Well, folks, my two youngest granddaughters were here this afternoon (4 and 11). I promised Victoria when she visited again she could milk Capri even though we wouldn't get much milk. That little stinker got 1/4 cup even though Ginger had been with her all day and had surely nursed within the previous hour (she's a little piggie). Not only that, she got plenty out of the right side which always gives me difficulty. This after I felt so good about getting 1-1/4 cup Friday morning. I need to adopt an 11-year-old because her parents won't give her up for me to adopt! With her milking all the time, Capri's production would be a full quart a day after Ginger is weaned.
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I find it funny that my right hand is my dominent, but I cannot seem to milk with it. I am better with my left. Go figure.
My goats are fairly flexible with where I milk from. Early in the season when there's just a few to do and they're on the single-goat stand I handmilk from the side, usually the right, sometimes the left, it depends where the stand is. When we switch over to machine and the multiple-goat stand then they get milked from the back, both with the machine and with the final hand-stripping. When handmilking I don't use both hands at once, but I do switch back and forth between which hand I use.
It is a bit embarrassing if not discouraging for your 11-year-old granddaughter to milk your goat better than you do (especially since I milked cows!). She only tried once before and that was before I was actually milking, just going through the motions. One thing for sure, it shows me it can happen; I just need to get the technique down. I'm doing better, with at least a third hand-milking and using the Maggiedan milker in between. This morning, it was more than half from the left side but I am having more difficulty with the right side. A friend who milks from behind suggested I do that. Capri doesn't like me reaching from behind; Megan told me to just start handling her udder from the back throughout the day until she gets used to it and doesn't mind then I will be able to milk her that way; she thinks that is the best way to milk. She milks full-sized goats but doesn't think it would be that much different for technique. Handling Capri's udder more likely will result in her not getting impatient so soon during milking and me not feeling like I should hurry which is why I use the milker as much as I do.
That brings forth the question - how do folks milk, from the side (goat's right or left?) or from the back? I guess I came into this with too much cow info because we would never have milked the cow from the back, always from the cow's right side which is how I milk Capri.
Also, do you milk with both hands or just your dominant hand? I usually use my right hand and hold the cup/pail in my left hand. I tried both hands (as with the cow) but it just wasn't working for me; let's face it, there just isn't that much room under there <g>. I also don't seem to be able to milk with my left hand at all though I try.
These are questions I should have asked early on but it's never too late. :-)
Yippee! You know we got started on all this because my 7th and youngest child (Kate) who will be 10 in October decided she wanted to milk goats when she saw an article on-line about a year and a half ago about a little girl that was only about five who had her own goat that she milked. That really got her going and instead of getting over it, she just got worse and worse until before you knew it we were all chomping at the bit to get more goats. Amazing what can grow from a little seed, with a little faith. And I just know that she is going to be a great milkmaid because her little hands are great little gentle massage rs. This just keeps getting confirmed over and over to me that these little girls are perfect little milkmaids.
It is amazing how quickly children can learn milking sometimes. My daughter took a few days to get it figured out when she was 10, but within a week, she was better than me!