If you have dreamed of starting your own dairy program but cows seem a bit too big for your homestead, then milking goats might just be the answer you have been looking for.
Goats are smaller options compared to cows (For more Cow vs Goat Comparisons), but they still require a good amount of training when it comes to milking. There are a few things that can make your time milking a little easier, one of those things is a milk stand.
A milking stand is normally an elevated platform that holds your goat in place while you milk. You can buy pre-made milk stands or you can Build a Goat Milking Stand but I do recommend using one.
If you have a first-timer or a goat new to the milk stand training is going to be needed to get them used to it and you milking them. Today I’m welcoming Heather from Green Eggs and Goats! She’s sharing her expertise on training a goat to cooperate on the milking stand–something which, I can attest, can be a bit of a challenge sometimes!
I’ll be honest, training a new goat to the milk stand is not the easiest homesteading task I’ve ever set out to do. Some goats are an absolute dream, they hop trustingly onto the stand and stand politely until you finish. Most of the time, however, you leave your first few milkings feeling like you have just completed a triathlon!
Tips for Training Your Goat on a Milk Stand
1. Start Training Your Goat on a Milk Stand with Food
All goats come with different personalities and appetites. When I’m training, I will allow them to eat more sweet feed (or even put some molasses on the feed) if they have a sweet tooth. I have one goat who loves alfalfa, so I let her have extra at the start of the milking season. If you can distract your goat with something yummy while you are training them, things are much easier. Once she gets the hang of things, then I slowly change out her feed for more hay or her regular ration.
2. Start Training Your Goat on a Milk Stand Early
If you have your goat sometime before kidding season, then you should start getting them used to the milk stand months in advance. Start by feeding them there regularly and while they are eating mess with them like you would when you are milking. You won’t be able to actually milk them, but you will start them on their milking routine.
Note: It is never too early to start getting goats used to the milk stand, start even earlier by trimming young goats’ hooves while they are on the stand or you can feed them and then brush them while they are on there. Try and keep it a positive experience.
3. Talk to Your Goat to Keep Them Calm
A kicking goat can really bring out my frustration, but I try not to show it. Talk calmly and sweetly to the goat, and try to keep a peaceful environment. Sometimes I even diffuse a little lavender when I’m training a goat. I’m not sure if it calms her or me, but either way, it seems to help.
3. Use Restraints if Necessary
I don’t like using hobbles, but I will if I have a kicker on the stand. Goat hobbles are a type of restraint that attaches the back legs together to keep them from moving. They aren’t a foolproof method, but they can help calm the kicking down a little bit.
4. Keep One Hand on the Rear Leg
If I have a goat who is really kicking and likely to hurt me or step in the milk bucket, I place my left hand on her back leg and milk with only my right. Of course, this slows things down, since I’m milking one-handed, but it protects the precious milk I’m working hard to get.
5. Be Patient and Don’t Rush
Milking a goat in training will take longer than it will milk a seasoned doe. You will want to plan for about 30 minutes or more depending on the goat. Planning will allow you some extra time and you will not be in a rush to move on to the next thing. Rushing is a good way to stress out your goat in training and yourself. Remember you are trying to keep the milking experience as pleasant as possible.
6. If She’s a Squatter, Try a Lower Bucket
One common complaint when training a goat to the milk stand is that she will squat to the point that you can barely get to her udder to milk her. My easy solution for this is to find a shorter bucket to use until she learns to stand tall. A small stainless steel pan with low sides that holds almost a gallon would work great.
7. Milk Trainees in a Separate Bucket
If you are milking both a trainee and a seasoned milker, it is probably smart to use a separate bucket. The trainee is much more likely to put her foot in the bucket, so protect your other milk by taking two buckets to the barn.
Jill here: this is my favorite trick for milking grumpy goats and cows! I will often milk into a smaller, separate bucket and then dump it into my big milk bucket–just in case.
8. Stick to a Routine When Training a Goat on a Milk Stand
Starting with a milking routine can really help train your goat to the milk stand, especially if this routine includes feeding time. Try and keep the times that you milk around the same time every day, this way each day there are no surprises. By the third day, they usually begin to settle into the routine of milking. She will look forward to the feed in her bowl and won’t care too much that you are milking her. Even if it takes longer than this, don’t give up, she’ll come around!
9. Don’t Give Up
Don’t give up, goats can be stubborn but once they get the hang of things and understand that you can be more stubborn they will settle down. It will get easier and your goat will stand and quietly get milked….eventually.
Are You Training Your Goat on a Milk Stand?
Goats are not born knowing exactly what to do when the time comes for you to milk them. It takes time patience and training. A milking stand can be a great help when it comes to adding a new goat to your milking routine. Remember it isn’t always easy training a goat but if you stick with it your goat will peacefully stand and get milked.
