How do I catch a skittish doe for milking?

[rhoda_bruce]

My poor doe needing my assistance day before yesterday to deliver a stillbirth and I have been milking her since yesterday. I have a milk vaccum, on order (which I might replace with a pump), but I'm not a spring chicken and can't run around the goat pen and risk my life and orthopedic safety with the cypress knees. We've had to outsmart her and be nice and wash her up and milk her, while trying to win her over.
She is fine once we have her and consents to what we want, but its to get her. Her teats look pretty engorged, to the point that seems like she'd want to let me milk her, but we only just starting.
Appreciate any advice that might make catching her easier. Don't really want to tramatize her more than has already happened.

 

[mrscoyote]

Bribery is what works for us. Our girl thinks with her stomach so a few of her favorite branches or the feed bucket win her over every time.

 

[Beekissed]

My poor doe needing my assistance day before yesterday to deliver a stillbirth and I have been milking her since yesterday. I have a milk vaccum, on order (which I might replace with a pump), but I'm not a spring chicken and can't run around the goat pen and risk my life and orthopedic safety with the cypress knees. We've had to outsmart her and be nice and wash her up and milk her, while trying to win her over.
She is fine once we have her and consents to what we want, but its to get her. Her teats look pretty engorged, to the point that seems like she'd want to let me milk her, but we only just starting.
Appreciate any advice that might make catching her easier. Don't really want to tramatize her more than has already happened.

Sweet feed...that's all. Just food. Place it in the feeder on your milking station and don't let her have it until she is standing where she needs to be with her head in that stanchion.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Thanx. I was working on finishing my barn and goat stalls, but never finished, so I've been putting her up on a wooden spool, while one of my kids holds her and lets her eat.....talking calmly to her.
I know I've got a lot of work to do. I put her food up high and gave her about 2 hours to calm down. I'll go in with some ragweed and see if I can get her. Can't find my cell phone. Figured if I could get her, I'd text my kids to come help.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Okay, nothing we tried worked, so I'm about to leave for work and hoping by the morning that I can stay awoke to milk and that she is desparate enough to allow me to catch her or better still, just jumps up on the spool and lets me milk, without restraints. Seems like once I'm at it, she doesn't mind.

 

[Beekissed]

The next time you have her caught, why not put a halter on her and let her drag a long lead...even attach it to a log, tire or something similar? That way, even if you can't get close enough to catch, you can merely step on the line to halt her flight.

 

[pinkfox]

raisins seem to work very well at urning askitish goat into a pocket picker...hatshow I tamed Daizy down, she was terrified when she got here,i put a dog harness on her, clipped a line to that and put her o a tieout stake (in a securely fenced area) and whent out every few hours with a hand full of raisins...he leash was primarily to ensure I could reel her in if I needed to (and a harness so there was no risk of he choking herself or breking her neck should she panic) once she realized what raisins tasted like though she became VERY willing to come to me be touched nd petted ect as long as raisins were involved. all mine love them.

 

[heatherlynnky]

We kept a halter on ours. My husband would hold and I would milk for the first week. She was a first timer. A bucket of feed with a nice pool of molassas on it and she was putty in my hands. She only got fed when we milked morning and night so she was wicked ready for food. We also confined her for the first week in a smaller area. Just a bit of fence stretched real fast.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I can try Bees suggestion, but time is scarse right now, cuz I'm going in for another night shift....that is if I catch her. I don't really have a small area set up to put her. About to go out and hoping she is desparate.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well, she was desparate.....for food and to deflate. DS caught her and held her, while I milked. I"m determined to clean up my breast pump and use it on her tomorrow. She has weird teats. Its like there is a partial teat connected to each milking teat. They drip a bit, but don't seem to be filled, like the rear ones. I can't get my whole hand around them, because my hands are large, and she is small, so the only way to milk her is to start high and pull the milk downward, kinda like a cow, and I know I"m not supposed to do it like that, so hoping if I use the pump, I won't irritate her, like I might do with my fingers.
Barn is only mostly finished, but not set up for the goats, but I think I will show DH and DS the pics I have of goat stanctions, so I can at least have a milking stand, so I don't need someone constantly restraining her.
Well, I have the most milk from a single milking now (well, yeah, she was stockpiled) and the poor animal is walking around with slightly loose teats rather than balloons, so hopefully she rests good tonight.
I"m off tomorrow, thank God!!!