My observations on milking a goat.....

[miss_thenorth]

First of all, I love it. last year we milked sheep, and while I didn;'t have milk breed sheep, we got enough milk for drinking and coffee. And it was delish.

But goat milk, i must say is wonderful. (not as rich as sheeps milk, but the quantity more than makes up for it.) I'm up to 2 1/2 litres a day.

But the lessons I have learned from my beloved Caprice, who is a kicky milker are:

1. Hobbles are an absolute must. So is a milking stand. And, so are bungee cords to hook the hobbles to the milking stand, for when the goat decides to do endos.

2. Two milk pails are absolutely essential. One day I got all full of myself, basing the previous mornings milking with no kicking. So i just used one bucket. Yep, her foot went into the bucket. At least the dogs and cats enjoyed that milk. So now, two buckets are mandatory--no exceptions. For the first part of the milking, she is fine, but once she starts emptying, no matter how much yummy treats are in front of her, expect her to kick. That is when you switch buckets, - so you don't end up with a foot in all your hard work.

3. Apples. When she decides to get her panties in a bunch, give her apple slices to calm her down. don't just put them in her feed bucket, you need to hand feed them. I think it distracts her from wanting to do gymnastics. Singing also works, especially You Are My Sunshine.

4.Once you think she is empty, wait another coupla minutes. (while feeding her apple slices) She'll give you a few more good squirts.

5. Call her queen. (or your highness). Because she really beleives she is a queen, and will milk out better if you know your position. You are her servant. Get used to it.

6. I forgot one. Do not make the teat wash cold, it has to be the right temperature. If it is too cold, expect kicking right away.

 

[savingdogs]

I love milking too, but my goats are not anything like that! It makes me crack up.

Mine have never once tried to kick or stepped in the bucket (I'm knocking on everything wood around here) and they really are pretty sweet about it. I realized the other day that I am in control because they LIKE to be milked.

Mine will not eat apples at all, they don't like any kind of fruit whatsoever except raisins. I guess goats are individuals!

 

[lorihadams]

I have learned from mine that milking into a wide mouth quart jar saves a lot of wasted milk

I milk with one hand and hold the jar with the other. Then when it gets full you can pour it into a bucket that is sitting AWAY FROM THE GOAT.

I have found that animal crackers also work wonders.

I also keep a flake of hay close by in case she finishes eating her feed before my cramping hands can finish milking her out.

I also have found that massaging the udder or bumping the udder after I have gotten all that I can get out of her will give me even more milk.

Also, banishing the kids from the milking area is a must....Aliana kicks if she even hears them and it even seems she holds back her milk some.

Fun stuff isn't it???

 

[freemotion]

It gets better, I promise! Maybe the next lactation...if you start right from hour one, you become her kid.

I agree with the jar technique...maybe instead of two buckets, you might try a bucket and a jar, and switch to the jar towards the end.

Now that I'm milking three (four soon!) I bring out a stainless steel stock pot with a lid to dump milk into. It then goes right into the dishwasher. I have two pots that basically go from the dishwasher to the milking stand and back into the dishwasher, never quite making it back into the cupboard anymore!

 

[miss_thenorth]

two buckets seem to work well. Same idea with using a mason jar, we sould squeeze some and put it in the other bucket. I can squeeze both sides at the same time, so a mason jar wouldn't work for me. And I must admit, she has gotten alot better than the first two days that we had her. that's why I got a little cocky and didn't use two bickets that one day--the day she put her foot in the bucket. As discouraged as I was, it was kinda comical. thinking i had it mastered and she knew who was boss (ahem!) because she didn't kick in the morniing, I didn't use the bungee straps in the evening. she started kicking and did an endo (handstand for those of you who don't have a son and hubby who do "endos" on their quads), I saw it coming, pulled the bucket away, and there she goes, up on her two front legs, did a little twist and it was a perfect placement in the bucket--full of milk. She got an A for her performance, I got an F.

She is getting alot better. And i do figure it is becasue we are new to her.

also here are some comparisons from milking sheep to goats.

goat--you get sooo much more milk (mind you, I didn;'t have milk sheep.)
you can walk a goat easily out of the barn, into the shop (where we keep the milking stand), and she prances like a queen for the whole walk. sheep, it was a struggle getting them to walk in a straight line.

sheep stomped repeatedly, it didn't get much better during their whole lactation. It was definitely a two person job, always. But they didn't do endos.

sheep milk tastes better--richer, creamier, but didn't give alot of milk.

goat--lets you know when she wants to be milked, and lets you know if you are bit late.

Sheep, you need a lasso to catch them. (mine anyways)

My one ewe, Duchess, I thought had nice teats, and I guess they were large for a ewe, but my hands would get cramped form squeezing so often, which is why we bought an EZ milker. Even dd's hands got sore and wshe doesn't have arthritis.

Caprice's teats are huge, and one squeeze will produce a steady stream of milk for a long time, so less squeeziing. and after you squeeze and empty it, it fills up huge right away. "with the ewes, I never knew if I completely emptied the bag,-- with caprice, you know when she is done. Maybe that is why we didn;t get as much milk from th ewes, we didn't drain them, so therefore they produced less.


Caprice is a keeper. My sil has a buck who I plan on breeding her to when she's ready. Then I will be milking a cow and a goat. and then I will share my exploits with Annabelle, the dexter.

Caprice is very affectionate, I know she will come around

 

[Javamama]

You are doing great!

My goats do not allow singing

 

[lorihadams]

I want a dexter to milk some kinda bad. I would love to have one to milk and butcher the calf for meat. I'm jealous.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I am excited to get her bred this year, ooohh the butter and cheese

We've already dicided that we will breed Caprice too, the original plan was to jsut milk her out for this year,a nd then sell her once we got th cow's milk, but I think she is gonna be a keeper, kicky milker or not.

 

[lorihadams]

I have a second goat to breed this year, when are you going to dry Caprice off to re-breed her? I was thinking October and breed Aliana in November for a late March/early April kidding. I just know I'll hate having to buy milk again.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I haven't done the research on that yet, but I'm probably thinking along those same lines. But I won't have cow's milk until later. Annabelle will be old enough to breed july/august, and they are pregnant for 9 months.