# Milking problems...I just want to cry!



## TeriA (Apr 29, 2012)

I have dairy goats for a hobby. We love the milk and cheese. I bought 4 does... so that ideally 2 would always be in milk. This is a 2nd/3rd freshening for them and I think there is a conspiracy..2 are kicking like crazy and 1 has the smallest teets ever and I simply cannot milk her out. The woman I bought her from said they'd stretch, but she is so engorged she has me worried.

I have no desire to buy a milker, but I'm afraid I'll have to. The hand milking used to be a relaxing time with my does. Now with hobbles and small teets it's ridiculous. The doe I bragged about a month ago has now figured out how to wiggle out of her hobble,, so I'm trying a different one.

I'm frustrated... they are frustrated. Any suggestions


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Small teats on a FF can sometimes improve and get larger with each freshening IF she is nursing kids or is being hand milked.... when those don't occur, the teats aren't used enough to actually "grow" Genetics are also a big factor.

With does with small teats, it helps to encircle the area above the teat with your thumb and forefinger...on the actual udder, place your "circle" just under where you feel glandular tissue, fill the teat and squeeze it against your palm to express the milk... tiny teats can be milked, it just takes some time and improvising to do it.


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## lileomom (Apr 11, 2013)

You're going to think I'm nuts-but here goes. Last winter I had a ND freshen with itty bitty teats. After several very frustrating sessions on the milkstand trying to hand milk I had had enough. I went in the house and dug out the electric madela pump that I used when I was nursing my kids. It worked like a charm. Maybe you could find an old one at a garage sale or on craigslist?


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Oh honey, I feel your pain!
How long have you been milking? I mean are you a pro or a newbie?
If you're new, you're in the middle of the Slough of Despond that nearly all new "milkmaids" go through! You'll get the hang of it, they'll get the hang of it, and everything will smooth out! Stand your ground, be firm, gentle, and confident. I promise you, it gets better!


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## TeriA (Apr 29, 2012)

milkmaid said:


> Oh honey, I feel your pain!
> How long have you been milking? I mean are you a pro or a newbie?
> If you're new, you're in the middle of the Slough of Despond that nearly all new "milkmaids" go through! You'll get the hang of it, they'll get the hang of it, and everything will smooth out! Stand your ground, be firm, gentle, and confident. I promise you, it gets better!


I have been milking for over a year, so not a newbie, but a pro. The Slough of Despond, I love it and yes I'm there. They both NEED milked NOW. I will need to wait til my kids get home to help hold legs on the one and maybe help with the tiny teets.

I do not have a breast pump of any kind but I wondered about the hand held manual ones that you have to pump but you can at least get the milk out. I am sure she is too small for even that. I have to do something or she will pop!
:hammer:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Actually, the hand pump type ones do work.... i got a cheap evenflow from walmart to use on my pygerian doe ,angel who literally has no udder but just 2 teats on a fist sized ball, she fed twins 2 separate freshenings very well but when it came to milking her, I literally had to milk by just putting pressure on her "udder"...the milk flowed easily, the pump itself will work only if you can clip the udder close enough to get a good seal with the cup and then you need to periodically break the suction and reapply to continue the flow, the pump that attaches to a baby bottle is the one that I tried.


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## rdmtnranch (Mar 4, 2013)

I am glad I read this I was wondering if a breast pump would work.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

my doe was a hobbler....tried to jump and move out of the way when I milked her. i don't have a milk stand, nor do tie her up..i just milk in her sleeping quarters.

how i stopped her from moving while i milked was one day i decided to hold on to her teat no matter what...she moved and tried to kick me off....i kept holding on. after about a min of her trying to shuffle me off, she stopped and let me finish milking. she hasn't really tried to kick me off milking her again. she still fidgets sometimes, but i just keep holding on!


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I have a tiny teated 2nd F doe. What a pain to milk! She is going away soon, I just can't deal with her and since I need to cut back anyway, she is the first to go.

This same doe is a kicker when I milk. Places foot in bucket, aims in fact. 

I took a peice of baling twine. I cut one of the ends and looped it around so both cut ends were side by side. I put the 2 cuts ends thru the other end and wrapped that around one leg, the wrapped the cut ends around the other leg 4 times and tied it in a quick release knot. Try as she might, she could not lift her feet to kick or have a hoof bath in the milk. I've been doing that for a week. I would start milking her without the hobbles. As soon as she acted up I growled "NO" and put the hobbles on her. This morning I didn't have to use the hobbles!


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

When I was having trouble "in the beginning" DH came out and stood by the headgate and "sweet talked" the girls as I was milking...they settled down and I had no further problem! I call him my "doe whisperer", lol. To bad he literally RUNS the other way when it's time to kid! lol


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## Abra (Aug 11, 2012)

lileomom said:


> You're going to think I'm nuts-but here goes. Last winter I had a ND freshen with itty bitty teats. After several very frustrating sessions on the milkstand trying to hand milk I had had enough. I went in the house and dug out the electric madela pump that I used when I was nursing my kids. It worked like a charm. Maybe you could find an old one at a garage sale or on craigslist?


That is BRILLIANT! LOL


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