HAND MILKING GOATS FOR BEGINNERS

As your doe gets ready to have her kids, the both of you need to get ready for milking. Your doe needs to feel safe and comfortable in the area you are going to be milking her.

One way to do this is to start bringing her into the "milking parlor" to give her a little grain. If she isn't too far along in her pregnancy, you can use this time to trim her feet and give her any vaccinations she is due to have. Use this time to brush her, too. This will not only help get her clean, but the message will be good for her and she will look forward to the times together. You should also clip the hair on her udder, under her tail and the insides of her hind legs.

Once she has freshened you need to milk out her first milk. This is called " colostrum". It is important that the kids get their first colostrum within the first six hours. This has nutrients from their mother and carries some immunities with it.

Bring your new milker into the milking room and put her up in the stanchion. some does are notorious in that they don't want to get up on the stachion. This is the reason you get her used to it before she freshens.

Once you have her up, lock her into the stanchion. This will prevent her from leaving before you are done milking. If you have not already washed her udder, now is the time to do it. There are several commercial preparations but you can also use warm soapy water with a touch of disinfectant in it.

Now it is time to milk. First you need to sit down next to your doe. I sit to the right side of the doe facing to the rear. I place my right hand on her left teat and my left hand on her right teat.

The object is to confine the milk in the teat, and express it out of the teat's orifice into a bucket or bowl. Tightly wrap either your index finger or your thumb around the teat where it meets the udder cutting the milk off so it doesn't go back up into the udder. The teat should feel like a balloon. Close your index finger first, then middle, ring, and then baby finger. This will push the milk down out of the teat and into your clean bucket.

You'll want to express the first squirts of milk into a strip cup. This way you can watch for lumps or bloody milk. A small amount of bloody milk is nothing to worry about, it should clear up in a few days. If it does not clear up in a few days or the udder is hard you will want to contact you veterinarian.

The first milk is known as closotrum and it will be thicker and more yellow than regular milk. The rest of the milk should be squirted into your bucket. You may want to save this for later use (unexpected bottle babies). In some breeds the milk is not drinkable for up to a week because of the closotrum.

If your doe has never been milked she may kick or jump around. Patience, patience, patience and her favorite grain. If she has a favorite treat when she is finished show your appreciaition. Good Luck.