Sweet goat that is difficult to milk

PasturePassion

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I have a wonderful doe (3 actually), but this one in particular is becoming increasingly difficult to milk. This is her first lactation, and she is probably about 7 weeks in. She is very patient on the stanchion, but even with 5 kid goats and myself working at it, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get her emptied out. When she first kidded, I just made sure she was milked out in the morning, and left her with her doeling for the rest of the day. However, she was always a little hard and I had various goat kids help me out, which they were always willing to do. After a few weeks though, we noticed that her doeling wasn't nursing evenly, so made sure she was emptied out twice a day. But it is getting so difficult that no one wants to try to suckle. The kids would all rather go have hay, and no matter how I try I can get milk out of only one teat and that is painfully slow. I've been milking for years, and her teats are reasonably large. Also, my husband has been working on a milking machine that works great on the other goats, but can't get a drop out of this one. We did have a mishap with our buck, and both she and her sister were bred at about 6 months of age, but except for this one issue they are doing very well. Her udder is not hard or lumpy or hot or anything like that, and she has a wonderful personality and makes tons of milk. I just can't get it out!
 

woodsie

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Does she have small orifices? as in small holes where the milk comes from? I milked one last year for a month that had small orifices but it was hardly worth it as it just too WAAAY too long to fill up the pail. Some are just genetically made with small holes and they don't make great milk goats.

I also notice that if a doe is really engorged the kids don't want to suckle on that teat because it is hard to get the milk going...my Nubian just had a single this year and has WAAAy more milk than that baby needs and if I don't milk her dry at least twice a day the sides get too swollen that the kid doesn't suck and/or mom doesn't want her to suck as it is uncomfortable, which just compounds to problem. So much for having the kid lighten the chore list. :rolleyes:

Does she ever kicks the kids away when they try to nurse? Just wondering if she is sore from being so full? Have you tried a really warm towel and lots of massage to get the milk flowing?

Hope you find some tips to get that milk flowing!
 

PasturePassion

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How do I check if she has a small orifice? This is what I was afraid of, that she would never make a good milking goat. I was tempted to get some young kids that would be more eager to suckle.

I have tried every trick that I can think of. When the kids were young, I would let them get her started, and then try to milk, but I never got more than a cup and it was very hard. I then got the kids back and had them suckle until she was completely empty. Now I can get about 1 cup from one teat. The other teat got a large scratch on it that bothers her if I try to hand milk, but she stands happily for the kids. So I work on one side and they work on the other, though it takes at least 1/2 hour. But the kids are big enough to do without the milk, and they don't seem interested any more. It takes a while to convince them to get started, and she always seems full, even though I am careful to get her emptied out morning and evening. Maybe she would make a good surrogate mother.

Thanks for your suggestions!
 
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