After a few abortive attempts at milking Caldi, who is still feeding her kids, we reassembled the head restraint on the milking bench which was built for her mother. Unfortunately, the first time I put her in it, she managed to pull her head back through with an effort. Her mother must have had a bigger head. The next attempt involved tying a rope from the front of the bench round her back end and fastening it to the front again. This successfully stops her from getting her head out as she can't reverse. The big problem is catching her and getting her in it in the first place. I have mobility problems and a poor grip so, even if I manage to grab her collar I can't keep hold of her when she pulls. My OH (he who does not want the goats anyway) tries to help but he is blind so it's difficult for him to get hold of her in the first place.
We've managed to get her inside twice now and I've forced her head down so I can fix her in. That would be fine if she would then stand but, even with her front leg held up, she kicks and wriggles. Although I've had goats resist before until they get used to it, none have been this bad. I should say that normally she leads beautifully. She just knows where I'm trying to take her and she does not want to go.
I manage to get a small amount of milk from her, talking to her the whole time and always stopping when she is standing still ( a thirty second slot). I'm prepared to keep trying if I can persuade OH to help but can anyone suggest any other ways? There isn't room at the end of the bench for OH to get in and hold her back leg up or we'd go for that.