DustyBoot
Loving the herd life
Dottie's kids are two and a half weeks old now, and growing fast, so last night I penned them next to their mom for the night (with feed, hay, and water) and made my first real attempt to milk a goat (I did a little milking a couple of times when one side of her udder seemed engorged, but just enough to relieve pressure and make it easier for the kids to get at it). It went about as expected for a first time. She was anxious about the kids and not especially excited about what I was trying to do. After a while, I let the kids in with us and they ended up butting her and sucking on my fingers while I was trying to milk. Which was a little distracting, but certainly got Dottie cooperating better. I gave it a reasonable go and decided to end it before we both ended up frustrated. I also figured it'd be good to leave some milk for the kids while we make the transition to sharing it. I ended up with a quart of milk. Room for improvement, sure, but I'll take it.
My co-milkers.
My co-milkers.