new to milking and have a question

[rellikmalinois]

Hello everyone.
I have toe does in milk, a Kiko named Billi and a Nigerian dwarf named Pumpernickel. Billi is great for milking she stands there and we can get it done super fast. Pumpernickel on the other hand is horrid. She kicks, flails and screams. Any tricks to making this go more smoothly? She has kicked over buckets of milk and I hate to see it wasted. Will she hopefully become better with more frequent handling? She is new to me and only been here about a week.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

I feel your pain. Yes, she will get better. It might take a few more weeks of trying and you might even see if someone might assist you to keep her calm and standing still. When training a new milker, it helps to keep one hand on your bucket to move it quickly out of the way of a foot. I had a goat who liked to sit down when I tried to milk her and boy was she a brat. But she now lets me move her legs where I want them and stands pretty patiently. Hang in there.

 

[lovinglife]

With my first time milkers I hold a pint canning jar up close and milk into that, then dump that into a jar that is not in the danger zone!! Worked great now they are all easy milkers.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I use a plastic (only because I don't want it broken) 3 cup measuring cup. It has a handle that I hold to maneuver the cup close to the teat and quickly away from errant hooves trying to knock it to the floor. I then empty it onto a pitcher that sits on top of a cabinet, out of reach of hungry cats and tap dancing goat feet. My worst one last year for kicking and twisting like the world was ending , is very calm this year, mostly well behaved in fact. A little tap dancing at the end of the session, but good. My next worst, liked to sit in the cup, this year also much better. The last one, was actually better last year. She seems to prefer practicing dance moves the whole time. But this one was bumped from the queen position about 4 months ago ( I accidentally made a handling mistake) so I think that might be why she is more nervous now.

I recommend just doing it again and again. Eventually you will reach an acceptable level of milkability that hopefully will just improve from there.

 

[verkagj]

Try leaning into her with your head. I had one that sat down and I never thought we'd get over that. My husband had to hold her by her tail after we tried using a bucket under her. She still would crouch down and I couldn't get my hand in to milk her. Now she is fine and stands perfectly. She's the one I have right now with a nasty spider bite on her udder. She lets me do whatever I need to do.

I also would take her food bowl away when she sat down. As soon as she stood up, I put it back. She was rewarded for right behavior with banana slices or raisins.

Just stay calm. Some milk may get spilled. Just make sure you are the boss and she does not get her way.