# Ever had a doe you couldn't train on the stand?



## GoatJoy (Aug 9, 2010)

I'm just wondering this question because I have a doe that is really giving me a hard time. I've never had a doe this stinky about not letting me milk her. We use a hobble, a bucket to keep her from laying down, and my husband who holds her back end...and somehow this doe still manages to get her foot in the bucket and make me angry to the point where I just have made up my mind that I don't like her. :hair: I'm trying to sell her right now and have been honest with everyone who asks about her milking manners..which is why she isn't sold yet :slapfloor: Are their any more tricks I can use? She's insane! :doh:


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

I had a doe like that... They are such a pain!!! What I did, was when it was time to milk her, I got a separate bowl/bucket to milk her with, and then I just focused on getting her milked out. She kicked that bowl, she stomped it, she would sit down, she would hold her milk back... I found that it helped if I wasn't planning on keeping her milk, but instead just worked on teaching her that this 2x's daily milking was now a part of her life, so she had better get used to it! After a couple of weeks feeling like a bronc buster, it dawned on her that being milked wasn't so bad, and then I was able to start putting her milk in the same pail as the rest of the girls.


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## GoatJoy (Aug 9, 2010)

Goat Song said:


> I had a doe like that... They are such a pain!!! What I did, was when it was time to milk her, I got a separate bowl/bucket to milk her with, and then I just focused on getting her milked out. She kicked that bowl, she stomped it, she would sit down, she would hold her milk back... I found that it helped if I wasn't planning on keeping her milk, but instead just worked on teaching her that this 2x's daily milking was now a part of her life, so she had better get used to it! After a couple of weeks feeling like a bronc buster, it dawned on her that being milked wasn't so bad, and then I was able to start putting her milk in the same pail as the rest of the girls.


Yeah that sounds like my doe! It gives me hope that you were able to train her though!
I'll have to start doing that with her milk..not expecting to keep any. It's great on the mornings my husband is here to help, but when he's gone, it's just me and her head to head.
Thanks!


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

I've had some REALLY nasty milking does. With the FF's that don't know anything you usually just need to go slow and show them it's nice to be on the milking stand cause they get food and relief from a full udder. 

I've had some older does who just don't like it and thats when I get a bit nasty. when they go to lay down on my hands I grab a hoof pick or hoof trimming shears and poke them with it under their belly. I don't do it hard, just enough so they get the idea it's not comfy when you do that!


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## GoatJoy (Aug 9, 2010)

RunAround said:


> I've had some older does who just don't like it and thats when I get a bit nasty.


Yeah, mine's an older doe. I think this is her third freshening, but my first year having her. I think the owner before me didn't use her as a milker, just as a brood doe. She is lovely to look at, but she needs to pay her dues other than that lol. I NEED MILK!!


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Have you ever tried tying both legs down like this? Sometimes if you just tie the back legs together with a hobble they can still jump around. I don't put the tie on the ankle because my girls panic but this way they don't.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

I bought a FF doe last year that had never been milked and I had never milked either. Yes I know what the heck was I thinking! Anyways, It was really bad at times, I got kicked in the mouth even at one point, my husband helped hold her but of course couldn't be there at every milking so I had to figure it out. I put my foot on the milk stanchion and her belly on my knee so she didn't have a way to kick and I milked her. It was still a little rough and my back really hurt but we did it. The only funny part was after a month of having her on better feed she grew and walked right off my leg. I remember looking at her saying "now what am I going to do". I think that was when she finally settled down. It is terribly frustrating but keep at it and she will get it. Good luck!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I have dealt with FF who are just learning and it is best to be patient with them but you do not want to allow them to be persistent with bad habits. All of my goats are food driven and if they are "good" on the stand, they can continue to eat, if they act up I take away the food and continue handling their udder til they settle, then allow them their food as I finish.
Older does who just seem to want to test you and push you as far as you let them are the ones that get their rumps smacked hard and a firm, gruff "STOP" or "NO"....these girls know how to behave but seem to have those moments where they just have to be beligerant.
Keep your chin up...and be adamant but kind with her, she can sense your anger and frustration and will continue to act out.... in other words, be happy when you tell her to "STOP" and don't be afraid to smack her rump as you say it, the shock to her from that alone might work.

I have had to milk one handed for a while, holding a foot up against the does belly as I emptied one side then the other, once she realized that she couldn't kick and jump, I started to firmly place her foot on the stand telling her "DOWN" each time, this was with my FF last year, by the time I was into her 2nd month of milking 2x a day I was able to milk with both hands and was quick enough to remove the pail when she decided to start dancing before I finished.


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

I finally had to make my own set of hobbles. That helped a whole lot!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

xymenah said:


> Have you ever tried tying both legs down like this? Sometimes if you just tie the back legs together with a hobble they can still jump around. I don't put the tie on the ankle because my girls panic but this way they don't.


My girls have never panicked with it tied around the ankles, but that's the way I usually have the most luck. It seems to keep them from trying to lie down too. Just make sure you tie them tight enough to keep them from still kicking.


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