Can I cry over spilt milk?

[Squeaky McMurdo]

If you have been reading my Squeee thread you know how much trouble I have been having with Heather. I wasn't even getting any milk from her because she jumps, rolls, sits, lays down, and kicks.

Well today was a small victory. She still jumped, rolled, sat, laid down and kicked but I somehow managed to get a little more than 8 oz of milk out of one teat by wedging her against the wall, jamming my head into her flank, and holding her leg up over my shoulder (I wonder if any of the neighbors saw me?!) And then she did a ninja-goat jump and spin maneuver and knocked all but 3 oz all over me and scraped my knuckles while I untied her from her predicament.

I triumphantly marched into the bedroom and told my husband he could have had fresh milk today too if he would build me a stand and then I drank what I got before anyone else could. It still would have been awesome to show him the 8 oz

[Cannon_Farms]

often with does who raised there kids they perceive you as stealing from their kids they are making for their kid and very much treat you like they would any goat kid trying to steal her kids milk.
if the kid is anywhere around all i can say is i wish you the best and now you know why we pull kids at birth
you can use hobbles but doesnt do much for establishing a good relationship with her,

[Hollowdweller]

Very true on the kid nursing thing.

Also I always found that when I let the kids nurse and finally took them away or sold them there was always a steeper drop in milk production than on a doe who does not raise her kids.

[Dreamgoat Annie]

Hang in there. When Jadzia was a first freshener we had a rodeo every day (I milked in the morning, then her kids were with her the rest of the day)--and she was on a milking stand! After about a week of that she apparently figured, "Oh well" and she stopped fighting altogether. She turned out to be a dream to milk for the rest of her lactation. May be the same with Heather.

BTW, are you milking into a small, hand-held container and dumping the milk into a larger container every few ounces? That's the only way I salvaged any milk from Jadzia until she made her complete turnaround.

Sue

[Backfourty,MI.]

Hang in there & keep it up. When you get a milk stand it will be a lot better. I just started milking this past spring & since none of my girls had been trained to the milkstand it was a little of a rodeo too. It didn't take too long for them to settle down though but they also already knew me.
Heather is just getting to know you & new to being milked also. Give her a little time.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Pholia Farm Milk and Milking

This is a link for a milk stand made from PVC pipe & no power tools needed. You have to scroll down quite a ways when you get the link up.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I love my husband so much! He built a milk stand for me in the garage when I thought he was butchering a deer. We christened it by trimming their hooves. Lily the baby fell asleep on his lap. ♥ We don't have anywhere to buy hoof trimmers nearby so he did it with a sharp knife. I think he found it therapeutic.

He doesn't want to call her Heather so maybe we'll just stick with her original name: Cocoa. It's still up for debate.

[mygoat]

Originally Posted by Squeaky McMurdo

Can I cry over spilt milk?

Anybody who has raised dairy goats ernestly probably has. Multiple times.

The best way I've found to break them to the stand is to start feeding them in the stand a month before they're due. Pretend to perform the entire milking procedure on their developing udders every day. I rub the udder as though I'm washing, rub the teat ends lightly, then sit down and 'milk'. Then, I 'dip' their teats from behind using a container and let 'em down. They can kick and dance, just keep doing it. IF they get really bad, I holler "NO!" and give 'em a slap on the rump. They figure it out pretty quick. Thus far I've broken in several FF and never has any of them made a 'fuss' at first milking. They still have to get the hang of the 'real' procedure (kicking when I use REAL teat dip is common, and some lift their legs to 'help' me access the udder... Some girls do step in the bucket here and there there first year, but It is a far cry from a rodeo that some experience with FF's. )

[CaliannG]

Some one here has, or has had, a sig line that read "Life is like a bucket of milk: Sometimes it's sweet, and sometimes there is a hoof in it." Or something fairly similar.

Wait until she is all broke to the milkstand, she is relaxed, you are relaxed, and you are just sitting there, milking away in perfect harmony, thinking of making cajeta with what you are getting...when suddenly, she goes to scratch at a fly that is tickling her side and her hoof comes down right in the middle of the bucket.

This shall pass, I promise you. Did you look up Shibari on YouTube? I swear that my older girls tell the young, pregnant does, "Now, you want to behave on the milkstand. Don't fight. They are really easy to please, but if you fight....you know what they used to do to us? TIE our FEET to the milkstand! You don't want that happening to you!"

The young does go, "You're joking, you are just trying to scare us!"

The other older doe just nods her head and says, "Mmmm-hmmmm. I learned pretty quick not to jump and fight. They will tie your feet to the milkstand. So, you better behave."

