Question about Milking

[Jyllie63]

I was given a Saanen (well almost 100% saanen ) doe with her two week old doeling back in April. I was not ready for a milker, but didn't want to turn them down because my goat desperately needed companionship (and I was flat broke from 2 broken vehicles, so free was nice LOL). I just couldn't figure out how to milk her so I gave up and thought maybe next time she would be easier as a second freshener. The baby who is now 5 months old still nurses a little so I'm sure she still has milk. Is it too late for me to try and start milking her now? With the price of milk in the store it seems silly to pay that price when I have "free" milk in my backyard.

[mamajohnson]

If you seperated the baby at night (or day) then you should be able to get some milk from her in the morning (or evening). milk her dry, and then some. Do that 2x a day and the supply should increase. I would say go for it.

[mygoat]

You may be able to get enough to at least help with supplying your house with milk.

Practice milking the doe several times till you get the hang of it. Squeeze at the base of the teat with your forefinger and thumb so no milk goes back up into the udder, then 'roll' your fingers down the rest of the teat, squeezing it. After you get relitively decent at it, Separate that kid from her. It's more than old enough to wean. You'll need to keep it separate for at least a few weeks.

Don't expect much out of her, however. Get your milking stuff together (Strainer, filters, milking buckets, milk soap, equip sanitizer, acid wash, Ziploc baggies and glass canning jars) and practice milking her.

Good luck!

[Jyllie63]

I think my biggest problem with her is she just won't be still for me. If I give her grain, she eats it in about 2 minutes and I've only just begun LOL. DH built a milk stand, but I think it's too high (thought he didn't need to look at any directions) and she gets scared and then falls off which is not a good thing! I may try it without the milk stand. She knows me alot better now, so she may not be so skittish.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Get him to cut the legs down on the milk stand. OR...you do it. If you have goats and live the homesteading life, you can run power tools. The main issue on height is your comfort while you are milking.

Goats aren't normally scared of heights. They like to climb.

Here's the link to good plans. You can check the height.

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/milkstand.html

[mamajohnson]

I have a smaller girl that will look at the side of the milk stand like it is a foreign object, but when she gets at the end of it, where the step is, she just runs right up. Do you lock her head in the gate? do you have a headgate? That will help considerably. Another thing I have done, I have a couple of girls that like to kick on occasion, when they do that, I strap their back legs down. I put one of those u shaped fence nails into the milkstand, on the side, made a restraint out of a couple of old socks with a clip on them.
Just work with her, you will both get the hang of it!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Ditto on getting on the milk stand from the end. They will NOT jump up from the side at all.

[Jyllie63]

Originally Posted by Rose

Get him to cut the legs down on the milk stand. OR...you do it. If you have goats and live the homesteading life, you can run power tools. The main issue on height is your comfort while you are milking.

Goats aren't normally scared of heights. They like to climb.

Here's the link to good plans. You can check the height.

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/milkstand.html

Your powertools comment made me . I have mastered the electric screwdriver...that's it as far as powertools LOL.

It's funny...my other two goats love to climb, but she doesn't AT ALL! I do think I'll suggest to DH to cut the legs down a bit and try it again. I don't give my goats alot of grain. It's usually their treat when I want to get them back in their pen after grazing for awhile. Exactly how much should I allow her to have on the milkstand?

I really appreciate all of the suggestions! Thanks!!!

[Spinner]

Originally Posted by Jyllie63

I think my biggest problem with her is she just won't be still for me. If I give her grain, she eats it in about 2 minutes and I've only just begun LOL. DH built a milk stand, but I think it's too high (thought he didn't need to look at any directions) and she gets scared and then falls off which is not a good thing! I may try it without the milk stand. She knows me alot better now, so she may not be so skittish.

Does the milking stand have a head stall? My milker almost always finishes eating before I'm finished milking, but with the head stall she has to stand there until I release her. How tall is your stand? Does she need a ladder to get up there? LOL Can you put one side against a wall and maybe put a side rail on the open side to discourage her from going off the side and maybe another one along the bottom edge to keep her feet a little more secure?

My does love the milking stand. Even the dry ones will jump up on it hoping to get a bite to eat. I'm hoping that will help them get used to it so they will be easy to milk when they freshen.


ETA: Yesterday I read that you can't build up the milk once production has gone down, but I talked to a lady who claims she did it. Maybe it depends on the goat? Never let her go more than 18 hours without milking her out, and it's better to milk out every 12 hours.

I tried once a day milking and the poor girl was so engorged that I felt sorry for her. On top of that it made it harder to milk when she was engorged. I've read that they start dropping production if they aren't milked at least every 18 hours. Every 12 hours works great for me.