[colliewoman]

I'm not impatient and don't mind if it takes months for me to get a few pints but I suspect this is a case of idiot goat owner
Doris kidded 2 weeks ago, and one kid went off to it's new home today (she hasn't appeared to notice yet ) I had a first attempt at milking her tonight and got about 5 tablespoons. She was very good and stood eating her dairy nuts for a while, then got fed up and kicked a bit so I let her be as I don't want to upset her.
I shall try again in the morning but is it normal for a first timer to be tricky to milk ie getting the milk out of the teat?
She will stand and let me fiddle no problems but either is not letting her milk down yet or I have forgotten how to milk!
Any tips please? Am I asking too much too soon? The second kid is still with her and I will start seperating at night as soon as the others are a couple of weeks old.

Thankies x

[Roxy]

I assume you have milked before, and your goat is the first timer? It is quite normal for a first kidder to be a bit sensitive about you trying to milk her - and she will want to save the milk for her kid.  Is she tied up - tightly?  Have you tried feeding her about half an hour before milking, and then milking her, and she should stand chewing her cud?


I would expect a bit more than 5 tablespoons of milk to be honest!!  Does it feel like there is more milk there after you have milked her?  Sorry, this post is full of questions.

All goats differ in when they hit their peak re milking, and it all depends on feeding, weather etc.  But, I would say, if she is having plenty of feed, and the grass is good, you should be getting plenty of milk around 6 weeks after kidding.  Just remember the bigger the kid gets, the more it will drink .....thats the advantage of removing the kids from the female, you get more milk!!

[wytsend]

There is also the probability that she is 'holding' the milk back....... goats cna do this.....she might be more upset than you think about the kid going.

You are just going to have to be persistent and massage the udder quite firmly from the top to the bottom..... a lot of milk is held high up and needs to be massaged down.

By now,  the udder should be relatively soft after 2 weeks,  so if it is still very firm you need to try and milk several times a day for a few days at least.

Regarding milk peak ......this can take 2 or 3 months to build up.... the goats instinct works on the number of kids and their requirement for milk.   But even this can be wrong !!!!

I always remove kids by the time they are a few hours old  so no bond develops.... this way the goat believes you want her milk.   Doesn't always work exactly..... but usually nearly right. !!!!

[colliewoman]

HI all, thanks for the replies
Yes, there is most definately milk there, and I have milked before but a looooong time ago.
I think I need to be a bit firmer with regards to not letting her go when she gets fed up. I wouldn't let my dogs rule the roost, so I mustn't let my goats try the same thing.
Grass isn't so hot at the mo as it's very wet, but they have ad lib good hay. I am giving her a pint of dairy nuts morning and night, but am increasing slowly as she is a pig, and has twice bloated after eating too much (this was before kidding and a husband forgetting to shut the feed shed )
I had more success this morning by just milking her onto the ground, not worrying about catching it. I think she's aware that I am getting worried so she holds back

I shall have another go tonight, and if still not very successful will try several times a day.
Thank you all, please keep the advice coming

[Skirza]

I don't even try to milk my girls until I start separating them from the kids at night then I milk just once a day. I usually get around 4 pints in the morning and always leave some for the kids to have a bit of breakfast.

[colliewoman]

Is that 4 pints from one goat???
If so I'm not even going to try to milk the other 2, they are skitty anyway I'll just leave them with their kids and milk Doris the placid!
I think I may have underestimated how much milk goats can produce.
I used to work on a goat farm where the whole 150 head sometimes managed only 4 churns between them. I learned a lot from that place, mainly how NOT to do it, hence the lots of time among goats but not much in the way of good husbandry experience I know how NOT to do it, still learning the best way for us.
Hey ho, every day a school day

[countrywoman]

4 pints from one goat?  Yes.  My 2nd kid GG is giving 5+ per day after 2 weeks.  Don't know what breed yours are but bigger dairy ones give much more.

I'm new to this too, and only started milking last Autumn with a luckily very patient goat who taught me everything!  I can easily understand your problem - until you get used to how the milking will go it is hard to judge whether to persevere or not when you only get a little out.  I was told about goats who hold back the milk and now I've watched kids suckle I can see that they instinctively know how to stimulate the letdown process.  I am sure yor girl will have enough to make it worth you milking her once you get into a routine.

My GG first kidder is feeding her single kid 24/7 and I am taking just over a pint each morning partly because she has been looking tight and also to get her used to being milked.  I judge how much to take by the feel of the udder as I don't want to put her under too much stress but have been told it is good to milk her out now and then to increase production and prevent the udder being congested by stale milk.  This goat has small teats which are tricky to milk but she only kidded 2 weeks ago so I think with suckling that may get better.

I think milking without trying to catch it may help you get the flow going - I know I found trying to be clean and efficient and productive when I wasn't sure what I was doing made it harder for me to get a rhythm going when I started.  But do take care not to splash her legs, mine get really tetchy if that happens.  And milk into a bowl of some sort so you can dispose of it because stale milk breeds bacteria etc.

Also do you have a milking stand?  I found it made a huge difference to my technique having the goat elevated by about 10" so I could see what I was doing and reach better.  My husband made one out of re-cycled pallets so needn't cost a fortune.

Good luck, keep going!  I found milking quite harrowing to start with and now find it a really good way to relax.

[colliewoman]

Success!!!!

I tied her to the milking stand and was firm with her, and we got 2 pints! YAY!!!!
I could have taken more but didn't want to push things too far this evening so made sure I stopped when she was chewing not throwing a wobbler!
I am going to pass on a tip I was given. Sing to your goat! They were right, it is impossible to be tense or hold your breath when singing and Doris really relaxed, either because I relaxed or because she likes the Pogues
Anyway, I have my first 2 pints of goats milk, Doris got some sheep mix for being a good girl and her kid still got a belly full!
Hopefully tomorrow will show a slight improvement but I'm not in a rush to get away so it's not the end of the world if it takes half an hour to milk her. I know we will get there!

Thanks all, you have been most helpful as usual

[Lesley Silvester]

Well done.  the only way is up now.

[jaykay]

Hurray hurray - glad the singing worked 

My Old English give 2 pints a day, on the system Skirza describes.

What breed is Doris?

[tizaala]

Our B. Saanen nannie that had the tripplet boys is now giving 3 Ltrs in the morning and 2 Ltrs at evening milking. The B.Tog, nannie that kidded 8 weeks ago is only being milked once a day as she still has one kid on her , is giving 2 ltrs every morning and still has lots for the kid, the  B. Tog that kidded twins last week , I'm going to strip some off this morning as she has a huge bag on her and the kids cant drink it fast enough to make her comfortable, Poor thing can hardly walk with the size of it. They all seem ok being machine milked.

[colliewoman]

Hurray hurray - glad the singing worked 

My Old English give 2 pints a day, on the system Skirza describes.

What breed is Doris?

She is toggenburg ish.
I think she will do us proud and will try taking a little more each day and maybe start taking a bit in the mornings too

[colliewoman]

Well I got a pint today, and she stood good as gold!
I guess I got more yesterday as she was engorged, and hopefully it will increase steadily from here. I still don't think it's too bad considering her kid is with her 24/7.
Slow but sure

[poppy2012]

ive found washing the udders with fairly hot water helps bring the milk down also  good way to start...

[jinglejoys]

ive found washing the udders with fairly hot water helps bring the milk down also  good way to start...

  That made me wince!