# Dairy goat jumps around at milking time



## Judy7 (Mar 23, 2012)

I have been milking Buttercup for 3 months now. She jumps around on the stand when I first start. Most of the time she stands still while I milk but it is still annoying to have to jerk the pan back to keep her from jumping/kicking and spilling the milk. 

Any ideas? Do hobbles work?

Judy
Indiana


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

What I did for a doe like that was tie her legs to the stand.
Tie each leg separately to a leg of the stand. She won't be able to kick around.
After a while of doing that she will learn to keep still.
She wouldn't be able to knock the milk over, which my goat never did but slammed her hoof right in it, tying her legs solved that.

You make a loop in one end of the rope and put the untied end through the loop.
So it will tighten on her ankle when in use. Then tie or staple the untied end of the rope to the leg of the stand.
Each time you go to milk slip her feet into the loop and her kicking will tighten it on her.
Its not going to be too tight, nothing to worry about there.
After a few weeks you can try it again without the ropes. If she is still kicking use the ropes. Took me about a month to train my doe.

I ever figured out hobbles. They always seems to get out of those or kick both legs up at the same time.
I could be doing something wrong but it isn't something I care to fuss with anymore.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

I am not sure what size goat you are dealing with but I put mine on my knee so her back legs were up in the air and milked. I had to figure out a way to milk when I was by myself. She finally figured out that I wasn't going to hurt her and stopped moving around. Also this is a simple thing but I if you are washing her udder before you start I would use warm water. Sometimes I think it is the cold water or our hands that makes them jump. I know I would.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

By now she should definitely know how to be milked. I usually tie them up as a last resort, I'd rather they learned to stand without being forced to. With her, I would give her a firm slap on the thigh when she moves and say "NO!" in a firm voice. She will learn that kicking is bad behavior and not to be tolerated. If she continues to kick though, I would then tie her legs a few times and every time she tries to move say "NO!" so she learns that moving is also not going to work, that way for future times you will have taught her a voice command to go with what you do not want her to do.


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## DorenfieldProject (Apr 9, 2012)

*Kicking Milker -Dairy goat jumps around at milking time*

I have read every post that i could find about 'kicky milkers' and have gotten soooo much help. We have a FF with twins, who came to us when her twins were one week old. She had lots of milk and I wanted her to share some of it with us. but, she was not used to having her udder handled and was a terror on the milkstand IF I could get her up there. I have tied her legs, had my son straddle her, and had DH behind her holding her hocks as she kicked like a bucking bronco (with the doe and DH looking at me like I was totally crazy!). Today was my 5th attempt to work with her, and I put the sling up under her rib cage, right in front of the udder and DH hoisted her up toward the milking room ceiling. She was mad, and slung herself back and forth like she was in a hammock, but she couldn't do a think to stop my milking. It was so cool! Milk sloshed out twice, but her udder was actually pointed forward in a way that enabled me to grab her teats more easily. She still doesn't like the stand and has to be lifted onto it, but I think that there is light at the end of the milking tunnel! It makes me happy to know that she is gentling and will be better-behaved for whoever buys her later on.
Momma Kay


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