# oh first timers!



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

today I milked one of my nigerian dwarfs(piper) and it was her first time ever being milked. she spilled the milk,stepped in it, and splashed it.It was a DISASTER!!!!! what a waste! At least i have a dog who, for some reason, LOVES goat milk so i gave(what was remaining of it)to him... well im not really looking forward to milking her tomorrow! I'll have to tie her back legs together while milking.

Any stories similar to this? post them!


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Ugh yes, my doe Pinky. That girl would not behave at all, ever, no matter what. Unless I had my leg hooked under her physically holding her still. She would just refuse to eat on the stand. Drove me nuts.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

yes they are just so annoying but they just steal your heart


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Oh, I forgot to mention. Pinks was a ND. I haven't really had much trouble from my Alpines. Usually just milking through their antics for a week will train them to behave. But Pinky wouldn't give up


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> Pinky wouldn't give up


i know! they are so stubborn! But you just have to love them!!!!


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Lol. Pink's stubbornness eventually led to me giving her to a friend. She jumped the fence and got herself bred to my standard buck. I really wished I could keep her, but there was absolutely no way I could make sure that breeding didn't repeat again. She could get over or through every single fence I put her in.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

LOL


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh yeah very annoying. Had it happen as well.

This story is not of the goats spilling the milk , the nail did it. 

My husband was collecting a bunch of milk so a friend could make goat cheese with it. Husband finished with all the milking then hung the milk bucket on a nail, the nail bent down and splashed all over the place, very devastating. 
A spilled milk story.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

oh my gosh! how much milk was it!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

A 5 gallon bucket.


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Just had my first timer do this as well today. I wouldn't tie - reduce stress as much as possible - don't increase it. Just keep milking - maybe do one side at a time and use a smaller container. Mine usually calm down in about 3 days with this method.


----------



## Ashlynn (Oct 1, 2017)

Nigerian dwarf goat said:


> today I milked one of my nigerian dwarfs(piper) and it was her first time ever being milked. she spilled the milk,stepped in it, and splashed it.It was a DISASTER!!!!! what a waste! At least i have a dog who, for some reason, LOVES goat milk so i gave(what was remaining of it)to him... well im not really looking forward to milking her tomorrow! I'll have to tie her back legs together while milking.
> 
> Any stories similar to this? post them!


My first freshener doe Pumpkin not only stepped in the milk pail and spilled it but jumped off the stand and took the pail with her. I love her anyway though.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Before I learned to always train first time preggos to the milk stand, feed pan, having ticklish spots handled BEFORE kidding, I had a girl like this. I sat behind her and milked into a cup that I held just below the teat. When the cup gets close to full, I dump it into a bucket within reach of me, but not within reach of her. And I sing and talk the whole time, and never, ever get angry. Took 4 days.


----------



## singinggoatgirl (Apr 13, 2016)

2 of my first fresheners would lay down the instant I touched their udders, trying to crush my hand between them and the milk bowl. Brats. I never turned loose, though. Can't let them get the better of you. One I had to sell before I convinced her that it was a futile effort. I'd been milking her for a month by then. The other figured it out once I sold her babies at weaning.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

well today her mom (Ponelope) saw piper and thought it was a good idea! uggh! She is eight years old and has been milked probably one billion times!!!! Monkey see Monkey do!!!


singinggoatgirl said:


> I never turned loose, though. Can't let them get the better of you.


 I totally agree, never get mad at them (even if you want to)....this experience has to be a good one, not a bad one for you and your goat....


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

When they are acting up, I do discipline with open hand past the udder and on her stomach with a slap and say a stern "Quit", sometimes it has to be done a couple times, but works for me. I don't put up with that behavior, but it is just me and the boers.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I do love that Boer personality and receptiveness. They are the most responsive to my wishes in my herd.


----------



## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I had a FF Mini-Lamancha doe (that I began training on the milk stand about 4 weeks prior to kidding) that was a nightmare to milk. She’d kick, stomp, move around (in every direction), and even after a few weeks of almost daily milking, spilled milk, and trying to tie her up in every way imaginable, she still wouldn’t give up. 

This year, her FF daughter from that kidding got bred and I only had her on the stand maybe 2 (?) times before she kidded, and she is almost perfect during milking! Her udder is also lovely, an obvious improvement over her dam’s. 

And I had a crazy FF Nubian last year that was a horror to milk. There was cause for a celebration every time I got even 1 cup of milk to the house.  This year, she is a dream on the stand! And has a great udder, too.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Great job persevering! @Goat_Scout


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

well piper is doing perfect when i milk her but ponelope for some reason has become into a very very VERY problem milker... I guess she thinks that she is too old for this now she is eight


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

An experienced milker does not usually become a problem, and never out of the blue. What is she doing, when is she doing it, and how did it progress from being OK to now? Something has gone awry, she can't tell you what the problem is, only that there is a problem.

No, she does not think she is too old, she is telling you something is wrong, something you are not fixing.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

she is kicking when i grab her teat. I know she doesnt have mastitis because there are no signes of it. Her teat may be a little sore because i have recently weaned both her kids and i only milk once daily so they get full by the end of the day and i milk her almost completley out each time...


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

All does have bad days though....


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

When I first wean, I milk 2 times per day for about a week, then go back down to 1 time per day. Also, milk her all the way out every time, not almost all the way out.

Check things like your fingernails, too, or if you have changed your grip for some reason. Perhaps you have started gripping too high and are squeezing mammary tissue.

Yes, every doe has days. But it shouldn't be often enough to suggest that "[she] has become into a very very VERY problem milker..." That is what I was reacting to. It did not sound like a single instance.


----------



## capracreek (Apr 5, 2016)

I never have a spilled milk pail or them step in it. HA I have a Dansha hand milker and it goes straight into a mason jar. I love it!! I do tie my goats and they can stand on the milking stand and eat - if they kick my hubsand put slip ties for the back feet on the milk stand!! Makes life so simple here.


----------



## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

Yes, I check my finger nails ( never ever have long ones because I can’t stand having them bent back!) anyway thanks for your concern about Penelope.


----------

