# I've got dairy goat kids now what?!?!



## cgjsmith (May 26, 2010)

I receNtly got three mini Nubian doelings and a buck. I have Pygmy in a seperate fence but we don't use them for anything so no training.   So I'm not sure what I need to be doing with the new babies. I'm building a milking stand do I need to teach them how to lead?  Start them on the milking stand. I need a little help. Crystal


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## ksalvagno (May 26, 2010)

Fiasco Farm has a lot of good info. Also if you do some searches on this site, there is a lot of info.


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## Lil-patch-of-heaven (May 27, 2010)

I guess every goat may be different and I only have 2 milking does but ...

The first one I bought because she was trained to the stand. I didn't want both of us learning together. She is sweet-natured and was very patient while I got the technique down. They are very smart too and she quickly learned the whole routine here. I took advantage of that and easily trained her to lead by keeping a collar on her to move her back into the pasture. (my "milking stand" so far is just a couple of stacked pallets next to a hayring where I tie up a leash and clip it to a dog collar to let them eat while milking)

I bought her herdmate a week later to give her more company. She was a ff in milk with a kid who had never been milked. Also pretty pushy and obstinate so I wasn't looking forward to training her to the stand -- especially my setup. She kicked a lot at first and has a few other tricks (like tossing the feed bucket once she empties it) but it really wasn't that difficult to train her. Food is her passion so that's basically how I manage her in all things lol. 

I've heard people talking about getting doelings used to being handled and touched, used to being put on the stand, used to having a bucket put under them. My doelings are bottle babies and so very tame already so I've been doing a little of this. There is plenty of time though so not pushing. The one I bottlefed will let me do anything. The one I bought ready to wean is not comfortable having her belly or teats touched to the point she will stand easily for it yet, but I have (planning) a year and a half plus to train them before they should be kidding. 

If they are NOT tame yet, I'd start there. Goats really are smart though and most of them are well-motivated by food. I have one that isn't into treats and would rather have her neck patted and be allowed to lick my hands but I think in most cases food works. 

just my limited experience lol ... Hope it helps give you an idea of a starting place. .


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## RockyToggRanch (May 27, 2010)

My little doeling (bottle baby) has been watching (from over the stall side) me milk the 3 does on the stand in the barn aisle. While putting one of the does back in, my doeling sneaked out...hopped up on the stand and stuck her head through and started eating. I was amused. I closed the head thingy as best I could (she actually had her front legs through it) and rubbed her belly. So I'm letting her take her turn after the 3 does are done milking. She can nibble a bit and get a belly rub.


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## Roll farms (May 27, 2010)

What RTR just described is exactly how we train our goats to the stand...soooo much easier to get them to hop up there willingly...after they're up there, milking is the easy part.

I hate, HATE, HATE dragging a scared FF up on the stand for several days until the light bulb kicks on and they figure out how to get up there on their own...much easier to trim hooves and vacccinate them, too.


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## aggieterpkatie (May 27, 2010)

I didn't particularly train my doe to the stand.  In fact, my dad delivered it a few days after she kidded.  She was really easy to train though....the first few times she'd get her front half on, and I'd lift her back end.  Then after a day or two she'd hop right on like she'd been doing it her whole life.  

Her two kids stayed in the barn where the stand was, and they'd hop up and eat the leftover bits of feed when the doe left.


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## cmjust0 (May 27, 2010)

It's been my experience that when a goat is introduced to something that's higher than whatever they're currently standing on, they immediately want to jump up onto the higher thing just for the hell of it.

Once they're on the stanchion, all that's left to do is get their head through the catch and then NOT doing anything horrific to them the first few times..  Reason being, if their first impression of the stanchion is the place where something really scary happened, your life as a goatkeeper will be more difficult pretty much from that point forward.

So, ya...let them hop up there and just feed them a time or two with their head through the catch.  That'll be about all it takes.


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## savingdogs (May 27, 2010)

We bought two doelings and a wether last fall and are just a little ahead of you on this same project. Ours are doing great! We have spent a lot of time getting them used to being handled and having good (eating) experiences in the room we plan to use for milking. We did their hoof trimming in there as well and they did excellent, I have full confidence they will be fine.
We found training one to lead on a collar enabled us to control all three so we did not train all three to lead. One of the females is skittish now about it when we try so that is our next goal with her. We have spent a lot of time getting the females familiar with us touching them all the time. 
We erect play structures for them elevated off the ground and they adore being up high, I'm sure mine will jump right onto a stanchion. This is great advice for me though! Thanks everyone!


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## nmred (May 27, 2010)

Something that worked for us is not giving them their grain or treats anywhere besides the milking stand.  That way, they really want to get up on the stand. Until we got ours built, they were just getting it in separate tubs, and both at the same time.  After we finished the milking stand they still wanted their grain in the tubs and we had to force them onto the stand.  They would try to go around to the front and just eat it without climbing on.  We would grab them by the collar (they both have one) and lead them to the end of the stand.  The first three or four days, they would put their front feet on and S T R E T C H to reach the grain .  We would pinch/lift them by the tail (they don't really like you messing with their tails!) to get them to jump on.  Once there, they were fine.  After a couple of weeks they went on easily without any problems.  Once they were used to it we would brush them while they were up there, which they like, and try to rub their bellies and udder, which they did NOT like! I was worried about what would happen when I tried to milk them.  What I found was that after the kids were born, they didn't seem to mind us touching them there at all.  I quess because they were used to the kids doing it now.  With the doelings we are making sure that they are handled often and all over their bodies so that (hopefully) we won't have any problems at all with them.  I do suggest that you get them a collar and get them used to it.  Also, train them to a leash.  It makes it so much easier to handle them.  But really, the best thing we did was only give them their grain and treats on the stand.  Now it's where they want to be.


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## RockyToggRanch (May 27, 2010)

I'm enjoying watching mine work out their own order. I don't really care who I milk first. But they are forming a schedule of their own. So now my doeling seems to know who she follows. It's pretty cool.
When the third (and last) doe is coming in, the doeling is standing at the door to come out.


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## cgjsmith (May 31, 2010)

That's awsome stuff. I've started going in an feeding them grain and loving on them every night. I've got plans from fiasco farms just got to get it built (along with about a million other things). So I'm hoping when I get it done I can start feeding everyone on it. I will have to get a brush to brush them everyone has a collar and I bought a lead today. I have Pygmy goats as well is it possible to milk them?  Thanks crystal


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## savingdogs (Jun 1, 2010)

Yes you can milk pygmys but I hear you don't get much.

You sound much more confident! I love having BYH to refer to!


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