I'm only milking one goat presently, my sweet 9 year old goat Bella. She's a good milker and is gentle, but not wanting to leave well enough alone......I was wondering if I could try using an old human electric brest pump on her. She seems a good goat to give it a try on, but I want to know if there is any chance of success before I look around for a cast off pump and waste my time on silly experiments. I know. only milking one goat that it will take me longer to clean the pump than I can milk by hand, but I know there are lots of moms that are finished with theirelectric pumps and it might be easier if I need to have someone else milk if I am away. So any throughts? Anyone try it?
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Jumping in to unite with my fellow "I have a breast pump in my closet with no use for it" sisters...This would be an awesome labor and cost saving idea...Now if I could just remember which closet and which box it is in.
Not yet for me Renee, although I still feel sure there must be a way to do this. If I still had one of my old pumps, I would figure it out! I am going to have to try to find me one somewhere and work oh the adaptation. When this is figured out, it is going to be wonderful, because they can be very assessable from weaning moms and you can even get a decent new one reasonable. We only need to come up with the perfect adaptation for them!
has anyone tried this? success? failure? I have a full-time job (other than my goats:) - typing 10 hrs/day. My hands start cramping and I have to stop milking before she's empty & seems I 'm gradually getting less and less & am afraid she's going to dry up on me. My daughter is weaning her little one & I thought about using her pump to give my hands a break.....
The only reason I can see that it wouldn't work is if the...part that goes on the teat??...isn't long enough. I bought a Henry Milker and all that part is is a 30 cc dosing syringe (not the kind you put a needle on). Perhaps you could find one and use that instead of the one that comes with the pump if it isn't long enough.
The other thing about the breast pumps is that some are made to use sideways, with the milk going into the bottle straight away, instead of through the lines into a bottle. That would probably not work for a goat. If you can find one where the milk goes through lines and then into bottles you can keep upright, I'm sure it would work for you! :) I can't wait to hear how it goes!
Breast pump owners with goats UNITE!! We could be onto something here ladies!!
I thought of that a long time ago but figured surely someone would have already done it and we would all know about it. Maybe I was wrong and that is a possibility. Go for it and let us know. Since I have used one myself I am sure it will need some adapting to work. I may work on this idea too.
It seems to me that the shape of the doe's udder would figure into this; I cannot imagine that it would work for Capri.
Skeptically, I purchased the Maggidan milker and have been very pleased with it. It was especially helpful to me in the beginning though within a few weeks, I stopped using it. The price is reasonable with the chance of injury to the doe in inexperienced hands remote. Personally, I would not use anything electric but that is because of my inexperience and concern I might cause injury.
http://www.maggidans.com/milker.htm
The milker is now in reserve should I need to have someone else milk my doe.
Oh Man this would be great! Please let us know if it works! I have an awesome breast pump that is sitting in my basement from four years ago. If it works for you I am going to give it a try as well! I would be so happy to find another use for it (as long as it's not me!) because a good one is so expensive.
I tried this once years ago, and it didn't work for me, but it could have been the pump I was using. It also could have been because I just stuck the pump on her teat and started trying to use it. After buying a proper milking machine, I learned that you have to get a few squirts out first to get them started! My first attempt with a milking machine was dreadful. If you try this, let us know how it goes!