So my first freshener that rejected one of her kids, and kept the other one is giving me fits about milking.
It all started when the kid she liked enough to keep nursing got sold and went to her new home. She was over three months old when she left.
That's been about two weeks ago, and since that day, my doe, who USED to be lined up with the milking does WAITING to get on the stanchion, has to be chased down (treats, feed, and everything she loves do NOT work to entice her to the stand) to be put on the stand, and she refuses most of the time to eat while she's on it. She will lay down the entire time she's on the stand (that's getting a little bit better) and I'm at my wit's end. I can't NOT milk her, because she produces the best of all my does, and I won't risk mastitis, but she's been horrible to milk, and I hate having to trap her to milk her.
Any ideas?
Replies
My son's doe was initially very uncooperative (milking begun 3 wks. post kidding - her 3rd /& was she ever previously milked?) . For the first week we had no progress and at the start of the next week I used a very soft (thickly padded) foam-covered heavy wire to twist around a rear pastern and attach the other end to the front top of the stanchion (this brought her leg forward). Sounds awful, but she tolerated it well and could not fuss about kicking. Who knows how many hours I have sung to her by now, but that repetative singing seemed to be key to get her relaxing more every time she was on the stanchion. Life improved for both of us after a 1.5 week of this - as the day came we could take that tie off halfway through milking....and 4 days later, no need for it at all. Oh joy!
Milking at this point was still time consuming (poor let- down) despite massage and warmth applied. With time and lots of singing her let-down has improved a great deal. I heard (correct me if needed) that does who are not milked every kidding will have poor let-down/reduced flow rate(?) during milking.
Milking has gone from miserable to pleasurable! I agree with others...Hang in there with hope!
Sandra Hess
Heartland Midwifery
Fresno, Ohio
I feel your pain! With my unfriendly ones, it always feels like one step forward then two steps back. I'll make progress with them, but then the next time I have to catch them it puts me back to square one.
I hope she continues to improve and milks without the chasing!
My fingers are crossed that this one will be the same!! I really think that it's the chasing that has her spooked. I didn't want to lose production, and I didn't want her to get matitis... and so I was pretty set on milking her. Since she's not a very friendly girl in the first place, and we didn't blond over her delivery (because she dropped them in the middle of the goat pen before her due date) I feel like I need to work to keep her from getting skittish again... which doesn't work well when you are chasing them! lol Silly goats.
I so wish I could read their minds! I had a doe a year ago that did NOT want to come into the milking parlor at night. She'd stick her head in there and then RUN away as if she'd just seen a ghost or a coyote or something. And she'd run into the farthest corner of the stall. I tried going Temple Grandin and trying to figure out what had changed and why it was only scaring her at night, and I could never figure out anything. After a week or so of dragging her into the milking parlor, I decided it wasn't worth it and was just milking her in the mornings, and then one night she wanted to come in and has been fine ever since!
I think she's getting better. I sacrificed production a bit, by milking once a day, instead of twice, but for some reason, she seems willing to go to the stand in the dark, and not in the day... so I'm hoping more "good" experiences at night will help to keep her from starting to associate the stand with being chased. She's not very tame, so chasing is exactly what I DON'T want to be doing. Lucy's not eating on the stand in the day either, and if she's not eating, she's laying down. lol SUCH a vicious cycle! At least she seems to be coming around. I *was* having to chase her at night a few days ago...
Hang in there! :) Starlight did the same thing to me when her kids were sold at almost 3 months. It didn't last as long, but it was bad while it did. She was really upset! I had to pick her up to get her on the stand for days. Can't remember how long, but it was a while. She also wouldn't eat on the stand, at least until I was done milking her. I sure hope she gets over it soon!
Thanks, guys!! The part that frustrates me the most, is that I have to chase her all over the pen to catch her! I didn't milk her this morning, because she seems easier to trick into eating with the rest, and just gently grabbing her collar in the dark. So I waited until tonight to milk her, and she didn't even need tricking to go into the milking area, but then she laid the whole time. lol I don't want to give up!
That sounds like the first doe I tried to milk, Brownie. I will admit that I gave up on her after she kicked my mom so hard that she gashed her hand with her hoof. I'm going to try again with her next spring...wish me luck.
With my other doe who loved to kick and put her foot in the bucket when I first started training her, I used chin straps from horse bridals to tie down her back legs. I wrapped one end around her ankle and had the other end attached to the stand. They helped a ton with her kicking. She eventually stopped trying to kick and I was able to milk her without them. It really didn't take her long to catch on, either.
http://www.jefferspet.com/jeffers-nylon-curb-chains/camid/EQU/cp/11...
I have a doe who I haven't milked yet but she tends to lay down when I'm trying to trim her hooves and such. For her, if she does that on the stand to milk next spring, I'm going to try to putting a bucket under her chest/stomach area to block her.
I hope your doe settles down for you!
First of all, congratulations for hanging in there for two weeks already! Some does do get all bent out of shape when a kid leaves, and I've even had some who refused to let the remaining kid nurse, so don't take it personally. Some settle down within a few days, but as you've discovered, some are a little more stubborn. Two weeks is really on the long side of the norm, though, so I would expect her to calm down any day now. I know how frustrating that can be! Hugs!