More About Goats:
- How to Use a Milking Stand (video)
- How to Milk a Goat (video)
- How to Tell When Your Goat is in Labor
- 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Get Goats
Heather is a wife, daughter, mother of three, homeschooler, homesteader, egg gatherer, cow milker, goat chaser, and country girl blogger. She and her family live on about three acres of land in beautiful Remlap, Alabama. You can catch all of her adventures at her Green Eggs & Goats blog or on Facebook!
I’ve always wondered how to do this. Thanks! We have two male goats but I’d love to get some girls too!
I read this on a blog the other day, I think it sums up the process… “When training a first freshener to milk, you will discover she has all the athletic ability of a 12yo Russian gymnast. Somehow, she can do a perfect handstand, with her hind legs wrapped around her ears, one foot in the milk bucket, one horn wrapped through your belt-loop, and STILL have her nose in the feed bucket munching on oats.” I bought a first freshener for my first ever milking experience. Milk and tears were spilled everywhere, but now she stands great. 🙂 Here is a link the the blog post I got that from: http://goatsandgardens.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/10-things-no-one-tells-you-about-goats-until-its-too-late/
LOL– they nailed it!!
This year was my first milking experience… and my new goat’s first freshening. It was a terrible combination! She was a kicker and had small teats that were difficult to milk. It took WEEKS of hobbling to make her stop kicking. Eventually we learned that she likes music, so I play quiet songs on my phone while I milk! Now it’s been almost 5 months and she stands nicely.
Hey– whatever works, huh? I love it! 🙂
I have two sisters, Nubians, about 200 lbs each, bottle raised mind you, who would scream and fling themselves onto the stand floor. I had build a big stand out of oak and attached two soft leather ankle straps lined with sheepskin to the rear corners. They scared me that they would break their necks. At the time I had two twin neighbor teenaged boys two miles down the road from me. They came and each held a leg for at least a year helping me train these horrors to milk.
I’ve got a doe that I’ve milked for two seasons and, for whatever reason, she will jump both feet in the air and kick like crazy if I dont hobble her every time. Once I get started WITH the hobbles, she stands just fine. Without them I say a quick goodbye to any usable milk lol
We used to feed grain on the stand but never had the best of cooperation from our girls. While talking to a breeder at a adga show, she mentioned that she didn’t feed on the stand and that her girls were much better behaved since she had made the change, anticipating a treat when the milking is done. We tried her method and it has worked wonders here. It did take a little while for them to get used to the new routine, but now the does wait patiently to be milked and then get very excited afterwards to get their treat, which is a handful of corn or other grain that is a favorite. No more “dancing” on the stand or feet in the pail.
I have passed this on to others who have said it has worked for them as well.
Of course, there are those stubborn ones that will be ornery no matter what! Thankfully we don’t have any like that right now 🙂
Wanted to add that these are great tips!!
But the grain us how I get them into the stand to start with.
Wonderful and beautiful!!!
Great tips! I get them up on the milk stand as early as possible (when they are tall enough to get to the feeding dish). I give them a small handful of alfalfa pellets and or chopped zucchini/carrots. I trim their hoofs, brush them, etc. At first they are skittish, but they soon stand still. When they come into milk, they are already used to it.
Very educational. I don’t have goats but love learning about them. We had Nubians but used them for lawn mowing purposes.
Great post, Heather! Those are great tips. Training a first-timer isn’t my favorite thing either.
Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead
Thank you!
What a great post, Heather! Sharing your experiences in milking with others is so informative! I have yet to try milking my first fresheners! I don’t know why! I need to while they are still in milk. After all, that’s why I got them in the first place. If I had a milkstand, I would go ahead and give it a try. Can they be milked without one? I love yours, by the way, Heather! Thanks for sharing! And thank you Jill, for allowing her to, here on your blog! Blessings from Bama!
Well I have had no luck milking so far. My first doe that delivered refused to give me milk. I think I only got 1/4 cup. She has 1 big teat and the other one is the one her kid is nursing off of.m the next doe that delivered died just out of the blue. Have no idea why! Her buckling refused to take the bottle after numerous attempts but he was eating well on his own! I watched him and realized that he was peeing towards his scrotum, his penis was pointing backwards…well I took him to the vet and he has a birth defect. His penis is right next to his scrotum. He will never be able to breed. The only thing the vet can do is to surgically place his uretha Behind his scrotum like a does and maybe wether him. If we leave it the way it is he will make his scrotum raw and the flies could lay eggs there. So the only choice is to move it.the vet said we could make cabrito out of him but I just could not do that since I have been working with him to tame him down. Unfortunately he is a blue eyed polled buckling so he would of made a good breeder. (Sigh) he also suggested giving him the medicated Noble goat feed to help prevent urinary calculi. One good thing I can put him in with the girls and not worry about him breeding with them, he is a Nigerian dwarf. I also have mini-Nubians. Anyway his surgery is scheduled Aug 18, and I am having surgery on the 20th. They have to replace my knee replacement due to a femur break that I got 2 yrs ago and the cement cracked and made my old replacement loose.
