training for milking stand

Tallabred · #1 06/11/08, 07:14 AM

My milking stand is built. My goats are here so today is the day!

One doe has let me milk her in the stall but the other one has never been milked and had a fit in the stall. I gave them no grain in the stall yesterday so they will be wanting grain.

Soooo how do I get started with a FF doe and a FF milker? I have only had horses so to trap there head in the stand is going against nature for me. I will get it done - I will get it done.

Is it better for them to see their pals or not? Should I block the back of the stand so that only one side is open? Any advice would be appreciated.

Alice In TX/MO · #2 06/11/08, 07:29 AM

We have the side of our stand against a wall. Open access to back and other side. They prefer to hop up from the back.

Better if they don't see their buddies.

You might want a collar and leash to help guide them the first few times.

Corn chips and raisins are good bait to teach jumping up into place on the stand.

CookingPam777 · #3 06/11/08, 07:50 AM

Also when they know there is food they will coming flying at lightspeed. My doe gets so excited she used to push me down in mud hopping up on me. She got punished of coarse. So now I will have the food in hand and as soon as I enter the gate she starts running lightspeed and flys up on the milkstand. She could really knock someone out flying like she does. And its so routine that I don't know if someone was there would she realize before she ran into them hehehe. I think once they know milkstand=food they will be okay. Also giving them food and having them stand on the milkstand for practice runs doesn't hurt either. At first I had to lift this heavy doe on the milkstand but then she started to catch on hey I get food. I don't know if all does are like this but she is a big eater so she really gets excited about it. She is now an angel if she wants down before I am done which rarely happens all I have to do is say her name or put your hand on her.

CookingPam777 · #4 06/11/08, 07:53 AM

My goats always see each other while milking. In fact her doeling hops up to and eats right along with her. My milkstand is actually broke and doesn't hold the head in so she really is an angel on the milkstand. She was given to me. She would make anyone the perfect beginner doe. Perfect pick!

Ernie · #5 06/11/08, 07:58 AM

My homemade milkstand has a place where I can secure their head. They eat from a little bin while I milk away. Of course my poor temperament doe likes to fight, so I modified the design for her to include a rack to hold one of her back feet suspended in the air.

There wasn't much training involved. Put them up there a couple of times and show them where the food is and then they're on it. Now they all jump up there whenever they get a chance to just check and see if there's any food in the bin. I'm certainly not milking my buck!

Tallabred · #6 06/12/08, 10:26 AM

As expected Claire is fine. It will become old hat for the two of us.

Hannah on the other hand will be a challenge. I got her up on the stand so that she could eat but she just kept bucking and kicking whenever my hand got close to her udder. She almost pitched the whole stand forward! I could not get a hold of a teat long enough to get a drop.

Ernie - what kind of rack did you build to keep one foot up? Do you still use it? Would you build it again?

Should I go ahead and get hobbles for her until she calms down? This was progress - I caught her, put a collar on her and got her into the stand. Any suggestions or stories?

Lada · #7 06/12/08, 12:30 PM

I bought a hobble for our doe, because she would get kicky toward the end of the milking. Once it was on, she decided to squat/sit. Yeah, no way to milk a goat who is sitting... So now I ration the feed instead of giving it to her all at once. As long as she has grain, she's happy. She was also very kicky in the beginning because I think she could sense that I had no idea what I was doing. I'd say she'll get used to the process...

Goatguy · #8 06/12/08, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lada

I bought a hobble for our doe, because she would get kicky toward the end of the milking. Once it was on, she decided to squat/sit. Yeah, no way to milk a goat who is sitting... So now I ration the feed instead of giving it to her all at once. As long as she has grain, she's happy. She was also very kicky in the beginning because I think she could sense that I had no idea what I was doing. I'd say she'll get used to the process...

When they sit or squat, just place a 5 gallon pail underneath them. Works like a charm!

Lada · #9 06/12/08, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goatguy

When they sit or squat, just place a 5 gallon pail underneath them. Works like a charm!

Ahhhhh....never thought of that.

Scrounger · #10 06/12/08, 03:13 PM

Yup. You can use the 5 gallon bucket method or build a small "belly stand" out of 2x4's if you don't have enough room for the bucket. My does will sometimes do a "mini-squat" during milking. I just take may hand and "tickle" their tummy. Works every time - they stand straight up.
Our Kinders were FF and not milked before we got them. They were nice and friendly, but didn't know what a milk stand was. We had to lift them onto the milk stand for the first 3-4 days until they realized breakfast was waiting. Now they leap up there. I open the gate and they go running to the stand. They always zip past me and look back to see what is taking so long.
At first, it took two of us to do the milking. I would have to hold their ankles (like a hobble) and my wife would milk. After a few days, I didn't need to anymore.
We also started by dumping all their grain in the pan at once. We found out that they were faster eaters then we were milkers. I made a "funnel" that lets out the food slowly so it takes them longer to eat. Works great.

http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/2008...hen-house.html

It's about 1/2 down, there are even photos......

