What to do with a pain in the rear milk goat?

freedomfrom4 · #1 05/01/10, 11:08 AM

How old is to old to eat

I have a 3 year old registered Alpine doe who is a complete pain in the rear. When you put her on the milk stand her antics never stop. She kicks and lays down. You should see me milking her with a bucket under her chest and her foot hobbled. Then she is mean and grumpy to everyone. She has a real nice baby and if you can get her milked she produces well. In the barn she is constantly taking out our favorite underdog outsider goat and she is always fussing at the other goats. Sheesh Everyone else is pretty even except for her. I know there are herd queens, but she is just to much to handle. And I think the herd queen from the looks of it is her sister and she is just a wanna be queen.
I really don't want to sell her to someone cause she is such a pain.
Any suggestions

farmmom · #2 05/01/10, 11:14 AM

She should be fine to eat! I've butchered goats older than than, and they were great! I appreciate people like you that don't want to sell a goat the misbehaves. It makes it so much easier on those of us that might be purchasing goats.

shiandpete.1 · #3 05/01/10, 11:16 AM

She sounds like more than a queen, sounds like a diva! I would eat her.

ozark_jewels · #4 05/01/10, 11:26 AM

How long has this gone on?? If it is more than just a short time, yes, I would eat her. If I'm going to have a goat in my barn and handle her twice a day, I want to be able to like her.

4piecesof8 · #5 05/01/10, 11:51 AM

If You Ain't Mellow. You Are Meat! This goes for bucks and does!

chamoisee · #6 05/01/10, 02:22 PM

You never can tell how a doe will perform or act in another herd. I sold a doe that was gentle and a sweetheart in my herd to Tracy, and apparently she was a pain in the neck there! She never caused me trouble here, but moving to another herd shakes up the dominance order. I have also received does that were queens in their former herd, but did not stay the queen in mine.

My experience has been that the 2nd doe in command is usually a wanna be queen and that they often cause trouble. But if you get rid of them, the next in line will often act in a similar manner. Before you get rid of her, I would look at possible causes of the behavior such as overcrowding, insufficient feeder space, routines and herd movement paths that cause conflict, etc.

For example, at one time I had my milking area set up so that the outgoing and incoming does went through the same gate. When I put one goat in, others were cramming to come in. It caused a lot of fighting and stress, which went away when I added an outgoing gate so that there was no more 2 way traffic. Also, the milking stands were set up so that other goats could stick their heads in and try to steal grain from the does being milked. This caused a lot of fussing and kicking and stress, too. If possible, there should be a solid barrier so that the doe being milked doesn't even see other does ogling her grain. Stressed animals act badly.

For the kicking, you can evaluate factors such as rings on your fingers (they can pinch the tender teat skin), milking technique (all teats are different, so what is fine for one doe may hurt another), and if she has kids nursing, where they are while she is being milked (often a doe will relax if her kids are clipped to a lead rope near her while she's being milked, and this is a great time to teach the kids to stand nicely on a lead and eat a little grain).

nehimama · #7 05/01/10, 03:56 PM

Some very good insights and information there, Helianthus. Thank you for sharing your tips with us. I can see a lot of sense in them.

The Tin Mom · #8 05/01/10, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helianthus

....For example, at one time I had my milking area set up so that the outgoing and incoming does went through the same gate. When I put one goat in, others were cramming to come in. It caused a lot of fighting and stress, which went away when I added an outgoing gate so that there was no more 2 way traffic. ....

Whoa! Lots of super ideas - I especially like this one because it solves my big problem with my herd #3 & #4 are ready to bolt the minute the gate is opened 'cause they don't want to wait their turn for the grain!

Thank-you!!!

deineria · #9 05/01/10, 07:46 PM

Sell her. She might be different in another herd.

ozark_jewels · #10 05/02/10, 03:16 PM

Its a good idea to always let a new buyer milk a goat before they decide on a buy anyway.
But if its just total bratty attitude on the milkstand for longer than one month.......I'd be eating her for the simple satisfaction of it.LOL!!

animalfarmer · #11 05/02/10, 09:41 PM

Hi Farmmom,I sent you a P.M. It may be of interest.Best of luck.