# Getting a FF used to "milking"



## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

How long before kidding would you get a FF up on the milking stand to get her used to the idea, and used to being "touched" (ok that sounds weird)

I'm worried that if I leave it too late, she might be too heavy to get up there!!!

LW


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

i usually wait until 2 weeks after they freshen if they have kids, or the day they freshen if i pull kids.. usually i don't have any issues, but there are the occasional kickers and squatters.. they come around.. someone else probably has a better method than i do though


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm not going to be pulling her kids. I did it once to my other goat and she cried so much I felt like a murderer.

LW


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

I like to start training mine at least a month before kidding so that they are not stressed and that way when I call their name they come a running, I open the gate, and they run straight up on the milk stand without getting side tracked.

This has always worked great for me!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

mine dont care how big and fat they are - they will jump right up on that stand if they know food is there.

I have found that they dont like you messing with their udder before kidding. It makes them jump around and get all upset. So just rub her belly and talk to her. touch her legs etc. So she gets used to being handled while up on the stand.


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## Cinder (Mar 3, 2008)

I had to teach my first goat (Nubian) to milk this year. I also started getting her used to the milking stand a month before she was to kid. I gave her feed to her there so she associated that "candy" to the milk stand and was quickly wanting to get up there. She wouldn't let me touch her udder for some time - she kicked and hunched and bucked. Over several weeks she got to where she would stand and maybe only kick up one leg. When I finally started to milk her I ended up having to tie her legs down and she went back to the kicking/bucking thing. But, that only last two days and I didn't have to tie her anymore. I would have preferred using a hobble but I don't have one, so I had my sons stand by her side when she was tied so she couldn't hurt herself if she fought it - which she only did the first time.

Have fun!

Oh, my Nigis won't be bred until this fall but I already get them on the milk stand and 'pretend' to milk them. They love it and fight to be the first one up there.


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

Not to detract from the OP but what do you do about a squatter? I have one who will actually sit down and refuse to get up if I touch her udder. Shes not due until April. I tried a bucket and she just climbed the thing. She seems to be very private/possessive when it comes to that udder.


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

take a bucket or pail, turn it upside down and place under her belly, that way she can't squat. My large milk stand was wide enough that I sit next to my girl when milking and I slide on leg under her belly so that she holds still and cant sit or hunch. (This wasn't Dora, it was the others that I milked for a short time). It helps alot to have something under there till they get used to what you are doing and stop hopping. I never tied any of mine.


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## crocee (Jul 25, 2008)

I tried putting a 2.5 gallon bucket under her, the 5 gallon one was too tall. She just squatted down on the bucket with her legs wrapped around it. She is theherd queen and used to getting her way with the other goats. I guess I am just another goat to her, one that brings the food.


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## Just Kiddin' (Nov 18, 2008)

We don't have this problem usually. All of our goats are shown so we have them up on the milk stand from the time they are kids and we rub on their "udders" even though they aren't bred. Some judges like to feel the udders on them even as dry yearlings so they are messed with from day 1 so that in case we do get a judge who likes to touch them they aren't flighty. This is really nice when it comes to milking FF!


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## capi71 (Dec 7, 2008)

I have to jump in here as I am having the same issues and questions. Thanks for all the great advice so far!
I have a FF Nigi that WAS great about the stanchion until after she kidded. I used to be able to do anything to her and now, 2.5 weeks after kidding, NO WAY! I was hoping to start milking her now that her twins are older, but she is a lunatic when I try to milk her. Jumping and kicking like a bronco. Today I actually had to milk her out onto a towel (wasting the milk) while I held her leg still. She ate, quivered and cried the whole time. After I let her out she crawled in my lap like a baby. I felt so bad!! Is this normal FF behavior? Am I doing something wrong? :?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Mine are started with the stand at 4 months preggy.....tat where I et them to give vaccs and wormer as well as hoof trims...They get a portion of grain while up there and a treat after I'm done, preggy does are very possessive with their blossoming udders but don't be discouraged, squatters will learn to stand nicely, somethin I have done is to give their grain, start milking and the minute they squat or dance around, I take the grain away, it does take a good while to do this but it has worked well for me, Then when they stand niceagain they get the grain back...perseverence is the key, if you give up, they think they've "won".

capi71, your doe is still a baby and sounds to be very well loved. You need to take the upper hand here, you are not hurting her at all, though she is acting as if you are. Try rubbing her udder while she is on your lap, then after she is used to you touching her, the milking may go easier...as well as taking grain away for unwanted behavior.