I now use an "Udderly EZ" milker and really love it. The Does seem to like it better then hand milking, too.

rootsandwings · #11 06/12/08, 03:58 PM

I know it's too late, but maybe this will help somebody else - I have a 4 y.o. who is about to be a FF she's a bit of a handful (my kids call her the killer goat) so I knew milking was going to be interesting.

I've been getting her up on the stand 2x a day (like everybody said - once she figured out the food connection, that was easy) and washing her teats and belly as if I were going to milk. at first she kicked and jumped around like crazy but now she just step/leans away a little and does the "mini squat" I have a few more weeks, so hopefully milking will go ok.

Tallabred · #12 06/12/08, 08:23 PM

It went better tonight. Only got 8 oz out of Claire tonight but the 2 doelings tend to nurse off of her. Maybe with the storms they nursed more.

Hannah was still kicky. We made progress because she went right up into the stand and I got 3 squirts out of her. I am going to leave Hannah with the doelings tonight so they can nurse off of her and maybe increase her size. I will put Claire and Candy(1 yr old) in a separate stall and milk Claire in the morning. Still need to get to Wally world!

Ernie · #13 06/12/08, 11:54 PM

My homemade stand has nothing more than an extra leg on the back around which I loop a rope. That's all. No spectacular feat of engineering.

I put a loop around one of the doe's back feet and pull it tight so that she can barely put her hoof down. Not enough slack that she can put her weight on that foot. I tie back the foot on my side for easier milking. She's not capable of kicking at that point because the one foot is captured and the other foot is supporting her weight. She doesn't like it, but it doesn't prevent her from getting up in the stand to get her grain ration either.

In time, as she becomes more accustomed to being milked, I'll give her another chance at the more pleasurable experience of having both back feet on the ground while being milked. Her comfort while milking is second in priority to my successfully extraction of highly nutritious mammal secretions.

Tallabred · #14 06/13/08, 07:38 AM

I can rig that pretty quickly Ernie - Thanks I think that that will help alot.

I only got a 1 1/2 lbs out of Claire this morning after listening to the racket of separating them over night - WOW. I really milked her out. Yesterday I got a 1 lb. Should this increase as I milk her?

Alice In TX/MO · #15 06/13/08, 08:28 AM

Yes, after they settle into the routine, production goes up.

christie · #16 06/13/08, 09:33 PM

Hallelujah to Hobbles!!!
Got mine a week ago, LOVE them! No more feet in bucket, no more dancing around.
Fiasco farms website had the hobbles that I bought.

Goat Servant · #17 06/15/08, 01:24 AM

Hobbling or Ernies contraption sound great. Wish I knew with my first milker some 20 yrs ago...she screamed bloody murder for the first couple of weeks.
After many yrs of not having goats I have recently started milking again...She fought me the first week or two. Hubby had to hold up a rear leg. She'd try to lay down, squat and lean her weight into my head.
Its been a month now. She hasnt stepped in or kicked the bucket for a few weeks. (she will probably make me eat those words tomorrow)
Anytime I do anything with them I have to check my attitude as well. If Im in a hurry they cause trouble more than usual.
At milking time if she takes an extra 30 seconds to jump on the stand I dont have a cow.

Ernie · #18 06/15/08, 06:36 AM

Me and my milker have more or less the routine down. I put her on the stand, hobble her foot and then put down the feed. She starts eating and I sit down and get a teat in each hand. I squirt off the obligatory amounts and then move the bucket under her and start going to town. Once her milk really lets down then she'll just sort of relax and lean into my shoulder and we stay there propping each other up until done.

Maybe it's silly, but after she settled down it became an enjoyable experience. I talk to her while I milk and when I'm done I'll give her a little attention (or if I have such around) then an apple core. It's our quiet time together before the rest of the farm calls me away.

Lada · #19 06/15/08, 09:54 AM

My doe is still trying to sit and squat even with the bucket under her. It's so aggravating. I almost hate to use the hobble, because without it, she doesn't give me any trouble until her grain runs out. Then it's mostly her left back foot that she'll stamp like crazy and I end up finishing up the milking with one hand on the bucket...grrrrr! But with the hobble, the whole thing is a battle as she's trying to sit or squat, or kick even with it on, or fall over, or lean on me.....

I have my stand up against a wood fence, so maybe I will try what Ernie suggested and just tie down that one leg.

What's perplexing is that when we first got her, she milked without kicking at all (we've had her about a month). Isn't that odd? Maybe she just somewhere learned along the way that she could get away with it from me?

Sorry for the hijack.....

Tallabred · #20 06/15/08, 10:36 AM

Lada - your post is not a hijack - but rather an addition of information on what advise we need.

I did get 2.5 lbs out of Claire this morning but it was a chore. Hanna I could not even get a squirt out of! Their hoofs kept moving so much that I had to milk one handed holding a cup in my other hand. I will order hobbles but I need to figure out how to make some before I get my ordered ones.