Milking help!

I am having problems with 2 different does. I could do different post but I will try to put them together.

1st - my milking doe, that has been milking for 5 months is now going nuts when I try to milk her. She still lets her kid eat (which is 5 months old) but when I get her up on the stand, she pushes her food off, kicks, and then finally justs sits down. I am wondering if it is time for me to dry her up?

2nd - my first freshener is not letting me milk her either. I have been getting her on the stand and gently trying just to get her used to me being "there" but she is not liking it. She kicks like crazy and hops all over the stand.

I am getting like the other lady that posted, very discouraged!!! We are not selling any of our kids and my milkers are being to difficult to milk. Any advice would be great! I love the milk and just started cheese and yogurt but now am wondering if it is all worth it.

***Just an added thing. Last week took my buck to vet and he had urinary infection (don't know the correct name) but she informed me no grain for bucks, and only grain for milkers or pregnant does, does everyone agree with this?

Replies

Tammy Lee Birrer July 5, 2011 at 12:14pm

I like this! I tried hobbles that said they were for goats. That didn't work at all. It just made her jump and kick all the more until she got them off. Thankfully, she has calmed down and I can milk by myself now. It took a full month of milking with someone holding her. But if she acts up again, I'm trying your suggestion!

Thanks, Tammy

Shepherdess said:

If Deborah's suggestions don't work you might try these. :)

I have two nails on each side of the back of my milking stand for when my girls decide to kick. I take a length of rope, put the ends together, up at the top I tie a regular knot to form a permanent loop. Then I take that loop split it open and pull the ends through to form another loop, but this loop is a slip loop. What I do then is put the slip loop around the does ankles and tie the ends firmly around the nail. Loose enough that it is not actually too tight on her ankle, but firm enough that as soon as she lifts her foot up the tiniest bit, the loop tightens and becomes uncomfortable. As soon as she puts her foot down, it loosens. This is very effective. Both of my milkers last summer I had to use this on, and they learned quickly to not kick and within weeks I was only using it on a rare occasion when something spooked them or it was raining etc.

For the one that sits down, I would put a 1 gallon bucket underneath her belly up front out of your way until she learns not to sit down. :)

I only grain my girls in milk. When I gave my pregnant girls grain they very quickly got too fat. So now the only time I grain a pregnant non milking girl is when she starts showing signs of ketosis.
Cheryl K. Smith June 18, 2011 at 12:39pm

Another suggestion: I would get a CMT kit and test for mastitis. This can also make them jumpy, although I have had the same experience as Deborah. It is good to have one on hand and check from time to time anyway, because you can get subclinical mastitis.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle June 16, 2011 at 10:27pm

For doe #1 -- If you've got a buddy for her kid, I'd probably take the kid away and see if she calms down in a few days. Some does can be temperamental about milking if they have kids on them. The last thing I'd do is dry her up, but I'm just stubborn that way. :) If you are really sick of milking her, you could just let the kid continue to nurse, but if I'm feeding a dairy goat, they better be making milk and feeding someone, whether it's me or kids. Having someone hold her hind legs can also be helpful. Rather than holding the leg down low and hanging on, it's easier if you hold above the hock where that tendon is on the back of the leg, because if you squeeze it, they don't seem to kick nearly as much.

For doe #2 -- Sounds very familiar for a first freshener! If you haven't actually started milking her, I'd get started now. Some does don't like to be touched on their udder, but they're fine with being milked. If you can have someone hold her hind leg while you milk, that would probably be easiest and least stressful for both of you. Once you get experienced, you'll be able to milk through the tap dancing, believe it or not! And once they realize you're not going to stop AND that it's not hurting them, they just concentrate on their grain and forget about you.

Don't get discouraged! We only sold three of our seven kids our first year, so it's totally normal that you won't sell a lot initially. And as for all the rest of it, practice makes perfect.

And YES, your vet is correct, wethers/bucks should not have grain because it causes urinary calculi, which are stones -- very painful and deadly. Someone just posted on Facebook yesterday that a wether she sold is dead at five months because the new owner was feeding a lot of grain in spite of the breeder's advice that he didn't need it. Yes, grain is for milkers and does in the last week or two of pregnancy. If you give it to does throughout pregnancy, they'll just have huge kids, which you don't want.