# How long until the calm down



## NubianLover (Sep 19, 2010)

I brought home two FF yesterday with my bucklings. Now, I know they know how to be milked and stand still on the milk stand as I watched them at the farm. However, both does and thrashing and kicking and being AWEFUL :hair: It is difficult to milk them anyways as they have small teats right now. Add in the fact they spilled 6 quarts of milk on me.... :GAAH: 

I think I got them milked out. It was really hard with them acting up. They will calm down, won't they? How long does that normally take? I have them away from my herd right now, but will add them in sometime this week. And they scream for eachother while on the stand.

Thanks.


----------



## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

I am relatively new to milking myself but i have two suggestions 

1. Don't leave all of your milk in one bucket. I don't think any of mine were ever milked, - the FF or the two older ones before i did it. They used to regularly step in or kick over the bucket. I milk one side and dump into another container. Then I don't lose everything.

2. Since they are new to you but know each other, is it possible to tie the other nearby so they can see each other while being milked? I know it is kind of enabling bad behavior, but they are probably scared and if it makes them calmer, they might be milked more easily.


----------



## NubianLover (Sep 19, 2010)

I milk into 1 bucket as my other does are so good. I will probably be using two buckets for this reason though as sticky milk is not any fun on clothes.... especially when I have two other does to milk after having it spill.

I can't tie her anywhere close.... They can see eachother across the barn so I don't think them seeing eachother is the issue. I did make them stand there for a bit after milking each one. They weren't happy about that either. They wanted back in their own pens.


----------



## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

I am having a hard time too. It has been 1.5 weeks since we started. Production is going up,but slowly. Yesterday I propped her on my leg so back feet wouldnt touch the ground and milked. It worked for a little bit. I definitely get more when my husband helps. She has doeling on her too.


----------



## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

I have one that I still have to hold one foot up sometimes. She is herd queen and still questions who is the boss. Yesterday she was a total pill and today she was a little angel, standing patiently to be milked. But i NEVER trust her not to spill milk if i let my guard down.


----------



## GoatJoy (Aug 9, 2010)

Last year one of my does was a FF and she really really aggrivated the mess out of me. She put her foot in the pail almost every time! It was very frustrating! But this year she is an angel! She doesn't kick at all but her daughter makes me want to scream! She is a FF this year and I just want to spank her little bottom because she's even worse then her mother was! :GAAH: She has spilled so much milk and i've learned NEVER to put my guard down with her because as soon as I think she's being a good girl, she steps in my pail! :hair: I love the extra bucket idea! Thanks guys! I will definately be using that soon!


----------



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

This all sounds like my Shasta. We bought her freshened last year. The lady milked her into a soda pop bottle! I thought she would be easy. WRONG!!! She kicked and thrashed and actually aimed for the bucket. We went so far as to strap her to the side of the barn. I lost five pounds wrestling her; I kid you not. Since she was the only milker I had at that time; I was persistent. I got a hobble, (after attempts at a homemade one were futile) and that helped, a lot. She scared me to death though as she nearly fell off the stand a few times. For a long time I milked her into mason jars and poured it into the bucket a little at a time.
Believe it or not, she has become my best girl. I bring her out when there are children visiting who want to milk a goat. She blessed us with triplets this year and is giving 2 gallons a day. Still..................
>>>i NEVER trust her not to spill milk if i let my guard down<<<

This still hold true for Shasta as well. Just Saturday, I was milking all four planning to separate for cream and have some for yogurt. I had gotten a little more than half a gallon out of her and was just planning to pour it into the jug when WHAM!! out of nowhere she aimed and sent the whole bucket flying. :laugh: 
I saw red!!! :veryangry: I took her grain away and told her I was ready to eat her. I put the hobble on her and milked her the rest of the way. She knew I was mad at her. I usually sing to her but I was silent.
Today she was perfect in the stand. But, I did not let my guard down this time.

Moral: yes, they do calm down. But, stay vigilent!


----------



## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

luvmyherd said:


> I saw red!!! :veryangry: I took her grain away and told her I was ready to eat her. I put the hobble on her and milked her the rest of the way. She knew I was mad at her. I usually sing to her but I was silent.quote]
> 
> :ROFL: :slapfloor:
> I'm always watching them back legs on our girls even my angels who hold like a statue.I hobble the ones I know I can't trust and slap their bottoms if they jump around.Not hard just a reminder I'm the boss and you hold still and I'm doing this wether you like it or not! They learn


----------



## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

I also have a spare bucket sealed inside a plastic bag that I keep in the barn so if someone does put a foot in the bucket I have a spare and dont have to run back to the house. Since I did that, no one has put a foot in the bucket (murphy's law in action yet again)


----------



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

My Tip is ... Patience......patience.....patience
They will get better just keep on with them and entertain their violent fits. FF are quite the handfull when it comes to milking sometimes. Some are sweet and don't move at all and others kick and scream. Use some reverse sychology on them laugh when they throw a fit. They will think you've gone insane but at least the vibes won't be all about frustration and power struggle. 

Good luck and always try to stay calm and neutral.


----------



## NubianLover (Sep 19, 2010)

I milked them last night and they actually stood fairly still. There at least wasn't any thrashing  

I am glad that I am not the only one that has issues. Thank you all for the tips :hug:


----------



## lee_hump (Mar 23, 2014)

got a bore nanny raised on a bottle she is five year old how can I brake her from horn me when I get in the lot she wants to play rought


----------



## cmcclung (Sep 18, 2013)

I second Coyote..Patience. Also, remember the headaches when next years kids are born. I do not bottle feed, but starting at 3 weeks I introduce the kids to the stand. I let them play on it and eat there. The doelings get their teats rubbed, and all the kids get the feet picked up and hooves trimmed there. I currently have a doe that is about to freshen for the first time next week. She loves the stand. I suspect there wasnt enough time spent with them when they were young. Keep at it and they will slowly become model milkers!!!


----------



## Hollowdweller (May 5, 2011)

Here is something that I have noticed.

I have found that buying a buck from a dairy tends to give you animals with really decent milk stand behavior. Not always, but most of the time. 

The very wildest and problematic milkers I have experienced generally have come from herds where the owner dam raises the kids, usually because they don't like to milk. These does like to dance, hold up their milk and just in general be problematic and suspicious due to the extremely strong maternal instinct and since the owner is not setting down at the milk stand with them twice a day and noticing this, they never get culled.

Meanwhile a goat from a large dairy has to be milked and cared for with not a lot of drama. Anybody who is a PITA on the milk stand gets shipped for meat. Do this year after year and you have a calmer strain. Additionally most of these have their kids pulled and bottle fed so there is less of a tendency to unwittingly select for an extremely strong, sometimes to the point of dysfunction maternal instinct.

Somebody put me on to this when they told me they tried to buy goats from generations of show animals because in general they were easier to handle.

I don't show, but I tried to adapt the idea for good milk stand behavior.


----------



## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

You are SO not alone in this! My FF had twins about two weeks ago and we milked a little bit when her udder was big and she was the picture of perfection.. Now two weeks later when we are starting to milk her in earnest... she is being a little devil! Kicking like crazy! It reminds me of wild cow milking at the rodeo! I got the same advice--patience, so we will keep trying and see how it goes. Good luck to you and I hope they start doing better soon!


----------



## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Old thread


----------



## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

Oh my! How did it jump from 2011 to 2014? :?


----------

