Milking a goat with very small teats?

[sawfish99]

Hobbles. We had a doe (2nd freshener) that was constantly kicking the pail. 3 days of hobbles and they were no longer required.

 

[quiltnchik]

Hobbles. We had a doe (2nd freshener) that was constantly kicking the pail. 3 days of hobbles and they were no longer required.

I also use hobbles in the form of a lead rope tied around the back legs. I've been using it for a couple of weeks and she still hasn't caught on, though doesn't fight the rope nearly as much since she realizes it doesn't get her anywhere, and it has definitely made milking time faster and more pleasant.

 

[mama24]

Thanks for your thoughts! She behaved really well today. And her teats actually seemed a little bigger. Might be my imagination, but they were three fingers length today instead of two. Lol

 

[horsymom]

I'm new to having dairy goats, so I haven't tried it, but I was advised to use a human breast pump on a small teated doe, any thoughts?

 

[eweinHiscare]

For the homemade milker we got a hand vacuum pump used for bleeding brakes in cars. It has a gauge on top so you know how much pressure you are building. The pump is the most expensive part of the milker being around $35 dollars. Then you will also need a jar with a tight fitting lid. Some small tubing and a syringe. For the syringe we had a 60cc and that was WAY to big for her small teats so we went down to a 35cc and that was perfect. You will drill 2 holes in the lid of the milking jar and put 2 lengths of tubing in to the lid of the jar. Then on 1 of the tubes you hook up the hand pump and on the other tube the syringe. And then to milk put the syringe on the teat and pump until you start to get a flow of milk. The directions we read said not to go past 15 lbs of pressure but we found for our Macy that 8 lbs is just perfect to get the milk coming in a nice stream. If we go any higher she tries to kick it off. A google search for homemade goat milkers should provide with more information if I didn't do very good job explaining!! I know it has worked wonders for us and I love it! And it's nice because the milk is sealed inside the jar you don't have to worry about getting foreign objects in the milk. Oh and just as a side note, you take the plunger out of the syringe so the syringe fits on her teat!

thanks jmead2003, this is a good description. I think I can follow it to make a milker like you did.

I read elsewhere also that good results were had by only using 6 lbs pressure , and yours by 8lbs., that is way less than the 15 lbs which I will be careful not to do!

Probably the difference in suction is because of the goat herself and also by how tight a seal the jar has and especially where the tubes go through the lid ?

You did not mention anything to seal around the tubes and must not be necessary if they fit tight because you got good results.

I tried to find fittings for that purpose, (which there arent' any to be found at the hardware store) and that had been my biggest obstacle/concern to try making one.

So, to sum up my thoughts, maybe a less perfect seal is actually ok because it would act as a "pulsator" in that the pressure would relieve briefly,

then you would squeeze the pump again to get the flow of milk again. ??

I'm thinking that would overall be more realistic like a kid nursing...pulling milk with suck, then swallowing, then pulling more ,...swallow, etc... right ?

Well jmeads' post was not that recent so if anyone else also can comment, or confirm, or correct my view on this process please do.

I will not go above the 8 lbs pressure when I do try this with my doe or sheep, others have said the teats/udder can get ruined ! So I will be careful.

I'm going to use a mason quart jar which should be good.

thanks for anyone's input !

 

[Backyardherder]

I understand this is an oldish thread, but I thought I'd ask for some advice...

Our two does kidded in the past few days. Since they only have one kid each, and since the kids seem to favor just one side of the udder, I decided to already start milking the other side, to prevent mastitis and make sure they continue making plenty of milk.

One is a first freshener and not a very patient milker, but her teats are fine to grasp (for a first-timer). The second is NOT a first freshener (she had kidded at least once, and perhaps twice before with the previous owner), but today when I tried to milk her for the first time I saw that her teats are absolutely minuscule (about as long as two fingers' width). It was hardly possible to milk her, I did it by using two fingers and my hand muscles got cramps all over.

What worries me is that since she's not a first freshener, there isn't much chance of her teats growing, right?

When my husband got her I told him that the price was ridiculously low for a healthy doe who has already proven to be fertile and a good Mama; something was bound to be wrong... and we, as newbies, did not catch on it until now (also, she was not "in milk" when we bought her - we bred her later).

What should we do? Try to sell her and be honest about this defect? Or is there any milking trick that would help us?

Another consideration is that these traits are hereditary, so any doe kids we have from this goat in the future might also have inconveniently tiny teats.

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[sawfish99]

You could buy a milking machine (a real goat milker - not a human breast pump). That will be able to milk her out. Yes, the teats are hereditary. You can always try through breeding to improve that in the offspring. It largely depends on the purpose for having her. If the purpose is family milker, I would probably slaughter and put meat in the freezer instead of taking a loss on the doe (after the baby is weaned).

 

[Backyardherder]

You could buy a milking machine (a real goat milker - not a human breast pump). That will be able to milk her out. Yes, the teats are hereditary. You can always try through breeding to improve that in the offspring. It largely depends on the purpose for having her. If the purpose is family milker, I would probably slaughter and put meat in the freezer instead of taking a loss on the doe (after the baby is weaned).

I'm afraid slaughtering is out of the question... not only for emotional reasons, but we're also Jewish and would need someone with a proper license for kosher slaughter, then there's all the processing, and we don't have freezer space. Too much hassle.

I know it's possible to try and "breed up", but I would really rather start with a decent doe to begin with. Well, this will be a lesson for us - a very low price is always for a reason.

I suppose the best option for us will be to sell her or give her away while being honest about this defect, and look for another doe.

 

[Mf628]

The trait for teat size is hereditary, but if you breed her to a buck with a history of large teats then the offspring shouldn't have that problem. I have a doe with the smallest teats, and her daughter actually has huge teats and she hasn't even freshened yet!

 

[lovinglife]

I have a doe also with tiny teats. I have milked other goats and had no problems, but this doe is something else. I have seen a design for a hand milker I am going to try. You use the syringe and tubing only you connect it to a hand pump sprayer, just a new industrial spray bottle like you would use for window cleaner....no constant pressure and you spray the milk into your container. Super excited to try this as I have been stressing over how to milk her when the kids are weaned.