[plumseverywhere]

My 4 new arrivals have made quite an impact!! The children adore them because they are so affectionate, the neighbours keep peeking out from behind hedges 

couldtn' get the milking stand home though, need another journey this week. not sure how I will milk the nanny yet (probably with lots of bribery!)

thanks for all your tips so far (this reminds me of being pregnant for the first time and needing lots of internet friend support!)

[ballingall]

Oh how exciting Plums!

Shame you couldn't get the bench in, as she is probably more used to that.

I meant to answer your question in the other thread and never got around to it- so I'm going to do it here instead.

when should I milk the nanny?currently she's being mlked mornings so will I be ok to start on monday after school run (about 9am) or do I need to get up extra early?!

Personally, I am a great believer that goats should fit into YOUR lifestyle, not that YOU fit into theirs. So I would milk her at a time that suits you, and if thats after the school run, then fine. I know people who live to a regimented schedule around their goats, which involves milking at exactly 6:30am and 6:30pm, and clearing out the goat pens 3 times a day. Which is fine, but if they have something on, the goats hate any change to their routine even more, because they are so used to certain times.

Our goats are not milked at exact 12 hour intervals, we start milking anytime between 6:30 and 8am, and in the evening generally start around 7:30 to 8:30 pm. But it can vary if we have something on, or visitors etc.

[little blue]

hee-hee, glad they've arrived safely!
I agree with Beth re milking routines, variety is the spice of life after all!

[plumseverywhere]

   thanks Beth and Little blue!

the neighbours are all having a little look now and its nice to actually have a chat over the fence with them about the goats 
the saanenX has just found her way up a plum tree which was quite funny but won't be so funny when we don't have enough plums for our infamous plum wine!

nanny won't even let me near her udder but I must admit I've not tried with a bowl of something nice to tempt her.  fingers crossed that hubby is working near to where they come from and can get the stand for me asap. (like tomorrow!)

[Anke]

Good to hear your goats arrived, and I also think that milking at exact 12 hour intervals is not necesssary. Mine are milked any time between 6am and 7.30am and again (one) around 5.30pm. I need to be able to go out sometime in the evening, and that means that 12hours are just not possible. Goats seem fine by it, also during lambing I have quite a few mornings when the ewes need attantion first, and milking only starts when I have any new arrivals penned up.

[plumseverywhere]

am going to have to make that 100 mile trip to collect her milking stand i think. she's not letting me near her udder. Any tips until I can get the stand?

[Roxy]

I prefer to feed the goats first, then when they chew the cud, milk them.  They will stand with full bellies!!  But with the goat being new to you, it may be easier to stick food in front of her, while you milk.  If she has a collar on, and is being difficult, then tie her up while you milk.  Make sure has a collar on though, just tying rope or string round,  she could end up hanging herself.

I assume you can hand milk?  If not, it will take you some time, and the goat will more than likely eat all the food and get impatient.  If she is used to being on the stand, it may be  she does not like any other method. Also, you are a new person to her, and they can be funny about letting their milk down.  They can be clever at this.  Even though you think you have got all the milk out, I always, stroke down the udder to the teats and find some more.

Is there just the one milking?

Once she gets into your routine, she will be fine with the milking.

[plumseverywhere]

Thanks Roxy 

Its OK , I went and collected the stand and as soon as she saw it she began to get excited! Thinking it would be a better idea to milk her away from the kids but where they could all see each other I brought the stand other side of fence - big mistake, the kids jumped through the 'stock proof' fencing    mad goat chase for 10 mins and milking began while hubby kept them in their paddock. she was absolutely brilliant for me (perfect first timers goat!) and hubby and human kids have all had some milk to drink 
phew. will be better at it tomorrow. stand is now in paddock but outside of shed so boys can stay in shed to eat their feed while I milk mum.

[langdon]

well done you!!!!!

pictures soon? the kids are going to adore them, as ours do they make fantastic pets.
now the both of us need to get our milking hands ready soon!!!

just made a milking stand yesturday, going to give it a coat of wood perserver and then i will
put it on ere

hope your goats settle well for you.

[little blue]

good for you!
nothing quite like is there, providing your 'own' milk for the family (and 2 fingers to Tesco!)

[plumseverywhere]

   yep, the tesco carton stuff doesn't quite taste the same!

to be honest though I am having a bit of a moment right now. a bit of a "what have i done?!" time. I think I'm just exhausted from trying to cope with 4 children then all the driving to get the goats, then today to go and get the milking stand etc
I thought that I'd wrapped the trees well enough to protect them and the goats are just ripping off the wire and working their way through the bark. we have 70 plum trees that we harvest every year for wine and preserves etc. if they all get wrecked it will be devastating.  it goes to show that no matter how well prepared you think you are, nothing prepares you until you have them in your own land and can see what needs working on etc
\I've spent a year reading up and trying to persuade hubby and now I'm wondering if I've made a mistake    sorry just rambling now!! will feel better tomorrow I'm sure.   

[jameslindsay]

Welcome to the world of goats. They can destroy almost anything and get in to anything they want to. You will get to know them soon enough, I hope you salvage your trees.

[Anke]

Langdon, watch what kind of wood preservative you use, make sure its dry before goats get near it. mine have not started chewing their wood bits yet, but I gather some goats can be quite bad at it. However, my GG has a good lick of the chain on the milking stand (the one that holds the two bits together for her head to be held in) every time I finish. Not sure why, but its quite sweet.

Plums - can you separate the goats from the trees in a small field of their own? They will go and take off a lot of bark if they have got the idea. Mine are next to an new apple orchard, but separated by a fence with electric top wire (and we added more wire to make sure), but I hope they will not work their way through. And the worry is that one of my girls will leave the gate open....

[plumseverywhere]

electric top wire sounds good. we have electric fencing around the chickens and it works well.  will talk to hubby tonight (if we stay awake!) 4 children still up and fighting now...(i'm hiding!!)

[Anke]

4 children sound like a lot of work (and fun?!) to me. I have two (8 and 6) and find that enough to cope with at times. But usually after a couple of glasses of wine and going and chilling out watching the lambs having their evening races I can come back to the house (by which time they at least are in their rooms...).

Enjoy your goats, I spend a lot of time with mine, I have a comfy chair in their field and usually have my lunchtime coffee out there watching them.

Another thing you could try is taking your goat(s) for a walk along some (wild) hedges etc, They will then get their fill of branches and so on while out, but it all depends on time (and hands to take goats) available. I walked mine a lot of times in the winter, when they can't be outside much and also when there is snow, just to give them some exercise for when they are expecting kids. Now I am just waiting for more leaves to come out so I can go and cut branches for them again when walking is not possible.