Hi! I just joined the group a couple of weeks ago and have been learning a lot just reading over the old posts. I also got Deborah's book and can't wait to start reading it. Here is my question. We just bought a pair of ND's this past spring. A mother and her 2-month old doeling (she also had a buckling). We did not start milking her right off because we were extremely busy with our house (bought almost two years ago but have been remodeling since it needed a lot of TLC, but enough land to keep our horses and add more livestock) and I figure she had her daughter with her to keep her from getting mastitis. We started milking her about 2 couple of months after we got her, mostly because her udder was not even. I guess her daughter was taking milk from one side only. The doe was a first freshner and not very easy to deal with. She is kind of a drama queen too, and loved to kick the bucket and move all over the place. But we got some experience milking her. In the middle of the summer we added another doeling to our herd, so we decided to look for a buck. Friday of last week we drove to see some buck's in Virgina. The lady we went see has a dairy (she sells cheese and soap) and she was also reducing her herd of NG's since she is trying to also start a La Mancha heard to increase her milk production so we also bought 3 senior does. Two were still in milk and the third one had been dryed off. They were all very skittish, which I understand since they are in a new place and they don't know us. So the next day we went to milk the two does. One does like to kick a little but both of them like to just lay on the milking stand, which makes it very hard to milk them. While my daughter tries to milk them, I rub them and I put my hand just in front of their udder and rub to get them to stand up, I also tried to distract them with feed. In the beginning they would not eat a all on the milk stand. They have improved to eating, but not quite while they are being milked. Does anybody had any suggestions, or just give them more time. They seem to be less skittish with us. I try to go see them out in the field during the day and give them a treat and they are coming around, just the milking is still a challenge. We are also drying off one of the does. She had quads this year and is on the thin side right now. So we wanted to her to have a break before we bred her. Thanks for any input your might provide.
Astrud
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Thanks! I will try that when they freshen in the spring.
When the does freshen next time, it will help if you put them on the stand for all of their grain and try to milk even if the kids have taken everything. It gets them used to the idea of milking. Also helps ingrain the habit of jumping on the milk stand for grain. (pardon the pun)
Thanks so much for all the advice. The does are doing so much better. I try to go in the pasture during the day and either give them a treat or rub their faces and neck. At the beginning they can of ran away from us, but they do come up to me now. They have really gotten more comfortable with us. We have since dry off the does because we were going out of town for a few days, but we tried putting something under their bellies. One of them no longer needed it the last time she was milked and the other still did. I am hoping that she will be more relaxed next spring when we start milking her again. None of the does are on grain anymore since no one is getting milked, but we put them on the milk stand every morning with a handful of BOSS. We try to touch their udder and pet them so they get used to us and being touched. This is a wonderful place to learn, which I am taking advantage of.
I used a coffee can ^^ sometimes I got up and just making out like I was giving up - was enough for her to stand back up. ^^ Agreed - "defensive milking" - just like driving. One hand milks - the other protects the milk you got.
It took about a month on one of my goats and she never did get that cooperative - however, her FF daughter did.
Practice, patience, and persistence usually pay off eventually. Sounds like you're doing a lot of good things. I've heard of some people putting something (like a cinder block) under the doe's chest to keep her from lying down. When I have a real "kicky" doe, I usually just put my hand on her udder and don't do anything else until she stops kicking at my arm. They usually stop within a minute or less. Then I work on actually milking, usually starting with only one hand milking and one hand holding the bucket so that the doe can't kick it over. The fact that they were being milked at their previous home should definitely work in your favor. I'd expect them to calm down fairly quickly.