How to Milk a Dairy Goat....with Relaxed Ease!



Posted: Thursday, April 26, 2007

by
The Canine Gazette

Milking a Dairy Goat is like anything else in life, it simply takes practice, patience, and perseverance in order to achieve confidence boosting perfection.

The most crucial thing to remember is that within the very process of making milk and then offering that milk to either a newborn kid, or to a human handmilker, it is by its very act an extremely intimate event in your Doe’s life. Therefore, having a healthy, trusting relationship with your Doe can and does make all the difference.

Milking is typically accomplished twice a day, at 9-12 hour intervals. Regularity is critical for your Doe’s mammary system to remain healthy and unchallenged, as well as her personal happiness. She will quickly expect you at these hours, so select times that you can easily meet on a daily basis. Skipping, forgetting, or being "too tired to milk" simply CANNOT be allowed, since during the 9-12 hour interval, her body continues to make up to a gallon a day in milk! Carrying that around for extended hours will not only cause your Doe to become grumpy and irritable from the strain and pain, but can and usually does cause infections of the udder.

With that said, undertaking the task of acquiring the skills necessary to handmilk your Doe(s) is not overly difficult, but instead can best be described as "different". If you already have a personal relationship with your Doe, then taking it to the next step of handmilking will be relatively easy.

IF, on the other hand, you do not have a relationship with your Doe, then START NOW. That means bringing your Doe into whatever milking area you desire to be your regular milking spot. Brush, groom, and talk with your Doe. Gently and sweetly interact with her, and she'll quickly become accustomed to the new routine. Offer grain in a shallow dish, and be sure that there is plenty for her to eat. She'll nibble away, contentedly, as she begins to relax and accept your movements as common place. This step can take anywhere from a day to several months, depending on the quality of Doe you have purchased, her personal nature, and her personal experiences with milking in the past. Keep your routine regular, even when she is "dry", and she'll happily adapt to it.

For those who already have an established routine, or at least a hands-on relationship with their Doe, the next step will be more worrisome to you than to her.

If your Doe has recently kidded, then she will be making milk on a daily basis. You will need to decide if you are going to "remove" babes at birth, and begin handmilking from the very beginning of lactation, or if you are going to allow your Doe to feed her young, and allow you to take the surplus milk she can supply.* For those who intend to allow the Doe to nurse her young, with you only taking the “excess" milk at milking times, please see footnote.

IF you desire to remove the babes at birth, then there are several ways to accomplish this. The quickest and easiest is to simply remove babes before the Doe even has the opportunity to clean and bond with them. Allow another member of your family to tend to the young one, while you allow the mother to bond with YOU instead. She'll lick, coo and interact with you as her surrogate "babe" and you'll be doing the same with her.

Take her into your already established milking area, and offer her grain ration. She may not eat, as her mind is still on the recent event of kidding, and she'll be looking to you for interaction instead. This is fine, simply talk with her, touch her, and allow her to lick and coo to you as much as she desires. Take your time, for this is crucial to building a healthy milking relationship with her.

Now, gently, but confidently reach for her udder bag. Take a warm, wet cloth (preferably warm, but that's not always possible) and cleanse the entire udder area. The upper to middle portion will not be overly tender, and the warmth will begin to relax her milk ducts allowing milk to begin flowing into her teats. After she has been cleansed of any dirt, afterbirth, hay or dust, dry her gently with another clean, yet disposable towel. DISPOSE OF TOWEL, as this healthy habit will prevent the spread of any infection should your herd unfortunately acquire one.

Next, take about 1/2 teaspoon of udder salve, or Bag Balm and warm it between your hands. Take a teat, with your balmed hands, and making a "C" with your thumb and fingers, gently grasp her teat. Grasp high, above the teat and below the udder. Now, bring your fingers together, and firmly "bump" up INTO her udder, much like a young kid will do. This will encourage more milk to begin flowing downwards, towards the teats. Each Doe is different, so learn what works best for her. Several of my girls don't need this step at all.

