Tiny Teats; Trials & Tribulations!

[nehimama]

I was the lucky recipient of someone's abandoned 4H project a few days ago.

There are three very nice NDxAlpine does, one in milk. She must be an FF, as she has very tiny teats. I don't think she's been milked by human hands before, but she is a real sweetie. She's pretty darned cooperative and willing to let me fumble around and try to get the job done. Her milk is really good, too!

I can get my thumb on one side of the teat, and my forefinger on the other side of the teat. And that's about it!

Has anyone here had any experiences with milking a goat with such tiny teats? Do you have any advice? Can you describe your method, or better yet, is there a diagram showing how to do this more easily?

Thanks in Advance!

NeHi

[BlueHeronFarm]

I'm not sure I've had one that tiny, but on our smaller girls, we had to take a little bit more of the "meat" of the udder into our hands to get the fingers positioned correctly for milking. Not sure if that makes sense or not, now that I see it in writing, but just try to "choke up" a little to get a more comfortable grip. -- you just don't squeeze with the fingers that are up on the udder.

[hoofinitnorth]

Yes, I have 2 NDs but they have wonderful teats - large (for them), soft, pliable, and easy to handle. I have average-sized hands (relatively long, thin fingers)

You don't really milk them with your whole hand, like you would a full-sized goat. Instead, what I found naturally works for me is to place the top of the teat (or just above the teat) between thumb and forefinger and then the lower part of the teat between forefinger and middle finger (**let me check that when I milk again tonight, LOL**). I milk in one motion but to slow it down to show other newbies what works for me (like my husband), I can do two distinct motions - squeeze off the top of the teat with the thumb and forefinger, and then squeeze with my thumb and middle finger to push the milk trapped in the teat out through the oriface. It's easy to show than to describe, lol. You just sort of have to experiment and see what comes natural to you.

I have one doe that has average orifaces and one that has very large orifaces. Guess which one is easier to milk? I can go faster with the large orifaces, both in volume and speed-it's like turning on a fire hose! lol With the average orifaces, I have to work harder to get the milk out of the teat and slow down quite a bit and concentrate more on getting volume up with each milking motion rather than speed to empty the udder.

Good luck!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Make one of these milkers:

[Spinner]

I agree with Rose. I made one to use with my ND's. They have tiny little teats and I can't imagine trying to milk with a thumb and one finger.

[nehimama]

I'm getting it! I'm getting it! Hooray! I'm milking her 2X a day, and this evening was the sixth time. It's coming more naturally to me now. I am about 100% certain this little gal is an FF, and she is incredibly patient with me, although she does tend to "lose it" a bit towards the end - .

Rose, isn't that an adaptation of the Maggidan's milker? I can get my hands on all those parts, but what is the yellow thing?

Hoofin' It and Blue Heron, thanks for all your helpful input.

NeHi

[Jaclynne]

Rose or Spinner - could direct me to the instructions for making one of those milkers shown? Something with a list of the various parts please.

Thanks
Halo

[reese]

Originally Posted by HaloHead

Rose or Spinner - could direct me to the instructions for making one of those milkers shown? Something with a list of the various parts please.

Thanks
Halo

Me too, please.

Reese

[nehimama]

It's been discussed in-depth on this forum before, but darned if I can find that thread! Help! Thanks.

NeHi

[reese]

Well, I've not found it either, and I've spent far too long looking. I'm trying to figure it out by the pict. Looks like a large cc syringe, with a sillicone tube clamped down on the syringe, connected to ???? which has the trigger to pump to get the milk flow going and it's squirted into a container.

What is that yellow and black thing? I saw on another site someone did this with a spray bottle top, but frankly I can't see how that can get sanitary enough when cleaning.

Reese

[hoofinitnorth]

Originally Posted by hoofinitnorth

You don't really milk them with your whole hand, like you would a full-sized goat. Instead, what I found naturally works for me is to place the top of the teat (or just above the teat) between thumb and forefinger and then the lower part of the teat between forefinger and middle finger (**let me check that when I milk again tonight, LOL**). I milk in one motion but to slow it down to show other newbies what works for me (like my husband), I can do two distinct motions - squeeze off the top of the teat with the thumb and forefinger, and then squeeze with my thumb and middle finger to push the milk trapped in the teat out through the oriface.

OK, I verified the second motion (or the second part of the single motion): the thumb actually pushes the center of the teat and that not only cuts off the milk flow at the top of the teat, but also forces the milk contained within the teat out the only way it can go - the bottom of the teat. Also, if you angle your thumb appropriately, you can almost align it with the teat (parallel) and thus push almost all of the milk out so your milking motions are more efficient. Just be sure that with each milking motion you RELEASE your thumb to let more milk into the teat, else you will squeeze the teat a couple of times, getting weaker streams each time and then nothing (if you're effectively cutting off the milk supply at the top of the teat as we want). Also, to avoid pulling down on the teats, you can rest your wrists on the top of the bucket (I find a 2-quart bucket without "ears" works best and gives you a nice, flush profile with nothing to catch on the udder or get in the way) or you can rest your elbows on the milkstand. Either way, you won't pull down at all with this technique (and probably won't tire as fast either).

[Alice In TX/MO]

The yellow and black thing is a drenching gun. Used to administer worm medicine to cattle, one at a time, as you run them through the working chute.

Ask at your local feed store for a drench gun. This one is made by Durvet.

I'm going to look for my old post with more detail. Back soon!

Edited to add: Here's the link. There is the same pic as above, then one of the milker in action, then a list of parts.

my adaptation of Maggidan's Milker

[Jaclynne]

Thanks Rose! Lots of ideas in that thread. I've been hesitating about goats, since I have a couple of knuckle joints that freeze when bent. This would be perfect.

Halo

[Alice In TX/MO]

Here's a different design:
http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issu...lene_Dunn.html

[reese]

Thanks Rose, the second link is the one I stumbled upon this morning trying to figure out what your dooohickie wasLOL.

That's real cool!

Reese

[nehimama]

Thanks for all the info and links!

NeHi

[Feral Nature]

I have milked some full-sized goats with very small teats and after awhile they do enlarge. Also, with a good let down reflex it becomes easier. They will squat over that pail and it will flow right in there. Don't give up, it becomes easier

[Spinner]

I made mine using the handle from a simple spray bottle, some air hose from the fish supplies section, and some syringe cases. The syringe cases can be purchased in several sizes so it's not hard to find one the size you need. Total cost of mine was under $6.00

[hoofinitnorth]

Follow-up on hand-milking technique:
I paid a bit more attention tonight since I wasn't rushed, the husband wasn't yet home, it was still light out, and the girls were behaving for a change.

I noticed that the thumb is fully extended, not curled or bent in any way. Also, my forefinger/index finger does 90% of the work. By being positioned between the thumb and the third finger (the third finger is mostly curled up with the fourth and fifth fingers, by the way), the index finger effectively places pressure on the teat the top with the thumb and at the bottom with the combination of the space between the third finger's 2nd and 3rd knuckles and the middle or base of the thumb (depending on how long your thumbs are - I've been told mine are freakishly long and thin lol).[/B]

[nehimama]

Thanks for all the input. Lots of great info here. You all are great, and I just love this forum.

NeHi