Okay, questions for my goat people

[lorihadams]

Cool, I figured I could make something myself.

One of the girls on nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com says she uses a solution with EOs for hers, I think she uses eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, lavendar oil, and grapefruit seed oil.

Sounds like it would smell interesting....

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i havent read through all the replys yet so i'm sorry if i repeat some things

i milk into an aluminum pot that has a lid. it doesnt have any little creases to clean, has a handle like a five gallon bucket, has a lid to put on when switching goats to keep out any hair or a stray goat berry bought the pot in a set of 4 sizes at a walmart or something in the cookwear aisle.

milk strainer and filters bought from tractor supply. you might have to have them ordered if goat supplies are as little and spontatiously available in your TSC store as they are at the one i go to.

my hoof clippers are garden clippers. ollies store $3
and hoof pick with the little bursh on the other side. from TSC store i think $3 as well...

milk stand dad built. its years old and getting a bit rickety. you can only clean wood thats caked with goat berries and mud so much. and he made it when my parents first got into goats. i want to build a new one with some tweeks on his design.

pitchfork and shovel. a must to clean out the barn. ha ha! i suggest the old style three prong pitchfork. much easier to use because the hay/etc. doesnt cling on to six prongs and a wide top like the newer ones.

scissors or electric/battery clippers to trim around their butt for kidding and their udders for milking.
which reminds me, i like to pet the goats belly before i bring the pot up to milk into. then all the hay bits and hair, etc. fall onto the stand and not into the milk. just a little tip.

pop bottles and lamb/pritchard nipples to bottle feed kids. orphans happen and you may not want to take kids from mom straight to pan feeding.

and if you want to read books on goats my favorite (and i think most helpful) book is "raising goats for milk and meat" by rosalee sinn.

uhhhhh... thats all got right now... i'm going over my goat stuff so i may add more later

good luck!

 

[lorihadams]

Anyone use the Henry Milker? Any thoughts?

 

[CrownofThorns]

My brother made me something similar from an electric dual pump. It only worked at all on my Nigie girl with long teats. The one that had shorter teats we only were able to get a few drops out of. Even though we used the same size syringe bases as the Henry milker we still had to use a LOT of lube in order to get an ok "seal", and since it was electric and not hand pumped we were nervous about having too good of a seal. :/ We tried it once and decided it needed some more adjustments, so it's been back on the shelf, and I don't think my brother will dust it off until he gets his own goats. I can't imagine him milking those tiny Nigie teats very well with his huge hands!

Personally I LOVE hand milking, and have no desires to have a milking machine. I can't really explain it very well with words, but there is just something special and comforting about hand milking my goats. Milking Nigies is not that hard at all once you learn how to do it properly.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Anyone use the Henry Milker? Any thoughts?

No release valve, so not a very good idea.
I would suggest buying a dual breast pump instead.
First Years MiPump possibly.

 

[Javamama]

Are you not going to try hand milking them? I may have missed if you said that. Anyway, it shouldn't take long to milk a Nigi - I got over cup in about 5 minutes from mine and that was when they were only half full. And that 5 minutes includes washing. I can't wait until the kids are gone so I can try milking a full udder

 

[CrownofThorns]

When I first started milking it took me a while. But now I can milk two girls from start to end in about 10 minutes, and that is from the minute I step outdoors, to the minute I step back in, so that includes getting a girl, getting her up on the stand (one some times takes some coaxing) getting their grain and feeding it to them, giving them a quick brush down, washing them, milking them, washing them again and then getting them down and the next one up.

 

[lorihadams]

Yeah, I plan on trying hand milking first but I think hubby is nervous. I don't have a lot of strength in my hands so I know it is going to be hard at first and I think he wants me to have an alternative if it comes to that. He also wants to have the flexibility of calling a neighbor and saying "hey, can your teenager come milk the goats cause we aren't gonna be home in time to do it."

He also wants to be able to go away for a weekend if needed without worrying about someone inexperienced milking the girls.