# I can't milk my goat



## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

nothing comes out..day 7, yesterday i got a half cup out of my ff ND, but today hardly anything...couldn't do it...I'm about to give up...sooo frustrated.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Sorry you are frustrated... It does take time to get used to it though. If she has kids or a kid you may want to separate at night and milk in the morning... I know one day I had milk, and the next almost nothing... Mr Beebop the kid drank it all, so I separate at night and milk in the AM..


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Does she have mastitis? How does the milk look? Blood, strings, clots, udder hot, milk off color, ect


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If you are new to milking, it is hard. You just have to keep trying. Are you massaging her udder? Since she has a kid on her, they are good at holding back milk for their kid.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

It does take practice! Although, I have to say...I couldn't milk my kinder her teats are so small and also have double orifices! :/ I cannot even imagine milking a ND!

Maybe a larger milking doe would be easier? :hug:


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## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

everything looks normal from what I can tell. I didn't have the kid separated though so maybe that was the problem. I'm honestly ready to give up the goat breeding milking thing thats how frustrated I am. If its going to take more than 10 min or so every day, I'm not sure i have the time to deal with it... frustrating. I thought it would be easy.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Initially it is never quick. It takes a while and a lot of practice. Even with the big girls it is hard. You can always try separating mom and baby and see if that helps.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Yep...separate at night...milk in the am...they won't like it at first, but they get used to the program, and so will you if you stick it out  It takes time to get quicker....it should only take you a few minutes a day after you get the hang of it. Remember to massage the udder to get her to release her milk too!


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## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

Morning milking is kinda impossible . I have to leave house at 630 and I have dogs and horses too. :-(


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I usually get to bed about 11:30, asleep by midnight (if I am not dumb and troll the forums till 1am) and am back up at 5am ever morning to do choice and get ready to leave for work. This is on the off season when I am not feeding babies their morning milk. During those months, I am up at 4am every morning cept Sundays. That is my recover day. Saturday mornings are for fishing


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## phydough (Jun 3, 2011)

I had a ff last year that was next to impossible to milk. Everything was so small. After a while, the kids broke her in stretching her out and then I had something to hold onto to try to milk her. With that doe, her first year as a milk doe was not so great and I pulled my hair out then gave up. This year..over a gallon a day, easy milking, and very soft and broken in. After all that work, I realized milk goats arent for me (rather be fishing) and they moved to another milk lovin' home.


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## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

more power to you for getting up that early... this week was brutal though becasue I had my farm and two other farms to take care of in the morning. Really can't exist on your schedule... need to be in bed at 10 to be up at 5... and with my bear around I really don't want to put the goats outside that early so not sure what to do with that one.

I'll keep trying. tonight I'll separate mom and see if that helps. thanks... but if I can't get it down to a science I may not be able to handle it. Perhaps in the winter when there is less work to do on the farm it won't be so overwhelming...


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

I hear you on the work! I am up at 4 am, making lunches for both of us, husband leaves at 4:45, I then go do milking and other chores, I get home from work (I have an hour commute) milk, do all the other chores, we have chickens, 3 acres to water, about 4 gardens and an orchard, then I drag myself inside to start supper, about that time husband gets home (his commute right now is 1 1/2 hours plus working 10 - 11 hour days), he eats and goes to bed. Then some kitchen clean up time and off to bed with me. This is only temporary so I can handle it. 

All that to say this: I love my goats, and the wonderful milk I get from them. If I have to get up at 3 to get everything done (again, temporary) I will. Trust me it does get easier. I have a girl really hard to milk, I just kept after it and now she is one of my easier milkers. Don't give up!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If you want to milk, you will have to get up earlier, I hate to say. 

If you still have the kid(s) on her, they will have her cleaned out, by the time you get to it. 

Milking is more than 10 minutes. It does indeed take time.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

knightrider said:


> Morning milking is kinda impossible . I have to leave house at 630 and I have dogs and horses too. :-(


I separate the kids from their mom in the morning and milk in the evening when they are still on her. I put off morning milking as long as i can, haha! Like many of these other folks i have a whole list of stuff I have to do in the mornings, too, and the longer I can put off adding morning milking to the schedule the better.

I don't get much of anything from my does when their kids are on them. I have one doe i can get anything from when she is nursing, or used to be able to anyway, before I lost half her udder. The rest I have to separate of I want anything.


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## Nordygirlz (May 31, 2013)

I want to stop milking my alpine,how do I stop her production?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Nordygirlz said:


> I want to stop milking my alpine,how do I stop her production?


First I would do a search on drying up does.

Second you may want to start your own thread so people will see it.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Third, resist the temptation to drink the milk outta the tap  hehe


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## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

well....its gotten a little easier. I don't have a milk stand yet, but am using a grooming table which helps alot. I can get a half cup of milk but the flow is miniscule.. compared to what the breeder got when she milked her so I'm not doing something right... how can it take that long if its just a small ND? how long do you spend milking? I can't imagine it taking forever... if so, I"m in the market for a milk machine down the road..lol. And yes, I can get up earlier on some days, but on days I have two other farms to take care no I can't get up earlier... not gonna happen. especially not with the bear that lives in the wood by the barn. too chicken and it will be too early to turn out.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You spend a lot of time initially. Then you get down to 10-15 minutes.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

it takes a while to get the hang of it. I don't have a milk stand, but I had to work with my doe to stand still for me. now she eats off the ground while I milk her, untied and no fidgeting. 

time, patience and practice. once you get the hang of actually squeezing milk out of the teats, getting a good feel for the motions, then you'll start to speed up.


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## knightrider (Feb 28, 2012)

so , I've finally got a set up that works to keep the doeling in at night separated from momma.... and this morning I still didn't have hardly anything that I could get out of her.

Can I actually just not milk her and then dry her up at weaning time? Will that effect future milking ability? She's beig really good now standing and actually wants to jump up on the grooming stand i'm using for her...but I'm thinking the whole milking idea may not be for me... however, I like the breeding part and having the kids if I can sell them... just not sure i can keep their value up tomake it worth it unless i milk???


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

separate them durimg the day, milk at night and let the kid sleep with his mom.


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

I agree with enchantedgoats, the morning timeline just doesn't work for you. You must be calm with plenty of time in the beginning. So, the breeder milked THIS goat and got more? Then bring her back and have her critique your methods. You will get the hang of it.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

knightrider said:


> so , I've finally got a set up that works to keep the doeling in at night separated from momma.... and this morning I still didn't have hardly anything that I could get out of her.
> 
> Can I actually just not milk her and then dry her up at weaning time? Will that effect future milking ability? She's beig really good now standing and actually wants to jump up on the grooming stand i'm using for her...but I'm thinking the whole milking idea may not be for me... however, I like the breeding part and having the kids if I can sell them... just not sure i can keep their value up tomake it worth it unless i milk???


You don't have to milk her if you don't want to, milking isn't for everyone and is a huge commitment to make. If the market for them is high enough in your area it might be worthwhile to keep them just for selling kids. Here it isn't. I breed to keep them in milk, and the kids mostly are a byproduct (or for keeping as replacements in my herd). Without the milk I would not be able to justify keeping more than one or two does for producing meat wethers.


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