Thank you so much for sharing so many ideas. I don’t think the milk letting down is an issue. I have heard that, too, but her milk is there. She’s not holding it up. She just doesn’t have very much. I’m almost completely sure of this – and the fault lies with her not getting enough to eat – I’m almost sure of this too. We are now grinding up the alfalfa pellets in the Vita-Mix (!!) and she’s eating them and much more content during feedings. But she’s so picky! The oats mix IS coated with molasses and she doesn’t much want it. (We are using up old feed and making some decisions about future feed right now.) Watching her last night while eating, I noticed that she seems to eat only what her tongue will pick up – weird? I don’t know! So the smaller oat flakes and the ground up alfalfa passes her “tongue test”! We are relieved that she really likes the alfalfa now. I guess it was just the size.

It was good of you to point out the bonding. We have been spending much time with Belle and her babies. They seem to be happy and they like us, come up to us, want to be petted, stay near us, etc.

When going through this, it is hard to know what is going wrong – we’re dealing with a transition, babies, food, and then newbies at milking, too! In general everything is going well, but I keep coming back to (kicking myself) not realizing how important it is for the goat to have a good feeding twice a day in order to support milking such as we have in mind. We don’t intend to overburden her, but we’d like to get more than she’s giving now!

Mindy, Jami, Elaine, Mom, Mary, and Christina — hello to you all and thanks for your encouragement!

How fun, they look so cute!
missing you all

My friend said a quart per goat was normal in a milking. I continue to pray for your milking success! Thanking Jesus for 5 3/4 cups!

Gallons of raw goat milk around here are $7 each. That can add up quickly. So can feed, so it is important that we figure that out the healthiest, most economical way.

This is the crux of the matter with all animal raising, throw in time involvement too, this is where my head and heart are – the balancing act. This is why we need to learn to work with the land to support us in our efforts in this regard – I wonder what Joe Salatin would have to say about goat raising *grin*

Michelle – your post is full of such wisdom, I really enjoyed reading it.

I don’t have a lot of experience with milking animals, but isn’t it true that the girl you are milking has to “let down” her milk? If she is feeling stressed or crabby, she won’t relax and let her milk down, and you won’t get much (nor will her babies right afterwards if she’s still feeling annoyed). Though certainly it’s necessary for her to learn that milking is mandatory, I think you just have to accept the physiology that goes along with that kind of disciplinary wrestling match! Not to mention, if YOU are are feeling anxious by the situation, that’s only adding to the dilemma. You’ll have to try to communicate calmness and confidence.

I think you have to get her to calm down and kind of be in “mommy mode” where she’s feeling affection and letting her milk flow, similar to the state she’d be in if she were nursing her own young. And find some way to really reward her when she does what you want (which may be ending the milking session, in the short term).

Also, I think that many people leverage the fact that if you pull her young completely, you are the only one who can offer her relief from a full bag. So, she’ll learn that milking is a good thing. But that’s after she gets over the other stressors.

Maybe you can work separately on improving your relationship with her, with massage and petting, and find some sweet treats that she loves (apples? carrots?), for extra training reinforcers. For the short term, even wet (molasses) grain might be worth the sugary awfulness, just to get her trained? A literal spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down…

Massage, I find, goes a long way towards settling down an upset animal. It triggers endorphins and naturally relaxes, as well as gives you a chance to show that you’re not all bad, that you do nice things too!

Bottle-fed babies are usually much easier to work with in this regard, because they are so tame and bonded to humans already. I’m sure that’s another reason why people consider that a “selling point.” Perhaps even though Honey was not a bottle baby, she may have had more handling growing up, making her easier to handle now. And maybe her temperament is just calmer-something to consider when making breeding decisions in the future, on sire choices and whose babies to keep!

Don’t give up, goats are smart, you’ll get Belle trained and liking you! I don’t doubt Naomi will put in the time required to make her into a star milker!
Michelle

Naomi