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  • Ruben Castellanos April 9, 2015 at 10:34pm

    Thanks, Emily. Yeah, I'm not far away from you in terms of being a newbie, but I have to acknowledge that you've made huge strides on how to deal with kickers! I'm certainly going to try that out, perhaps I might not use the cement block placed behind the stand, but overall your method seems to work. I tried today the other way proposed by Deborah (by grabbing one of the back legs of the goat while I would milk her). It takes a lot longer, but I think it works. It doesn't mean I won't try your method. I will, and hope it'll get better for me.

    Peace,

    Emily said:


    Hey Ruben,

    I'm a newbie milker but I'll share my experience in case it helps. My doe INHALED her grain and it would all be gone within 5 minutes (I had to milk her by myself as well). She also kicked a lot so my solution was to use a hobble on her. I would tie one end of a dog leash to the hobble, and the other end to a cement block behind the stand so she couldn't snatch her legs out. I also added 2 cups of alfalfa pellets to her grain to slow her down and that worked really well for me! I would start by trying to milk without the hobble and then when she would repeatedly kick me I would put the hobble on. After a few times of using the hobble, she hated it so much that she would tolerate me milking her without it! This same doe is due to kid in May so hopefully we'll have a less eventful milking season this time around! Good luck!


    Ruben Castellanos said:

    The other issue I have to point out is that the amount of grain (very well measured, BTW) is eaten by her a lot quicker than usual as it is entirely placed in to the plastic holder attached to the milk staunchion. When the milking thing is done by a 2-person team, grain is placed by one person little by little in to the holder while the other person milks her. It works and it takes us basically 15 minutes or more. But now that I'm temporarily alone, I'm wondering how much time I would have to invest in getting a little less than one quart of milk... Also, Does one have to inevitably rely on the fact that the grain given to the goat while she is being milked is the only method to help her settle down?

    Thanks,

    Rubén.


  • Emily April 6, 2015 at 7:31pm


    Hey Ruben,

    I'm a newbie milker but I'll share my experience in case it helps. My doe INHALED her grain and it would all be gone within 5 minutes (I had to milk her by myself as well). She also kicked a lot so my solution was to use a hobble on her. I would tie one end of a dog leash to the hobble, and the other end to a cement block behind the stand so she couldn't snatch her legs out. I also added 2 cups of alfalfa pellets to her grain to slow her down and that worked really well for me! I would start by trying to milk without the hobble and then when she would repeatedly kick me I would put the hobble on. After a few times of using the hobble, she hated it so much that she would tolerate me milking her without it! This same doe is due to kid in May so hopefully we'll have a less eventful milking season this time around! Good luck!


    Ruben Castellanos said:

    The other issue I have to point out is that the amount of grain (very well measured, BTW) is eaten by her a lot quicker than usual as it is entirely placed in to the plastic holder attached to the milk staunchion. When the milking thing is done by a 2-person team, grain is placed by one person little by little in to the holder while the other person milks her. It works and it takes us basically 15 minutes or more. But now that I'm temporarily alone, I'm wondering how much time I would have to invest in getting a little less than one quart of milk... Also, Does one have to inevitably rely on the fact that the grain given to the goat while she is being milked is the only method to help her settle down?

    Thanks,

    Rubén.


  • Ruben Castellanos April 6, 2015 at 3:11pm

    Hi, Deborah,

    In avoiding to create a new thread whose content could be matching my problem, I decided to perform a thorough search in the Forum field to find a solution for Canela's bad kicking habit and I found this answer pretty helpful.  This doe (Canela) has now only one milker ( me! ) as my wife is temporarily out of town and no one is around to help me milk the goat. I haven't tried your suggestion yet as it will be done tomorrow morning, but I am fearing that the goat will become kind of frantic trying to get off the goat-neck-locking bars of our milk staunchion. It does happen every time she feels that I'm touching her udder... The other issue I have to point out is that the amount of grain (very well measured, BTW) is eaten by her a lot quicker than usual as it is entirely placed in to the plastic holder attached to the milk staunchion. When the milking thing is done by a 2-person team, grain is placed by one person little by little in to the holder while the other person milks her. It works and it takes us basically 15 minutes or more. But now that I'm temporarily alone, I'm wondering how much time I would have to invest in getting a little less than one quart of milk... Also, Does one have to inevitably rely on the fact that the grain given to the goat while she is being milked is the only method to help her settle down?

