I started milking my one doe over two weeks ago when her kids were 7 weeks. I've been separating them at night and milking in the morning. The first week she did fantastic. I was really pleased because she hadn't been hand milked in few years. My only trouble was as soon as she finished eating she would get fidgety. However, about a week ago she suddenly stopped standing well even when she was eating. I thought it was maybe because she was going into heat. She got a little better but this morning she was worse than before. Hobbles won't work because she hops with both back legs at the same time. She also will stand sideways on the milk stand (which is only 18 inches wide). One morning she did stand a little bit better, but then wouldn't let her milk down. She is getting really difficult to get on the stand, too. I don't believe it's my milking that's souring her and her milk looks fine in the strip cup. And she certainly appears to be feeling spry. I have been having someone help me and when she starts jumping around we move her food and when she stands still we give it back. It did seem to be helping but it sure didn't work this morning. She does seem to be the goat with attitude in the barnyard so I don't if she will keep being a stinker or not. Any ideas or solutions? It would sure be appreciated!
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Yay so glad to hear!!! Maybe she was just in a bad mood the past few days! LOL
Hurray! It workedl! I milked from the side this morning and got 3 times the milk! She gets quite a bit of grub, but I was noticing that in the evening when I don't milk she has been eating it rather leisurely, but during milking in the morning she has been absolutely scarfing it down. It seemed like the faster I milked, the faster she ate. However, this morning she ate at a much slower pace and my hands actually got tired before she finished. :) And she stood tons better! I'm not as proficient at milking from the side and I did get some on me, but since there was more in the bucket than usual I'm certainly not complaining!
I'll have to try that. It certainly couldn't hurt! :)
Janel Rickey said:
I love to play music for my goats. I have a relaxation station on Pandora, that I play off my phone. I don't know if it helps the goats, but it makes me more relaxed, and not tense when they are being naughty!
Thanks for the encouragement, Janel! :) I've been milking from behind so maybe I should try from the side and see how that works. :) Does anyone use music and does that help?
Sorry to hear you are having problems! Must be the time of the year. LOL One of my does that has always been amazing this week started jumping around knocking the milk bucket over, etc. I think what you are doing is awesome. She will learn that she only gets her grain if she behaves. It may take some time, but I would hope that she would eventually get it. Goats are intelligent and do figure things out quickly. I did have a doe last Spring that would only let me milk her from behind. She stood still and was great that way, but if I tried to milk her from the side she did the same thing as you described. Best of luck and would love to also hear others ideas on what they do for problem milkers.