# my goat does not let me milk her



## goatskeeper (May 14, 2010)

hello,
i had bought a doe without her kids, she does not let me milk her, i milk her with the help of my wife, but how can i milk her when i am alone, is there a methode to milk this doe?
thank you


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Welcome!

I can tell you how I do it but everyone that milks their does has a different way.
How are you going about milking her? What is the routine you use?

Knowing this will help with making things better for you and your girl.


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## comingsummers (May 6, 2010)

What do you mean she won't let you milk her(won't stand still, won't let down)? If you can tell us a little more about the problem and you routine Im sure we'll have some helpful suggestions for you. 
Welcome, glad to have you here.


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

Goats do not normally stand for the milking unless trained to. You may have to lock her in a milkstand and hobble her feet if she is really wild. Food is a great motivation and attention getter so make sure she has plenty without over feeding. I have to put medium sized rocks in the feed bowl for some of my doe's/bucks or they would inhale it all in a single bite.

If the doe has not been milked before it will take a lot of time and effort on both parts. She is not used to it and it feels foreign to her. 

If she won't let her milk down you can punch the udder gently to simulate the kids bumping.


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## GoatGirl333 (May 20, 2010)

i had to train 10 ff this year and i have 10 more to train. i did the hobble thing - tie the two back legs to the stand so they cant kick and such, but boy it sure was a pain and as soon as i tried to milk without the ties there i got kicked and milk dumped all over me. so what i did instead was just locked their head in the gate, sat down next to them, and worked their udder for a while. just like pinching lightly, bumping, tugging gently on their teats, you know just working on it so they got use to me touching it. sure they threw i fit stomped kicked jumped their back legs into the air pissin and moanin but i just kept at it. with no milk in the way there was no loss, no matter what they did i just kept on playin with their udder. when they settled down i started milking. 2-3 max sessions like this and i had ffs with good milk stand manners. hope that helps ya!


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## Galavanting Goat (Apr 27, 2010)

Welcome to the forum, when we had our first experience of milking it was frustrating to say the least (it's not uncommon for us to throw ourselves into the deep end lol). Things I quickly found out were this:

1.Milkstands are invaluable!!!
2.Always have their food available to them when milking, it keeps them occupied
3.Make sure your hands do not have any sharp dry skin on them in case they scratch and irritate the udder
4.Remember to research the correct way to milk the udder as this can be a traumatic experience to the doe, my husband has very powerful hands so he has to remember not to milk the udder so tightly.
5.Make sure your hands are warm as cold hands can send a doe through the roof lol
6.Don't stress yourself out, talk firmly if needed but calming to the doe, if she senses you are stressed she will do likewise
7.If she's generally just being a pain in the butt don't be afraid to hobble her
10.If she insists on laying down on the stand we use a belly strap that suspends from either above or the side of the stand (we have railings on one side of our stand), it conects to the top railing of the stand, is placed under the belly and back over to the tip railing and fastend
11. If she behaves on the stand, give her an extra treat like a piece of apple or a few raisins or a handful of extra grain, but if she has misbehaved she doesn't get her extra treat.
12.Whenever you handle her in general, slowly get her used to having her udder touched, I do this when I brush them, each time I desensitise them by moving closer to the udder eventually touching more and more.
13.Make sure she has no sore spots on her udder that cause her to act up, no doe wants to have her sore spots squeezed.
14.Never be a stranger to the doe, if she knows she can trust you she will work with you alot better. 

I have a tendancy to sometimes look at the larger problematic issues and forget the smaller possibilities but our girls quickly taught us how to get it right lol. Also keep in mind they may have had milking issues in the past e.g., was she only ever machine milked, has she had severe mastitus issues previous, was she handled incorrectly previously, was she taught to be handmilked, does she prefer a female rather than male milking her. Just some things that could help.

Hope that helps.


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## goatskeeper (May 14, 2010)

thank you , your help is great, i will take your suggestions.
thank you very much


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## MiGoat (Apr 21, 2010)

GoatGirl333 said:


> i had to train 10 ff this year and i have 10 more to train. i did the hobble thing - tie the two back legs to the stand so they cant kick and such, but boy it sure was a pain and as soon as i tried to milk without the ties there i got kicked and milk dumped all over me. so what i did instead was just locked their head in the gate, sat down next to them, and worked their udder for a while. just like pinching lightly, bumping, tugging gently on their teats, you know just working on it so they got use to me touching it. sure they threw i fit stomped kicked jumped their back legs into the air pissin and moanin but i just kept at it. with no milk in the way there was no loss, no matter what they did i just kept on playin with their udder. when they settled down i started milking. 2-3 max sessions like this and i had ffs with good milk stand manners. hope that helps ya!


Oh my gosh that helped me!! Thank you!


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## MiGoat (Apr 21, 2010)

Galavanting Goat said:


> Welcome to the forum, when we had our first experience of milking it was frustrating to say the least (it's not uncommon for us to throw ourselves into the deep end lol). Things I quickly found out were this:
> 
> 1.Milkstands are invaluable!!!
> 2.Always have their food available to them when milking, it keeps them occupied
> ...


 This certainly helps as well! Do you have a picture of your straps for the "layer-downers"? Thanks.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Wide nylon dog leashes work great for "anti lay down straps".


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## MiGoat (Apr 21, 2010)

Where do you attach the straps Liz?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I have a very large eye screw into a 2x4 on the wall above my milkstand, the strap is around her just in front of the hips. I've also used a 2 gallon bucket under the ribs to prevent them from laying down. Even though my girls are used to be milked, they have their moments that they act up...usually when they are in heat.


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## vinegarfly (Mar 23, 2013)

Question: My doe that I'm currently trying to train for milking will get on the milk stand and stay still. But it seems like she closes the teat hole. There is milk in the teat but it simply will not come out of the hole. I have hand milked before and know the proper way to do so but I just can't make the milk come out. When I let her in with her kid after trying the kid has no problem making the milk flow. Any tips?


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

vinegarfly said:


> Question: My doe that I'm currently trying to train for milking will get on the milk stand and stay still. But it seems like she closes the teat hole. There is milk in the teat but it simply will not come out of the hole. I have hand milked before and know the proper way to do so but I just can't make the milk come out. When I let her in with her kid after trying the kid has no problem making the milk flow. Any tips?


Sounds like she's holding for the kid. Keep working with her. It may also help if you allow the kid to be with her and in sight as well, you can fool her to thinking you're the kid. Rubbing, bumping the udder helps as well.


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