I am convinced that is why my young does seem to be born to the milkstand.

Well, that, and they learn early on that there is food up there.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I apparently am no good at shibari. Just when I thought I had her foot tied she would slip right out. So I settled with tying one in two places and holding the other in the air.

She did behave MUCH better with the stand. It was still a fight but a couple times toward the end I was able to put her leg down and hold onto the jar. Her doeling had her all nursed out this evening so I didn't get much, but it was progress. I'm going to borrow another large dog crate to separate them at night so hopefully I can at least get a jar full in the mornings. Tonight I fashioned a goat bra to keep Lily from nursing. We'll see if that works.

I'm going to take some clippers to her udder tomorrow so I don't get so much hair in my strainer. :P

[Backfourty,MI.]

What a sweet hubby you have & such a Great surprise building you a milkstand on the sly, that's as good as Christmas!

When I 1st started milking a couple of our does' that wouldn't cooperate & wanted to kick dh held their back legs while I milked them out. It only took a few times of him doing that & usually after the first few minutes they would calm down.

[ani's ark]

Oh I relate Squeaky! I brought my in-milk doe home, proud as punch after a practise run on her old owners milkstand. The next week was spent 'bullriding' and goat bondage, at one point I recall sobbing brokenly because during a bucking session she'd knocked me flat on my bum, upturning the bowl of hard-won milk on my lap, kicked me in the forehead and then made kaka in the milking bowl all in one smooth motion. I laugh now, but it was so frustrating!
Dont worry, you will get there and at some point it will 'click' for her and you will suddenly have a mild mannered doe on your hands gushing sweet milk for you. Do you feed her grain on your lovely new milkstand? It keeps my girl occupied while I 'rob' her and means she runs there and leaps up as soon as I let her into the yard. Good luck!

[jcatblum]

How did milking go today?

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Much better! The baby hat with strings gone goat bra worked.

She still kicked (and broke) my milk jar despite her back legs being tied. Going to see if Hubby will add some big eye hooks because I think the legs of the milkstand are too far back to get a solid tie.

I ended up looping a rope underneath the stand and tying her feet down that way. (this was after the jar breaking) She cooperated except she would sit down on me, but I ended up filling a jam jar.

[jcatblum]

Glad today was better.
Wonder if it would be a good idea to video record attempting milking sessions & watch them after. Like the way athletes watch their games after. Help you fine tune your approach & anticipate her actions. Goat wrestling is an athletic event after all.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Originally Posted by jcatblum

Glad today was better.
Wonder if it would be a good idea to video record attempting milking sessions & watch them after. Like the way athletes watch their games after. Help you fine tune your approach & anticipate her actions. Goat wrestling is an athletic event after all.

I wonder if that's how our local Olympian Rulon Gardener got his start. His family are dairy farmers after all.

Yah...record a video...post it here...riiiiiiiiiight. You just want to laugh at me.

[mrs.H]

Originally Posted by Squeaky McMurdo

Much better! The baby hat with strings gone goat bra worked.

She still kicked (and broke) my milk jar despite her back legs being tied. Going to see if Hubby will add some big eye hooks because I think the legs of the milkstand are too far back to get a solid tie.

I ended up looping a rope underneath the stand and tying her feet down that way. (this was after the jar breaking) She cooperated except she would sit down on me, but I ended up filling a jam jar.

I still have to tie Penny's legs after 2 years. She is a dancer! I will take pic's of her tonight and post them. I think you have to much slack in you line. I actually use one of my husbands clamps to secure the tie-down to the milk stand.

[gabbyraja]

I was wondering what the large "handles" on the outside of the milkstand I'm buying were for! Now I totally get it... Wish me better luck next spring. I was thinking since they were already used to the stand it would probably be easy enough... Sounds like not so much.

[CaliannG]

gabbyraja, if you will not be milking until after your does have kidded, you have the PERFECT opportunity to make milking REALLY easy on yourself:

Be there for the kidding, slather your arms, or whatever is handy, with birth goo, and let the doe lick it off of you. She will consider you one of her "kids" and will not think you are "stealing" her milk from her.

[gabbyraja]

Originally Posted by CaliannG

gabbyraja, if you will not be milking until after your does have kidded, you have the PERFECT opportunity to make milking REALLY easy on yourself:

Be there for the kidding, slather your arms, or whatever is handy, with birth goo, and let the doe lick it off of you. She will consider you one of her "kids" and will not think you are "stealing" her milk from her.

That is freaking genius. I'm totally doing that.