Getting used to the milking stand?

[cutie123600]

Okay so a couple of days ago we made our first and only milking stand.

My only question so far is how do you get em up there and be comfortable with it?
I mean I can't catch half of my does, and my buck just needs a hair cut.
So how do I go about doing this?

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I can catch all of my goats. And they will do anything for a treat, including jumping up on a rock or a tree stump or on a milking stand. And once in the stand, I put a little grain in the feed bin and they are happy happy as longs as there is feed. So I ususally give them a little and then when they get frustrated, I give them a little more food.

 

[cutie123600]

Okay after a ton of chasing I can catch them, but they don't like to be touched too much, I bought them from people who didn't really mess with them too much, they are doing better since I got them though.

I just don't want to be out there wrestling with them.

 

[Queen Mum]

Here's the thing about the milk stand. It can be a place where they learn:

That there is food and treats
That nice things happen

OR

That it is miserable and
Bad things happen.

If they learn that there is food and treats and
That nice things happen,

They will RUN to the milk stand.

Then eventually, you will be able to do icky things like trimming hooves and milking.

So here are some nice things that you can do with the milk stand. Always make sure they have food up there.

First time. Just feed them and give them treats and get a little brush and brush their side by the front leg and their back where they can't reach with their horns. FIRMLY. Not hard, and not soft. Hard is scarey, Soft is too tickly. Stick to those two spots. Then immediately let them go. Keep one hand on the goat at all times. DO not take it off the goat. Sudden touch is frightening. If you have your hand on them at all times they will get used to it. No sudden moves and stay in sight.

Second time repeat what you did the first time, only venture out a little more with the brushing until they fidget a little. Stay away from the tummy. Predators grab the belly and the back legs, this is why they instinctively get fidgetty when you touch them there. When you talk to them, speak quietly but not in whispers.

Keep this up for a couple weeks until you have gotten to the point where you can pretty much touch them all over without too much panic.

Then give them a hot water sponge bath, with a damp wash cloth. Not dripping wet, but not wrung out dry either. Towel them dry vigorously. Like a MOMMY cleaning off a new baby.

HEY, they now know that you are going to take care of them.

Once they get up there pretty quickly and you have gotten past the bath stage. TRIM HOOVES. Two hooves per session. Front hooves first. DON'T get carried away. Just a minor trim will do. You can do something a little more drastic later. Don't want to freak them out at this point.

Then wait a couple sessions before doing the back hooves. Insert a couple brushy sessions and treat sessions in the middle so they remember that good things happen on the milk stand.

Now do the back hooves.

A couple more brushy sessions.

You have them in your clutches...