# Goat won't get on milk stand :(



## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Willow REALLY hates being milked, poor girl. She kicks and complains, knocks the feed out of the feeder and protests much of the time I'm milking her. She used to get on the milk stand for the grain I would give her, but now she won't get on. I've taken to leashing her and leading her there, but once I get her in there, she won't eat. I'm not sure whether doing what I'm doing is helping or hurting. Advice?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

My doe does it, balks, won't eat, screams, squats, kicks, etc. I went cold turkey. I lift her into the stand, lock her in, tie up her legs and make sure food is available to her. She's getting better.


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> My doe does it, balks, won't eat, screams, squats, kicks, etc. I went cold turkey. I lift her into the stand, lock her in, tie up her legs and make sure food is available to her. She's getting better.


Yep, that's about how I handle it too. I don't get mad, I just speak to her in even tones, praising her when she does well, and firmly when she doesn't (no raising my voice). I want her to know that we are doing this, but I don't want her to be afraid of me. I make sure to give her a lot of pets and love while she is there as well and tell her when she's being a good girl. I'm hoping that is enough to offset the fact that she is hating being milked. She's my first milker, so I'm probably being a softie.


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

You're doing well. Hopefully she will come around. Being a first freshener is reason to have hope.
I have doe (third freshening so no excuse) that "forgets" how to get on the milk stand. Every. Single. Time.
If I hoist her up there she'll stand great but lifting her is a pain. Not how I want to start my day. Anyway, I opted to sell her. Good riddance. I'll help her pack... 
Somewhere on here is an awesome and funny thread on problem milkers.


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

My doe Carina was awful when I first got her. She was already an AR doe, so she'd been milked, she just likes her routine. After months, she's settled down into a wonderful little milker, but I sure considered selling her when I had to chase her for 20 minutes to get her milked twice daily.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Yep, same here. Our Nigerian was so awful as a FF that it took two of us to milk her. She was wonderful every kidding thereafter.

Just keep on training her and don't give up!


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Thanks everyone! 

Today I milked again and got about 3/4 of a pint of milk, so that was a nice reward for the fact that it takes a lot of my 48yo body strength to get her on the stand every morning! I do have hope that this girl will end up being a good milker, but she has always been stubborn, so I'm sure I have a long road to go before she settles down. The funny thing about her is that she still nuzzles me and wants to be near me, but she just hates the milk stand and to be milked.

Has anyone ever had the issue where the doe won't eat much on the stand? She doesn't eat much for all the preoccupation she has for hating to be milked. This concerns me that she won't have eaten enough to produce the milk she needs to. Should I worry? I don't know exactly what she eats, but it's not what I put out, which is about 1.5-2 c.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I had a Nubian like that. She finally got on the stand when i put a rubber mat up there. The holes in the metal scared her.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

That was my Shasta. She was my only milker at the time so I had to get her on the stand. My husband and I would get fore and aft and pull and push. Then she would lay down and nearly strangle herself. Homemade hobbles did not work; she could just dance her way out of them. My husband finally rigged a sling and would hoist her legs a few inches above the stand. I ordered a hobble and once I began using that I could keep her on the stand without hoisting her up. Slowly she began to calm down and became one of my best girls. They will test you to your limits though, just like kids.


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

luvmyherd said:


> That was my Shasta. She was my only milker at the time so I had to get her on the stand. My husband and I would get fore and aft and pull and push. Then she would lay down and nearly strangle herself. Homemade hobbles did not work; she could just dance her way out of them. My husband finally rigged a sling and would hoist her legs a few inches above the stand. I ordered a hobble and once I began using that I could keep her on the stand without hoisting her up. Slowly she began to calm down and became one of my best girls. They will test you to your limits though, just like kids.


Thanks. I think Willow will be like this for me. She is very stubborn, but at the same time, our power struggle doesn't seem to be creating distrust between us or anything--at least not that I can tell. She is sweet as pie with me all the time, except on the milk stand. She just doesn't like it.

I am so thankful to know that y'all have been through this too and that your goats have eventually calmed enough to be cooperative milkers. So good to know.


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## OffgridMommaD (Nov 1, 2016)

*Half Way on stand*

Mine doe will only get on halfway. She's pregnant, so I hate to lift her. I've only had her a few months in the thick of winter. But she will give birth in the next month. I need to trim her hooves. And I keep trying to coax her with pellets. Ugh....! I tried trimming her hooves on the ground, but she tried to gently bite me.

Any suggestions?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Put a halter on her and tie her close to a post.


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## JerTheVintner (Feb 21, 2016)

I am new to milking also. I have taken the attitude, that "this is going to happen" and I try to make it a routine they can eventually get to like. My goaties love raisins, so I start by rewarding them once they are in the milk stand with a small handful. Then I drop some in the loose hay in the feeder at the front of the stand. They begin to search for them and by the time they have found them all, we are done. I then give them some more and praise them and pet them as they head back to the barn. The only consistent problem I have is that all three of my little nigi does want to sit down while I am milking. I have velcro straps to hold their back legs, but they just squat and sit on the straps. I have to grab their tail with one hand and hold them up as I milk with the other. I have decided that I just have to be consistent and patient, they are goats after all. I love my little goaties and I just made my first batch of chevre cheese. It will all be worth it when they have settled into the routine, at least that is what I am counting on.


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## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

OffgridMommaD said:


> Mine doe will only get on halfway. She's pregnant, so I hate to lift her. I've only had her a few months in the thick of winter. But she will give birth in the next month. I need to trim her hooves. And I keep trying to coax her with pellets. Ugh....! I tried trimming her hooves on the ground, but she tried to gently bite me.
> 
> Any suggestions?


I honestly would wait until after she kids. That's hard on them, it puts uncomfortable pressure on their abdomen. I don't do mine within 8 weeks of kidding.


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## BoerSaanenmother12 (May 21, 2014)

I started my 2 Lamancha doelings at 3 months of age when i first got them home I would touch there teat's every chance they would let me so they would get use to the feel when it came time to milk them when they were old enough Now at 12 months old I can walk up to them in the pasture well actually they come running to me I can pretend to milk them in the pasture without them being on the milk stand. 


My 1 doe is hopefully bred and the other one will be bred here next month once my trucks transmission is fixed as my folks won't let me borrow there car to transport the doe to the buck which i understand. so hopefully we will have 1 doe kid at the end of June and 1 kid the end of July or close to August. I can't wait. 



But i say keep working with your first time fresheners it will be worth it in the end with that very delicious raw goats milk I can't wait to try my hand at Mozzarella cheese I love cheese but it is so expensive they want 8 to 13 dollars for Mozzarella Cheese in the stores.


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## wndngrvr (Dec 10, 2011)

I had to put rubber mats on my stand - it's wood but they could feel a little slip to it I think if their feet were wet. My best girl had to have a sling her first year, she would lie down. She started kneeling on the sling my hubby rigged up for her and that worked fine two. Now she is a good girl. 
All my ones who didn't want to get on the stand would give in for favorite treats - Raisons and animal crackers.


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