Now, taking the thumb and index finger part of your "C", pinch the upper portion of the teat off. You should and will learn to feel that there is now a pocket of milk locked into the teat region. Use your other hand if you need to, but FEEL how you have trapped the milk into the teat area by pinching off the udder with your "C" shaped hand. This will take some (and not a little) hand strength. YOU must prevent the milk from moving back and forth, so keeping these two fingers in a tight pinch is important, and will not bother the Doe.

Now, while still applying pressure with the first two fingers of your "C" start adding the other fingers, one at a time. Think of it this way: Thumb and index have pinched the upper teat. Now middle finger starts to push the milk down, ring finger continues the downward push, and then the pinky or little finger finalizes the push of milk out of the teat opening, leading into a "fist" wrapped around the teat.

Open your "C" again, reach for the top of the teat, bottom of the udder, and repeat. With practice you'll gain speed and confidence. Realize though, that the first few times you'll lose your pocket of milk, as it will eagerly squish back into the udder region. Understanding this though is what's called the "AH ha!!!" moment in hand milking....for with this knowledge comes the mental picture of what exactly you are trying to do. If you can feel the milk, and can feel the effect your hand has on moving the milk, you can then manipulate the udder to expel the milk.

Additionally, as you become more comfortable with milking, you may find that as you press your fingers downward, one at a time, that you really didn't "get" that much milk into the teat area with your initial "C" pinch. Next time, bump into the udder with your upper hand area, actually pushing into the udder, and then pinch off the teat. You'll have more milk with each pinch, if you use this approach.

Now breathe. I can practically guarantee that you have been more nervous than your Doe, and you'll need some air! Relax...she's fine, and the more relaxed and rhythmic you can be, the better she will feel. Just think of it this way: her babe wouldn't be nervous, and has as much experience as you do! Just breathe, slow down, and relax.....

Then, reaching up with your open "C", push into that udder, pinch, press one finger at a time all the way down the teat, and squirt. DO NOT PULL DOWN!!! You are merely squeezing, and that motion in itself will require concentration and strength. Pulling down will stretch the udder muscles and righteously irritate your poor Doe! I personally find that if I place my wrist against her leg, and keep it in that same spot throughout milking, then I can be sure to never slip into “pulling down" instead of “squeezing".

Some folks find it easier to use a cup with a handle underneath the Doe’s teats, others like a mason jar with a filter lid specially made for milking, and then others prefer a bucket. What you find to work, will be as unique as both you and your Doe are already. The important thing is to relax and find a rhythm.

Adding alternating hands to the milking motions, moving your bucket/jar/cup, avoiding your Doe’s feet, and talking to her are all things that you will have to learn with practice. It is recommended that you seek out the initial breeder whom you purchased your herd Doe from, and various Nubian/Dairy Goat forums for help in dealing with behavioral issues. If caught early enough, they can be generally remedied....and the validation from others who have "been there" will keep you from giving up out of discouragement.

When you feel that the udder (otherwise called "bag") is no longer full of milk, continue milking for about 5 more squeezes. Your goal is to empty the udder, as that is the way your Doe's body will understand to continue making more milk for you the next day. This is called "stripping" the teat and udder of the final drops of milk.

When finished, take a small cup, and fill it with whatever teat dip you have decided upon. Most Dairy goat owners recommend using disposable cups (like Dixie ) for this as this too will prevent the spread of any unseen infections. Bring the cup filled with teat dip up under the teat, and allow the teat to sit in this for about 2 seconds. Either wipe dry or allow to air dry, depending on the instructions that accompany your teat dip.

Pet your girl let her know that she did a wonderful job, and is the best looking, finest Doe in the entire world....and let her return to her herd. If your Doe has recently kidded, she will call and ask for you. This is normal, and is an imitation of the basic Doe/kid relationship. Talk to her in return; letting her know that you are okay, and that you'll be back soon. She'll settle with the other girls, and will be eager to see you the next milking time.

Smile.....

You both did a grand job!

Now, get that milk into the fridge so that you can capture all the sweet freshness!

(Images to define the various steps described here can be viewed at www.cwacres.com. Another ethical, high quality Fairy Works Website Design....a truly "must-see" site.)

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Maven
from Texas 4 years 247 days ago.
Thanks for the tutorial. It was very easy to visualize your instructions and compare it to my experience. I'm a novice milker with a first freshener, and you really helped me refine my technique.
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