It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Chloe, the four-year-old Alpine doe I bought, taught me well. And when it came time to milk Dream, one of the original pair we'd bought, it was a one-goat rodeo. I was very thankful that I wasn't a total greenhorn.
But it was still frustrating trying to milk Dream. Really frustrating. Stick-a-hoof-in-the-milk-bucket frustrating. Every single day.
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First, she wouldn't get up on the milk stand. Oh, her front hooves would go up on the stand, but not her back feet. She could still stick her head in the feeder and reach the grain.
Moving the milk stand fixed that issue for the most part. I figured out that I needed to give her a clear path to walk straight towards the stand and up on it, rather than expecting her to make a U-turn when she walked in the milking stall.
So, that problem was easy to solve just by relocating the milk stand, but she would not stand still while I tried to milk. This girl could have tried out for the Radio City Rockettes; she definitely had the moves. While she didn't actually kick me she did stomp on me a few times, and we always ended with at least one hoof in the milk bucket... or an overturned and spilled milk bucket.
Then the barn cats and my two Great Pyrenees dogs, waiting with gleeful anticipation, jumped into the fray to clean it all up for me.
I tell you, I was completely frustrated. I thought many times of throwing in the towel and giving up. But I'm stubborn (just ask hubby).
I finally asked a friend for advice, and what follows is the gist of what she told me, tweaked a bit for my own situation and added to from my experiences.
While there wasn't a dramatic, instantaneous change in Dream, she and I did come to an understanding, and these tips contributed to our compromise.
For most does, once you have her trained she'll be a good milker every year. Dream on the other hand threw her one-goat-rodeo-fit every single spring, and I'd have to remind her again how to behave on the milk stand. After a week or so, she'd settle down again.
The cats and dogs loved it while it lasted.
How to Train a Goat to the Milkstand
1. Locate your milk stand so your goat has a clear path to walk straight to it and jump up.
2. If you are milking more than one goat, milk the troublesome doe last so you aren't frustrated while milking the "good" goats.
3. Assume that for the first week or ten days of milking, you are only going to give the milk to the dogs. It will keep you from being [too] upset when the goat sticks a hoof in the bucket, or dumps it all over the milk stand. And all over you. Really, it will.
2. If you are milking more than one goat, milk the troublesome doe last so you aren't frustrated while milking the "good" goats.
3. Assume that for the first week or ten days of milking, you are only going to give the milk to the dogs. It will keep you from being [too] upset when the goat sticks a hoof in the bucket, or dumps it all over the milk stand. And all over you. Really, it will.
4. Use a deep stainless steel stockpot to milk into, not a fancy milk bucket. It will be harder for the goat to stick her hoof in the tall stockpot.
5. Have a second stockpot or milk bucket. Pour the "good milk" into it every so often. When the doe sticks her hoof in the bucket, you might already have some in the second bucket that is clean. See? Today wasn't a total loss.
6. Attitude is important - your attitude. Assume that today the doe is going to be well-behaved. Relax. Be patient. (And don't let a bad attitude affect the other goats. See tip #2.)
7. Always do things in the same order, every day. You are in the business of training animals.
8. Get your doe used to being handled before she ever comes into milk. Of course this isn't always possible, but if you are raising your doe from a weanling or newborn, it will be easy to prepare her to be a milker long before she is one. (Unless her name is Dream.)
At a month old, Dream's daughter already knew that the milk stand meant treats!
7. Measure your goat's feed before bringing her to the milk stand. Have everything ready before you start. Lock up the barn cats or the puppies or anything else that will be distracting to her or to you.
8. If your goat is especially difficult, you can squeeze her leg just above the hock with one hand while you milk with the other. Squeezing this tendon will help keep her from kicking or stomping. Milking one-handed takes longer but this was the trick to teaching Dream to stand still. She couldn't move her hind leg while I was squeezing the tendon.
Here are the essentials I have on hand when milking my own goats. This list will get you off to a good start.
Are you having trouble with your goat herd rushing the milk stand and putting your life in peril? They know that's where the grain is! In desperation I changed my milking routine and it changed my homesteading life. Here are the three things I changed in my milking routine.
Maybe they'll change your life too!
Maybe they'll change your life too!
Without my friend's advice I might have given up that first spring. I'm glad I persevered and that these tips helped me to train Dream to be a good milker. If you have a problem doe, give this a try. Here's hoping that these tips will help you to train a good milk goat too.
Are you looking for more goat information? Here are all of my goat posts, plus a set of free printable forms for your herd records.
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Related posts:
8 Things You Need to Milk a Goat
How Changing My Milking Routine Changed My Life
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