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## BeeLady (Dec 12, 2008)

As a long-time, and long-ago, breast feeding mom, I would hope my goats associate being milked with R-E-L-I-E-F, as it hurt me to go too long without being nursed. Am I fooling myself?

I put my goats (each about 3 mo. preg now) on the milk stand regulary just to feed them, make sure they know where it is. I did trim their hooves the other day with their heads in the stanchion but otherwise have been careful not to do anything that would make their time on the stand unpleasant.

My goats don't like their teats touched either at this time. I'm hoping that will change when they have an udder full of milk and find out how much better it feels once they've been milked. (Assuming I can milk them without pulling their teats, etc.)


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## capi71 (Dec 7, 2008)

BeeLady said:


> As a long-time, and long-ago, breast feeding mom, I would hope my goats associate being milked with R-E-L-I-E-F, as it hurt me to go too long without being nursed. Am I fooling myself?


Me too! I have been referred to as the Breastfeeding Natzi! LOL! Glad to have other BF on board! :hug: 
I don't think my girl is on to the relief thing yet....she thinks I am stealing from her babies....I guess.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

I will be milking once daily and leaving the kids on the rest of the time, and hopefully Demi will get used to it. When I'm home, I'll try to teach her to go on the milking stand (that being once every 2 weeks or so at the moment *sulks*)

LW

PS Cant believe I wont see her til the 9th March. AARGH NUU I miss her already


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## Amy Goatress (Oct 2, 2008)

We don't usually milk FF unless they rejected their kids and their kids become bottle babies but other than that we usually wait until their 2nd freshening to milk them and we put our milk stand in the aisle way of the barn so the other does can watch and see how it is done and works better that way.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

well it all depends on how many kids Demi has, and how much milk. If she has twins, I'll likely not start milking her until they're a few weeks old as, as a FF she probably wont have enough milk for me and the kids. However, if she has a single, there's more likely to be enough for me too :greengrin:


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

I always milk my FF and take kids away. I make it a point to try and be there with my does. Unlike a lot of breeders i do let moms clean up their kids with supervision. I take the kids when they start trying to get up. The does do get to bond a little bit but not much, I do this because i want to make sure in case im not there they know how to clean up and take care of their kids. I have heard of does who have never taken care of kids just leave their wet kids to die because they didnt know what to do. The does usually get over it within a few hours and after they have been milked a few times by me everything is fine. 
as for milking the FF i have had does that had stood perfectly from the first time they are milked (a dream) to does that are a bucking bronco I have resorted to tieing their feet to the stand once and that usually stops. i had one doe who "sat" in the bucket, i put a large bucket under her belly a couple of times she stopped squatting. 
I usually start a couple of months before kidding, thei girls start getting fed on the milkstand so they learn to associate it with a good thing. When they learn that the milkstand is ok i start touching their would be udder as well as picking up feet and touching inside their ears. when they stop bouncing kicking and over all throwing a ft i stop touching. They eventually learn that the udder touching is ok, usually by the time they kid they are fine with me touching their udders.
beth


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## BeeLady (Dec 12, 2008)

Being new to dairy goats, I've read a ton of stuff and seeing more on this thread reminded me that I'd read somewhere that FFs need to be milked the full 305 days for udder development. The amount of milk they give is not as important as the fact they are kept lactating for 305 days.

If this is the case it would be very important to milk a FF. And hopefully she would be a calm milker by at least 180 days :scratch: , and hopefully I will be an experienced milker in 180 days!

Anyway, did I imagine this about 305 days? Misunderstand something I've read? I'll try to find the source but any comments would be appreciated (mainly so I don't have to go and try to find the source of this information).


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## grandmajo (Oct 14, 2008)

I've read the same thing, something to do with "setting" the length of lactation". You want to be able to milk the goat for 10 months, and then let her dry off the last 2 months of pregnancy. I currently have a FF that I've been milking for 8 months now, and although her output isn't fantastic, she is still consistantly putting out between 1 & 1/2 to 2 quarts a day. Her first freshening was with a single, so hopefully she'll freshen with twins this year.


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## billmac (Sep 8, 2008)

I don't have any experience with this yet, I'm getting the first kids in a few weeks. But my plan was to build a milk stand right away and use it to hold them while I trim their hooves. Bad idea? Good idea?


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

yeah i use my milk stand when I'm trimming their hooves. Doesnt work too well with Demi though as she's so big =]

LW


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