    Thanks,

    Rubén.

    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    When we have a goat that kicks during milking, we just have someone hold the legs. Usually this is not necessary for more than a week. If you're by yourself, you can just hold up one leg, so the goat is standing on only three legs, which makes it difficult for them to do anything with the hind leg that's left on the milk stand. Milking takes longer, but as I said, it's a temporary thing. We've had a couple of goats that did not calm down after two weeks, which we sold to people who either did not milk or separated kids at birth and only milked. In our experience, the reason goats kick is because they're saving their milk for their babies.
  • Tammy March 4, 2010 at 12:16am
    I had never really thought about the mom saving her milk for the babies. Thanks for saying that because it made me more patient and aware. I completely understand. Tammy


    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
    When we have a goat that kicks during milking, we just have someone hold the legs. Usually this is not necessary for more than a week. If you're by yourself, you can just hold up one leg, so the goat is standing on only three legs, which makes it difficult for them to do anything with the hind leg that's left on the milk stand. Milking takes longer, but as I said, it's a temporary thing. We've had a couple of goats that did not calm down after two weeks, which we sold to people who either did not milk or separated kids at birth and only milked. In our experience, the reason goats kick is because they're saving their milk for their babies.
  • Tammy March 4, 2010 at 12:15am
    Thanks for your suggestions. She is doing better. I take my time and show a lot of patience. She likes it very quiet and consistent. Two days ago, she gave me 1 quart of milk in one milking. I was really proud of her and will continue to work with her.

    Thanks, Tammy

    Tracy Fawley said:
    Hi! I had this same issue awhile back with one of my does. I introduced her and her baby to my herd in September, I live in the mountains in Northeast Pennsylvania and winter starts here in late October. That being said, me being a newby, I was concerned about taking the baby away from mom when it was sooooo cold and the other goats were being so obnoxious to them. I waited it out, became very frustrated and once the baby was weaned she got better. She milks great now but is still a bit weird about being milked. I think this will improve as time goes by. She only likes one side milked out and then the other and always the right side first. I do anything different, she throws a fit. The key is to get to know the doe and don't get frustrated. I bought hand milker, and she will not let her milk down for it. My other doe loves it and gives generously with the milker. It think some does are just a little stubborn. If you are patient, she will probably come around. It's going to take time.
  • Tracy Fawley March 3, 2010 at 12:57pm
    Hi! I had this same issue awhile back with one of my does. I introduced her and her baby to my herd in September, I live in the mountains in Northeast Pennsylvania and winter starts here in late October. That being said, me being a newby, I was concerned about taking the baby away from mom when it was sooooo cold and the other goats were being so obnoxious to them. I waited it out, became very frustrated and once the baby was weaned she got better. She milks great now but is still a bit weird about being milked. I think this will improve as time goes by. She only likes one side milked out and then the other and always the right side first. I do anything different, she throws a fit. The key is to get to know the doe and don't get frustrated. I bought hand milker, and she will not let her milk down for it. My other doe loves it and gives generously with the milker. It think some does are just a little stubborn. If you are patient, she will probably come around. It's going to take time.
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 1, 2010 at 10:50am
    This topic was covered pretty thoroughly a couple months ago in this thread:
    http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/my-doe-is-sooooooo-...
    You might find more information and encouragement in some of the stories shared.
    Deborah
  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 1, 2010 at 10:44am
    When we have a goat that kicks during milking, we just have someone hold the legs. Usually this is not necessary for more than a week. If you're by yourself, you can just hold up one leg, so the goat is standing on only three legs, which makes it difficult for them to do anything with the hind leg that's left on the milk stand. Milking takes longer, but as I said, it's a temporary thing. We've had a couple of goats that did not calm down after two weeks, which we sold to people who either did not milk or separated kids at birth and only milked. In our experience, the reason goats kick is because they're saving their milk for their babies.
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