Today I won! Last night I went out and 'jury-rigged' the stanchion to make it a bit more stable.. and today went a little better. Feta still struggled the whole time, but on a towel so she wasn't slip-sliding all over. I also used the SS measureing cup and dumped so I actually got some clean milk. The amount is still quite pitiful.. but I think that may have more to do with me learning how to milk and also Feta being SO stressed out that the milk just isn't flowing yet... Thanks so much for the great advice - it really helped! Any tricks I should know about 'hand technique'?
Yay! When I was trying to figure it out, I didn't get it until I recalled nursing my own kids and realized it's not just about the teat - it's the whole surrounding area that needs to get squeezed. That was my 'aha' moment. :greengrin: So I guess only if you have nursed babies yourself will you get that analogy. One of these times it will just click for you, so keep trying.
Thanks girls... yes, I nursed 3.... so ... let me try to remember....the last one was almost 16 years ago... i will bear that in mind tomorrow, these teats are so little though on this ND... it IS almost like trying to milk a person... ha ha Thanks for all the encouragement!
Good for you. I started putting my FF girl in the milk stand long before she kidded and touched her over and over until she got the idea. But if you haven't had the opportunity to train her ahead of time. I would say just go slow and never lose your temper. It will happen eventually if you keep at it. Squeeze the teat from top to bottom, don't pull. Try to make sure she has lots of grain while you are milking to keep her occupied. Good luck.
yay! good for you! also, goats are very good at with-holding milk when they want to. but they can only hold out for so long. *thumbs up*
I actually did try to warm up my girl to the milkstand, but the closer she got to kidding.. the less we did it since she had to jump up... I also tried to get her used to my hands all over her, but she never did like it much... especially feeling for babies kicking (but that didn't stop me!) ha ha I just pissed her off a couple of times a day!!! She hasn't touched her grain while in the stand in the mornings, but I'll keep trying... I'm confident we will learn to do this.... and it's actually not as bad as I thought getting up extra early for the milking.. at least so far.. and it's been cold and snow! I DO enjoy spending the time with the girls and the little buck..
My ND FF delivered yesterday (early, stillborn) and I milked her every few hours yesterday because she was quite tight. Got very little each time but she stood nicely. Today I got a little less than a cup this morning and a cup this afternoon. She has such tiny teats that I am missing the container. I have ordered a maggidan milker although I love hand milking. I think it will help get her actually "milked out" and up my production. We'll see. It'll at least keep me from being so covered with milk that missed the bucket!
Wow. I remember crying the whole way through my first time milking. Thinking, "What the heck have I gotten myself into?" :wink: It DOES get better. VickieH, that was a great analogy...makes perfect sense.
