# kicking while milking



## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

How do you stop the dreaded kicking/moving your leg while milking? I read something about tying each leg to that side of the milk stand AND I also read that you can damage their legs.

Any suggestions would be helpful (without me having to go buy something expensive would be even better).

Tonia


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

We use twine from a bale of hay / straw. Fold a full piece in half, tie the two ends to the milk stand at about the rear leg is. This will leave you with the looped end. Fold loop over and pull the twine through to make a slip. This makes it easy to get it on and off... kinda. In the mean time, bring her in a few times a day if possible with no grain in the lip pan and just start touching her udder all over. If she calms down for say 30 seconds or so while you are touching it, give her a hand full of grain. Being smart, goats catch on pretty fast. We spend 2-4 weeks training the girls before they kid so when the milk starts to flow, they are already calm about it. But there are always the trouble makers...


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## joecool911 (Jul 3, 2010)

When my kids were little, we had a toggenburg doe. She was handled a lot as a kid. If you'd place your had on her bag, she'd squat. Ideally you'd condition a doe well before milking.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Heheh. Now that Lilly is starting to get a little bag and teats, she's squatting when I touch back there. Looks like she's trying to pee on my hand. 

Nibbles has never tolerated any touching between her hind legs for any reason, and that came to a head last January when I was having to put blankets on at night. Every time I tried to fasten the leg straps she would kick and spin and bolt. I usually had Phil hold her for me, but one night when he wasn't there and Nibbles was particularly rude, I ended up giving her a spanking. It took about three swats and she stood still as a statue. The next night it took one swat. She's stood perfectly for blanket fastening ever since, and she's much, much better with me touching her udder area. She still doesn't like it and she'll try to step away, but she's no longer kicking at me. 

I don't necessarily recommend spanking goats--if I ever spanked Lilly, for example, she would be traumatized for life. But Nibbles seems to respond very well to a quick, firm slap on the bottom. I only had to smack her once for trying to bolt into the house after me and she's never even tried since. I did the same thing to get her out of the hay shed when she wouldn't leave. Now she still comes in, but when I tell her "out" she leaves immediately without fuss. Nibbles is very smart and not the least bit afraid of people, but she's a very dominant goat and seems to have this need to physically be told who is boss. Otherwise she acts like Queen Bee.


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