How to milk a difficult goat?

[BYH Project Manager]

Ok, first of all, Honey is a wonderful pet goat! She’s a lap goat who gives kisses, nibbles my ears and loves attention...so, she is in no way a problem goat. BUT when I get her on the milk stand, she turns into godzilla!! I hobble her. She sits. So, now I use a dog leash, that has a cozy pice of fabric padding where it lays on her belly and use it to keep her up against the wall. But, she kicks herself straight up into the air.,so, after a bit, the leash thing loosens up and works it’s way down to her bumm. Sometimes she evens manages to get the hobbles to her ankles. I lean my head into her belly cavity...just as Chris was taught to do when milking cows. It works great on all my others. I on,y use one hand at a time and use the other to try to soother her and hold the bowl, because she kicks it, steps on it, etc. it gets sooo frustrating! Many times I end up giving up before we’re completely done. She’s still nursing her kid..,who totally needs weaned! But I’m a bad goat mom who is wayyy to soft and can’t stand to hear them cry. I need to just plain do it..separate them, and tough it out. We rotated our fencing...land is a marsh right right now and the goats were having issues. Vet said to keep them locked up through the spring. We moved the fence to the highest ground, but there’s no grazing, and it’s still pretty mucky. I don’t really want to put anybody up there right now after the scare we just had! I could lock Hunny in a stall..but wouldn’t all the crying upset the other goats and the min8 pigs at the other end of the barn? Ok, so I can’t hang Hunny from the ceiling...it’s a semi trailer, roof is fiberglass...can’t have Chriss build anything too elaborate, I’ve been overwhelming him, and he’s feeding the sick piglet every hour. So, I need you’re wisdom and creativity on what you’ve done to get this wild goat to chill out! ok, thanks everyone!! Stay safe!

Thank you for sharing your experience with us @Duckfarmerpa1, it's now featured on our homepage. Hows it going so far?

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day folks, on the subject of "tiny teats".my preference is for British Alpine or Toggenberg,although the Saanan give by far the most volume i am always "wary" of pink skin in any animal unless they are housed 100% of the time. The well bred Alps /Toggs generally speaking have really soft udders and "forward pointing " teats.I am not a fan of the An Nubs because of their udders (even though they are the "prettiest" breed).When we had Goats all those years ago Jenny built a milking stand (which we still have,and i will post a photo) using the method mentioned previously i never needed a "leg rope".I always milked one handed into a 2 litre juice container and never had to deal with a kick upsetting the milk bucket.The other thing an " old cow man "taught me was to clip all the hairs on the udder once she kidded and to use a warm water cloth and a little massage before beginning milking......T.O.R.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Well, it’s going a lot better, I’ve found that 3ven while she’s kicking, if I keep milking, not in the bowl, she calms by stroke 4, then I can use my bowl. But, if should sneeze, have an itch...ugh, it starts again! But it’s going much better! Thanks for asking!. Oh, and, yes, one teat at a time of course, because I have to hold that precious bowl!

 

[The_V's]

Jimmy and I tag team the difficult ones. He holds ankles while I milk , didn't have much luck with tying the feet . We also put our most eager girls up first to show the other ladies how its done. Little by little our new milkers are getting easier each time. Every once in a while we still have to chase one to get her up there but they do improve with every milking session. I do have a first freshener with the worlds smallest udders, i feel like im milking a cat, have to use the tips of my fingers and she gives a lot for her size so my fingers are sore by the time im done. I tell jimmy every single milking session" you gotta build me a milking machine babe' he says okay but im still milking by hand. I figure with the milking machine going straight into the jar I won't have to worry so much about bowls getting kicked over because a fly lands on the goat. lol

 

[Ridgetop]

Milking machines are available for goats. The inflations and tubing cleanup can be a pain but you must be meticulous to avoid mastitis. You get into a cleaning rhythm. Beats milking a dozen or so by hand though, and actually keeps the milk cleaner when you strain.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I bought THREE DIFFERENT milking machines....one was $500....I hated it the most!! The 6’ tubing! Forget it! I’d rather have the milk on my leg than wrestling the tubing all day long! Anyways...Chris doesn’t do the chores...well, he feeds the pigs...Chris LOVES THE PIGS!! But I do all the animal chores...he does all the building. Trust me, he’s not sitting aroun one bit! Right now, while I’m typing, he’s rotating the pigs’ pen....they made in into mud, within,.maybe 4 weeks? Anyways, the difficult goat, is behaving...I’ve got her ‘down’..when she gets antsy..I milk three strokes, by #4 I can put the bowl back! Now, my herd leader, who’s been newly separated from her kids, for the weaning, has been giving me a go! I have to stir her feed, and put a different type of feed open fron5 of her every few minutes...ugh! This just started! No temp, she’s fine, I think she’s just grumpy? So, I stir her feed and milk fast! Then I give her a treat at the end..,geez, my goats are soo spoiled!! Love them to pieces!!

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day, "soo spoiled",is the understatement of the "year"....T.O.R.

 

[Mini Horses]

This makes me wonder "what happened to @Duckfarmerpa1 " ?? She just seemed to stop at once. sad to lose members but, without a why....really a concern.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

This makes me wonder "what happened to @Duckfarmerpa1 " ?? She just seemed to stop at once. sad to lose members but, without a why....really a concern.

You can find her at C&D farming Kane PA....