 2 WILD DOES. ABOUT 9 MONTHS OLD.)
First give her some time to get setted into your barn. (about 1 - 5 days, depending on the time it took to bring her to your barn.) start by standing in with her and let her come to you! (treats work very good!) after she trusts you start holding on her collar. After she trusts that you won't kill her when you stand up. walk her around for a little (do this for a few days) Then start with the brush. After you can brush her sides do in front of neck and move all over brushing. Then rub your hands over her. After you can fell the udder and belly. Start training her to the milk-stand. You may have to pick her up and put her on it the first time. Let her stand and find the grian. (Make sure she doesn't jump off. Do this for 5 months and then take kids away and MILK YOU FULLY TRAINED MILKER! (BECARFUL! I HAVE CUTS TO PROVE THAT WHEN A DOE KICKS YOU WITH HER FEET. BUT DON'T LET HER GET HER WAY!)

Good luck any one with a new milker! I have to milkstand my 2 other milkers. they seem to think that if you give them a 9 month break then you need can feel the udder again! (I have no clue what im gonna do when I show my queen! she won't let any one but me and mom touch her udder! )

[GoldenWood Farm]

HazyDay with your queen have anybody and everybody willing touch her udder every chance you have and this SHOULD help....my queen is this like this too so thats what I did and she is better about it. Takes a firm hand with her though....I will get after her if she acts up when somebody is touching her udder.

MotherClucker

[HazyDay]

will try that! Im feeling her udder every time I milk (2 times) and she hates me for it, but I find it helps when I have to get the milk out. Plus I milk flat the first day. I just think if they pushed out a 10 pound buck (my SF did! 10 pounds and 6.5 pounds!) Then she gets 1 day to recover and then she has to get up! Just like I bring all my babies in the house for atleast 2 days.! (alot easier when you feed them their colostrum every 4 hours! for the first day or 2 )

[Freeholder]

If you have any choice at all, don't buy wild does, buy bottle-raised ones.

That said, I have a yearling who was dam-raised (her mom had such small teats last year that I didn't want to milk her right away), and very spooky and wild. I took her kids away at birth to bottle-feed, and put Sparrow on the milking stand while I still had birthing fluids on me. She stood like a pro and has ever since. I think 'tricking' the does into thinking you are their baby by milking when you have birthing fluids on you is the key to having a doe that will let you milk without fighting. There will no doubt be exceptions, because some does won't let their own kids nurse, at least at first, but in the majority of cases this seems to work. I'm not leaving any more doe kids on their mothers, though, only bucks who are destined for the freezer, and then only if their mom is really hard to milk. My little wild Sparrow is turning into a very good milker, by the way (for a Kinder), and is much easier to milk as a yearling than her mother was as a two-year-old.

Kathleen

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Having a second platform just like the milkstand in your barn area for them to play on so they get used to jumping up on it. We have show stands we take to shows that the head part comes off, leaving the bottom, this helps soo much with the actualy jumping up. The problem is when the milkstand becomes this monster where we get our feet trimmed, show shaved. Yep bottle kids are best of course...I just ordered from a guy who makes my collars a leash minus the loop to be used for a drag rope for my dam raised purchased yearling kidding in a couple of weeks vicki

[MelissaW]

What excellent information! Thank you so much! I've never seen some of those tips in books (like having a platform like a milkstand for play), but they make so much sense when I read them. I'm thrilled to find such helpful, knowledgable people! Kathleen, you didn't by any chance write an article for Countryside a couple of years ago about natural goat raising, did you? I was reading back an old back issue just this morning, and the article said the same thing about the birth fluids. Thanks again, everyone, for such good tips!

[moosemaniac]

What you said....and feed them on the milk stand. Get them used to your touching them everywhere, especially around the udder. It'll be fun at first, but they'll come around.

Ruth

[southerngurl]

Another thing, and this is coming from the horse perspective but.. A predator doesn't retreat. It actually will help alot to walk towards the doe, then turn around before the point that she is scared enough to run. YOU must turn first. This will teach the doe that you aren't out to get her. It's good to do this several times, and you will find you can get closer and closer before she moves. If she does move, calmly follow her until she stops, and right when she stops, calmly back off.

My doe was fairly wild when I got her back in Dec, she is doing really well now. She actually comes up to me. I mainly just did as I described above. Also, I always stood by her when she was eating her grain. I stood just close enough so that she was a little uncomfortable, but would still stand there and eat. After a while I started petting her up on her shouler and neck where she felt less threatened by it, and worked from there. After you get them pretty comfortable with you, teaching them to lead helps tame them more.