Kathy in Texas
You can’t do anything about it now, but get Pat Coleby a Natural Goat Care, good info on nutritional therapy, and watch any and all Joel Wallach’s videos on YouTube, and read his Epigenetics book. He’s a vet first and then became a human DOC and has a unique insight on all species. He literally wrote the tome on all species care and physiology used by vets offices. He has done thousands of autopsies and learned most things are nutritional, including birth defects.
One other thing, it hasn’t cured the bad behavior entirely, but I began using an electric miker. It’s half gallon canning jar, 3 holes drilled in the removable cap, 1/4″ tubing,. One to a ” professional” Waring vacuum pump for food storage. The other two ( or one as I never have enough hands so I cap one off) get dairy supply silicone goat inflations. I had to cut a hard plastic tube about 1.5″ diameter and silipoxied it to the flexible part of the inflation. This doesn’t allow as much flesh to pull in and clog the inflation as the 60 ml syringe most people use. And it feels better to the goat. The hand squeezing seems to set them off much worse than the machine. Also no more dirt in your milk since your connection is sealed, unless she kicks dirt in before you attach it. It even works during squatting. I even had a girl flop on the floor with her head still in the stanchion. I kept milking.
I have two Nubians. One I was able to train to the milking stand (the lady I bought her from said they were both trained), but it was a horrible experience. She would kick alot and jump off the stand. It doesn’t have a stanchion. But after a few days she calmed down and as long as the grain bowl is full she will let me milk her. After 6 months of milking her, today halfway through milking, she starts kicking and jumping off. She refused to let me milk her. My husband helped me put hobbles on her and she just kept jumping away from me. My husband and I had to pin her against the wall so I could finish milking her. This is the experience we have with our other Nubian which I just can’t milk because of this behaviour. I am really upset that the one I have is now behaving the same. Now I have two useless goats.
Hi Barbara,
Just read your blog input on milking Nubians. Thanks for sharing. Bless your heart. I have had the same experience with my two first time milkers. The previous owners said they had been milked. Well o.k. whatever, they ain’t buyin it…kicked over both their milk this morning all over the milkstand. That was after I muscled up and literally lifted one doe onto the stand afterwhich she pouted and just sat down on it. I got my stubborn streak up and hung in there with her fighting me non-stop to finish four ounces. Mercy! I am going to try some lavendar therapy on her. She cooperates until the apples and carrots are gone and refuses to eat the sweat feed underneath. She has been very moody since coming to my farm, but the other doe is attaching more easily. Guess it is like people; we are each individuals. If we don’t give up, neither will they. Hang in there!
I’m having trouble with my Nubian. I have been working over two weeks trying to milk her I have a milking stand my husband built. She will get into the stand perfectly I put food down and she will eat but when I reach under her to even just touch her belly she doesn’t kick, she just lays down I’ve put a board across the headstand under her neck so when she sits down she cannot reach her food, hoping this will encourage her to stand up. But does not work. When I purchased her she just gave birth to her first kid a few weeks earlier and has never been miked. I also purchased her kid so he still feeds off her. The few seconds I am able to milk her before she lays down her milk comes out easily. How can I encourage her to stand up instead of laying down on the job? Or is it something that is just going to take time?
We just bought two nannies. One is an alpine who was unfortunately separated from her kids. We didn’t want them for milking but she is so full and having just had a baby I know the feeling. How often should we try milking her?
does anyone know of a good place to get a milker that would work on a nigerian dwarf doe?
i really need to know about a milk machine.
also is this forum still active
Thank you! I will definitely need this! Getting 2 Nigerian Dwarf doelings that have been breed soon. This will also be my first time ever milking a goat so I really hope this works! ? From what I’ve heard, it does ! ?
We are going to get a 3 year old mom with her babies and she has not been milked before. Can she still be trained?
Most likely you can still train the goat. It will depend on her personality. You might have to have lots of patience and slowly work up to it.
I just finished listening to the new book on audio – THANK YOU so much!!
I have 3 full size Nubian does (3 year olds) who were used to humans but other than that pretty much left to their own devices and hadn’t been bred. We bred one successfully & with much cajoling and learning a whole new kind of patience, were able to train her to the stand and milk her ( a HUGE win!).
The other two are pregnant now, and I have not had the time to work with them as I should have. They’re each very large and strong and they’re friendly, but just won’t get onto the stand for me (even with others assisting) no matter the enticement, pushing, pulling, walking next to, etc. – not having any of it. I have a few months before they freshen… any advice on how to get two stubborn drama queen does onto a stand?
These tips are what Jill used for her goats. If your goats are super stubborn, the best thing to do is slow slow slow training to the milk stand. It’s going to take lots of patience but you’ll have to be more stubborn than the goats!