Milking issues

[2happymamas]

we got our first goats on Tuesday and while we were initially a bit nervous, things have gotten so much better. They're really not that hard.

I am getting the hang of milking much better. It took me 30 minutes the first couple times to milk out one goat and I can now be done with her in 10. She's great, especially for a FF. The woman we bought them from did an excellent job training her to the stand.

I did not milk the 2nd FF for the first couple days, as she has a baby on her and we wanted to get a better grip on milking. I milked her for the second time today and, boy, is she something. She keeps lifting her back leg and trying (oftentimes succeeding) in planting her hoof straight into the darn pail. Also, she has been buckling her back legs and dropping her belly down onto the milking pail. It's like she's hunkering down onto the bucket. Silly, silly goat.

Any suggestions for the hoof in pail and hunkering goat? Has anyone else's goats ever hunkered down on the pail?

Even though she's a butt, I still really, really like her.

[mekasmom]

Just tie back the back leg. It will stop that. She will get better with time, and once she learns you won't have to tie her leg back any more. If she is really bad, you could completely hobble her, but tying back the one leg usually works.

[harvestmoonfarm]

Tie her back leg to the stand and put a bucket underneath her chest/belly area to keep her from trying to lie down. She'll figure out pretty quick that you're the one in charge

[LearningLife]

Congratulations on your new girls! I know exactly how you feel about trying to get one to stand up and keep those hooves out of the bucket. We have one who I swear is trying to cut out the middle man by just putting her whole udder into the pail as she lowers her rear end. DH made a wood block with a padded top that fits under her belly to keep her up. She still bends her back legs and lowers a bit, but the block keeps her from sitting all the way down. We have another one who insists that when she is done eating, she's done milking, no matter how much milk she has left in her. She starts dancing around and kicking. For her, we have velcro loops attached to the stand. These get wrapped around her legs to hold those hooves down until I can finish milking. She is learning and getting better, though. I was actually able to milk her this morning without tying her legs to the stand. I rejoice when we make baby steps!

[GoldenWood Farm]

Try leaning your head into her side right above her thigh while milking. If I throw my does off balance a bit they can't lift their leg or hunker down NEAR as easy and I don't stress them out by tying up a leg. I have sometimes had to hobble my does but generally I had great results by just throwing them a little off balance by leaning into them.

There are some behaviors I will just NOT stand for and if I know a doe knows better she will get in trouble but with your girl being a FF and having a kid on her I am not surprised she is acting like this. Generally my FF's with kids on them act more like brats versus my FF's without kids on them. But after a week or so of hand milking I start correcting (getting after them) for behavior I don't like.

The biggest thing I can tell you IMHO is do NOT let her win, if she tips the bucket over or hunkers down you just keep right on milking. If you stop then she learned that by her doing that she got you to stop (something she wanted) and it will go on that much longer the next time you try. I learned that one the hard way .

Enjoy your new girls! I know what you mean about loving your girls even when they are brats, I had one doe who never did stop lifting her leg when you milked her. For 9+yrs straight she ALWAYS lifted her one back leg, she only learned to put it straight back down again . Drove me up a wall and I ended up giving her to my mom but she always was the sweetest doe. Just an odd quirk she had...she is still in the herd and going strong at 11yrs old now but has since been retired to just a pet.

Justine