No way am I handmilking this goat!

[Creamers]

Until tonight I've only hand milked full size dairy does. . .

We are pulling 2 Nigi kids to get them onto the bottle because their
buyers want them early - which is no problem. . . never have an issue getting kids on a bottle. . .

But that puts me in the situation of milking the dam . . .

We have a Nigi herd, but this is the first doe to kid. . .

She has a very nice udder and good sized teats for her size. . .

BUT WOW!

How do you do it? The height alone makes it hard, even on an adjustable stand - the teat size, while large for her size, is still impossible!!!

I am going to have to invest in a machine milker if we plan to milk these little suckers, which we do!



I'll post an udder shot tomorrow.

For now, with hands cramping, goodnight - ha ha!

On the upside, this doe is a grass/browse only doe - she keeps such heavy condition, we've given no grain through pregnancy and none during the
5 weeks since kidding.

With no grain at all, she gave 1 lb just this first milking, which for a grass only, FF Nigi doe seems very good!

_____________________________

ADDED LATER:

Here is Atwood Acres VooDoo -



about 6 hours in milk -

[victory]

Don't give up!! I hand milk my Nigerians, not only do I have HUGE hands, I have carpel tunnel , so instead of milking with two hands, I just use one hand, and switch back and forth...I really never thought I could hand milk nigerians, but lo and behold...it is happening...I would think if you give her some good quality alfalfa, and a bit o grain a day, her production will go through the roof!!

Can't wait to see your picture of her teats!!

[Zanzabeez ND]

Hi Creamers,

Congrats on your new kids. Cute doe too!

I milk my nigerians by hand and all but one are FF this year. I sit on the left side of the doe facing her side and milk one handed with my right hand since my left hand has NO coordination... Left holds the glass jar. I find it most effective to reach between the back legs to grasp the teat. I do the circle the base of the teat with thumb and index finger thing and push my hand up against the udder at the same time. That gives me a better grip on those FF teats and bumping up against the udder gives a nice quick fill to the teat as well. Since you are used to milking the full sized girls you will probably have to train the ring and pinky fingers to hold themselves out of the way. You can also milk into a bucket easily this way by milking the near teat by reaching in front of the leg and the far teat by reaching through from the back.

Best of luck and if you try it please do let me know if it is easier to milk your doe that way. :-)

Tracy
www.zanzabeeznigerians.weebly.com

[Ranger]

The first time that I milked my friends Nigies I thought my hands would fall off!! It was like milking a mouse!! lol Still kind of feels that way, but you do get used to it. I use my thumb and forefinger. Good luck, and those babies are dolls.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Udderly EZ Milker. I hook the pulsating vacuum hose from the Surge milker to the tube on the side of the extractor tube of the EZ Milker. Best of both worlds.

[LoneStrChic23]

LOL......This is one of the reasons I passed the mini's on to my mom. Though my mini has become pretty easy to milk now, its just slower & there is no room for me to milk two handed.

I used an Udderly EZ in the begining & it helped...then I went to hand milking. I milk with my thumb & first finger & I put my thumb higher up than I would milking my big girl. Haven't a clue how to describe it other than that, but I figured it out. Thankfully my mini lets down easily & has great orifices!

Good luck!

[Cannon_Farms]

No, its not hand milking, its finger milking, I used my index and thumb and kinda rolled the teat between them, this is what made them easier for me because I didnt have to use my whole hand.

[mpete]

I used two fingers & a thumb... similar to the other posts

[Rechellef]

Originally Posted by Cannon_Farms

No, its not hand milking, its finger milking, I used my index and thumb and kinda rolled the teat between them, this is what made them easier for me because I didnt have to use my whole hand.

My FF had teats like this, and I had to learn said method on her teats as well. She milked down nicely, but it took about 2 weeks to get used to her micro teats and there was a lot of missing the jar and milk down my arm in the beginning. The other alternative is the Udderly EZ with the Nigi attachment - it's much cheaper than a machine.

[Creamers]

Now her teats aren't so small I need to use fingers - I can use most of my hands. . . but she is so short - and then when added to the fact I'm used to milking gals with teats like this - which are a dream -

I'm wondering about this: http://www.henrymilker.com/categories/Main-Products/


Anyone try it verses the udderly EZ milker? I hate to put that much $ into something when I could use it to purchase a machine - do I need a special attachment for a machine? I'm assuming yes.

Now that she is on the stand - she will get grain and alfalfa pellets. I wouldn't have allowed her long term into lactation without it.

[DamnearaFarm]

Originally Posted by Rechellef

My FF had teats like this, and I had to learn said method on her teats as well. She milked down nicely, but it took about 2 weeks to get used to her micro teats and there was a lot of missing the jar and milk down my arm in the beginning. The other alternative is the Udderly EZ with the Nigi attachment - it's much cheaper than a machine.

I use the two fingers and thumb method on her now, keeping my ring and pinky fingers back out of the way. Reaching between her back legs for the right teat and under her belly for the left.

[jordan]

I had no luck with the EZ Milker and went back to milking by hand. Others explained how already, and you DO get used to doing it! I found that a 2 quart metal pet bowl fits nicely under the ND belly while still leaving room for my hands!
You can do it Creamers!
Lois

[chewie]

I have a henry milker and think it did pretty good to get my going with my FF obie. she was tiny teated and altho I now can milk her fine. the henry is not faster than doing it myself by hand now however, but its nice to have something like that on hand.

[julieq]

DH, who has good sized hands, milks our FF ND's just fine. But we've chosen does over the years with decent sized teats. Sometimes with the FF does the udder swells a bit for the first couple of days, but it gets easier after that.

When we have more than one doe in milk we do use a machine though.

[Cannon_Farms]

I first had an alpine cross milk goat for my first milker then the Nigerians. I used my stand made for the large goat however I used a mini pallet under the nigerian to make it more comfortable.
I guess you can understand why now I milked while sitting on the concrete and not while on the stand, resting my elbows on my knees.

[Creamers]

added photos above

[Cannon_Farms]

Id love those where I milking them, they are about perfect for my preferenec in milking the Nigerians. I think you just need to find your groove in it and youll be fine, it took my husband a while, it went fine with me but I have small hands and wasnt exactly an experienced milker at the time.. As some one else said maybe try milking one side at a time while holding the jar with the other..

[Creamers]

She is a devil on the stand - lol - once she learns the deal - I think I'll be able to manage -

[victory]

Not bad sized teats at all!
I too used the hand milker when i first got started..
made the micro milking transition much easier..

[Creamers]

No, the teat size is good, I think, for a FF Nigi - but shew - I'm used to super easy to milk Nubian teats! ha ha