I am going to have to leave town to visit my dying mother. Have 3 does in milk, 2 NDs, one with micro-teats, and a mini mancha with huge, conical, easy to milk teats.
I am quite sure I can get my daughter able to milk out the mini mancha by hand. Not so sure about the NDs. One has long teats but for whatever reason, the milk just doesn't flow as easily. She is the one who isn't letting down that well, plus her orifices are smaller. When I had my daughter try the other night it was an epic fail. The micro-teat one is also a kicker and tap dancer.
I am trying to figure out how to handle this. First of all, would a Henry Milker or an Udderly EZ milker solve this problem and if so, which one is better if anyone has an opinion?
Will those things work on itty bitty teats? And will the does be okay to be milked for like 5 milkings straight (Fri pm to Sun pm) by one of those devices?
Plan B is to leave the buckling on the tiny-teat tap dancer (hey, that has a ring to it) 24/7. he does not nurse her 100% evenly but worst case is that her production will just drop, right? He will be about 8-9 weeks by the time I leave town.
that leaves my daughter to milk the longer teated, well behaved ND and the super teat, also well behaved mini mancha, maybe one by hand, one by Henry milker?
Any advice very appreciated.
Replies
wonder if that's what I need. I had an experienced Nigerian goat milker milk my goat since I was having so much trouble (tee tiny teats) and she said she was hard to milk. ;/ a milker may be my only hope. I was also not high enough up on the teat/udder
Margaret,
Seems to be the way it works -- some people like manual, some electric; some love one brand and others hate it. :-) (Seven -- wow!)
I did go to Toys R Us and got a manual Avent on sale for $31. It works! Mine is a tap-dancing doe too, and it took a few tries. True. it wasn't any faster than hand milking (unless you can't get any milk out by hand) but it was easier. With a manual pump, you are only doing one side at a time, so it would actually take longer. If the manual one works, it seems that the electric double pump should as well --the basic design is the same. I don't know about any other brands, but if they are that inexpensive ($40-$50), it could be worth a try.
Juliana, I think this would work for your goat with the micro-teats if she will stand still.
Margaret Langley said:
I'm going to be experimenting with electric, so I'll let everyone know how that works!
Margaret Langley said:
Another thing I did, was to put some milk on the teat before I put the cup on to get a good seal. It takes some getting used to, from the doe's end... she might be holding back. I couldn't live without mine when it comes to emergency situations... (and non experienced milkers on the human end) I would give your doe some time. That's one reason why milking out a bit and getting her to let down makes a difference. Not just a few strip squirts; enough to get her milk flowing. Once she's used to the machine, it won't take that, but while she's getting used to it, that will help.
Juliana Goodwin said:
Good luck with that manual! I couldn't get them to work right on my own self and I was like a milk cow all 7 times. However electrics were the bomb! And I haven't seen the video yet (fixing to watch) but I always used inexpensive pumps that were only maybe $40 . They worked just fine and Avent is one of the most expensive. Walmart should carry one for about $40-$50!
It's too bad it didn't work. The doe in the youtube video had very small teats and the woman was using a Philips Avent electric ("twin"?) pump. Something like that can't be returned if it doesn't work out, but there is an Avent manual single pump that is much less expensive -- I saw them on Amazon for as low as $30. Around here, some local stores with baby supplies (like Babies "R" Us) carry them as well. Some people preferred the manual style because they had more suction and control.
Good luck. I know it would be one less thing to worry about if you found something that worked for you and your daughter.
Juliana Goodwin said:
We did do the first couple of squirts by hand- to clean out the funky milk. So, I think I am just going to send it back. Don't know why it didn't work.
I was just going to say, that all my does do better if I get them started with a few squirts before the milker.
You have to do a few squirts by hand with ALL milking machines, even big, expensive electric ones. AND you have to strip out by hand at the end to get the last bits of milk out. I always say that using a machine (or a small milker) is not a substitute for learning to hand milk. It's really just to help with fatigue in your hands. I'd be crying if I had to milk 14 goats by hand!
I think it was with a Henry Milker -- if not it was another vacuum-style pump, but I read somewhere that a person had luck after first getting the milk going by hand. Another person used gel to make a seal. One site said that the milk pumps faster after the jar starts to fill.
Have you tried contacting the maker?
I'm leaning toward trying a human pump. I read that the cup may ned to be replaced with a syringe to fit, but I think it all depends on the model and the size of the goat's teats.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next