Taking blood from an unwilling goat.

[RoseFell Farms]

One of our does is a bit of a wild child.
She is very friendly, will get on the milkstand and leads alright, but when it comes to touching her neck or keeping still things get ugly.
Her head never stops moving and I am afraid that I will stick something that shouldn't be stuck!

I have help, but she is a full grown LaMancha and she knows. As soon as she sees us coming, she knows...

How exactly should we go about doing it? Is there some magic trick people use on fidgety goats?
We are also still new to this whole blood drawing thing, any tips or helpful guides would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[GLENMAR]

You could back her in the corner and have the other person pin her to the wall.

 

[Queen Mum]

Hold her head straight up in the air. Nose to the sky. It must be directly above her shoulders. Imagine that she has horns and they will be almost touching the back of her neck. You will know when you have it right because she will practically be paralyzed. It will not hurt her one bit.

 

[Renegade]

I do all blood pulls alone (My husband hates the sight of blood). We have a couple of untouched by human hands goats that we bought from other breeders that are very needle shy. I take all of mine and tie their heads tight to the wall with their nose pointed up and pull blood that way. There's not much they can do when their head can't move. Just don't squat down directly in front of them. Some does will strike out with front feet.

Donna