Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Tanks- to answer your question about the names...she takes all her goat names from the bible. Bered is the name of a town and also means "hail"....that may explain something. She was very difficult to milk this morning but I'll get to that later. It's pronounced Bear-id.

Bethoron--also the name of a town from the Bible and pronounced just like it looks Beth- OR- un. She is very laid back and sweet. She was bred once this fall and didn't settle. She didn't want to re-breed her and have all the babies staggered too much so she just let her be for this year. We'll breed her in the fall. She was born in March 2009.

And then there is Tally...short for Talitha Cumi, also from the Bible. If you google each one it will give you the biblical references for each. It's pretty neat. She is definitely our herd boss. She was born in 2004 and is our special goat, never to be bred.

So the only one I'm milking right now is Bered and she is proving to be difficult for me but alas....a dream for Chad. She actually FELL ASLEEP on his shoulder on the milk stand last night. Not so this morning. She stepped in the bucket 4 times, knocked it over twice, and laid down on me at least 6-8 times. I got her milked out but I'm thinking she might be holding back some milk since we took her off her babies Tuesday. She should get better but she is giving me at least 2-3 cups at each milking and if I massage her udder and bump it a bit sometimes she'll give me another 1/4-1/2 cup.

That's pretty good for a nigi. She is an easy milker when Tally isn't screaming her fool head off for her out in the pasture. That's part of the problem too....she can't see them but they holler at each other. I have to get an O ring to screw into the wall and a double sided clip so I can clip her collar to the wall and that way she can't lay down.

She isn't eating her grain much at all. I'm only feeding her on the stand but she is kind of worrying me a bit about that. I know she's eating hay and drinking water and browsing in the pasture. The kids pulled some oak leaves and gave them some yesterday and I cut a few small cedar branches for them.

They are standing in the corner of the pasture closest to the house and just staring at the back door. I'll be glad when they relax a bit.

Today's milking scores a la OFG----me C (for effort)
Bered D- (at least she let me milk her out or it would be an F)

This too shall pass.....

 

[gettinaclue]

Maybe putting a bucket or something under her will keep her from laying down. Under her chest maybe?

 

[TanksHill]

Thanks Lori. I kinda figured there was a Bible connection. That would explain why I was unfamiliar with the names. I should probably read that book sooner than later.

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[lorihadams]

We'll see what happens the next couple of days with the milking. I had to sit on the milking stand with my shoulder against hers and my leg under her and she still sat on me. I'm hoping the clip on her collar will help keep her from laying down. She doesn't like the leash at all and she seems to pull away from me immediately as soon as she sees it.

We are going to build a deck with a ramp up to it from the pasture gate for her to go into the barn and maybe that will make it easier for her to relax. She really hates the leash.

On a lighter note...I'm gonna kill my children today, they have done nothing but fight each other and I'm over it. Tyler is in his room until I leave for the dentist cause he just will not stop picking on his sister. I have had to be out running around the last couple of days and we have not had a set schedule the last week and I know some of it is boredom but I have to get some stuff done.

The inspector came today to inspect the framing on the garage and it failed because the truss company never sent us a stamped copy of the truss specs. I had to call the company and get that straightened out so they will be faxed to the county tomorrow and it should pass after they get that.

BF and her family are coming tonight for dinner and that will be fun. At least the kids will be occupied and I can get a break from the drama. Hubby is gonna cook hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and I got some corn on the cob too. She is gonna bring chocolate and graham crackers and I have marshmallows so the kids can do smores out back on the fire pit. Should be fun....until it is time to milk again. I think Bered senses my frustration too and she is tensing up on me because of that.

I have a Henry Milker and I want to use it on her but I don't want to deviate from the hand milking until she calms down. If I lose some milk from her kicking around then so be it for right now. Hopefully she'll get better. She actually laid down on the bucket this morning and I had to pick her up and set her back up on her feet several times. My back is killing me. She had better do better tonight or I'm gonna scream.

 

[lorihadams]

So last night wasn't horrible but not great either. She didn't lay down on me but she did put her feet up on the front of the stand and try to go over it.

This morning was way worse. I had hubby get me a ring and of course, his idea just had to be better than mine. NOT. This morning I struggled with his setup for 15 minutes, put the goat back in the pasture, got out the toolbox and changed everything, got the goat back on the stand, and after another 45 minutes managed to get a cup of milk out of her. I dipped her teats and then hand fed her cause she has yet to eat all her feed while she is on the stand. Her first two milkings I got almost 2 cups out of her but today she's down to a cup. I am worried that she is gonna dry up if she doesn't eat enough and I can't get the milking situation fixed.

She keeps laying down on me. She tries to kick me everytime I touch her udder but I am not giving up, I just keep on milking except when I have to pick her fat butt back up and stand her up. I don't know what to do with her. We don't have a head gate on the stand so maybe if we put one on that will help with her staying focused. I don't know.

She practically tap danced all over me this morning and I'm covered in bruises. I need to go take a shower and get something productive done with the children today. I am really leaning towards sending Tyler to first grade cause he just won't listen to me and I'm so frustrated that I fly off the handle and it just makes things worse. I hate it cause I really do hate the public school system but maybe a year in school will do us both some good. Then if he decides later that he doesn't want to continue we can always homeschool again.

On top of all this, Maddie is sick. She has a stopped up nose and sounds awful. Fun stuff. The good news is that I got our state tax return check in the mail yesterday and hopefully the federal is soon behind it cause that will pay for our personal property taxes and finish paying off the new furniture. Hubby goes to get the recliner today and then I get to go argue with the feed store again.

They carry Blue Seal goat feed but the store (TSC) 3 minutes from my house says that corporate won't let them order it for their store cause the store 20 minutes away on the other side of town has it there(which they don't, hubby checked yesterday). They refused to order it unless we ordered a ton. WTF??? I'm so pissed off I can't see straight. So on top of everything else I'm gonna have to switch their feed. I am thinking I may go get some alfalfa pellets and beet pulp to mix in with it. I just want her to eat.

AND there was a story on the local news about a guy that had a bee hive in the walls of his apartment for the last 3 years and he finally (after knowing about them and not having any issues) decided to call an exterminator and have them killed. They removed 2 GARBAGE CANS full of honeycomb and dead bees after they gassed them. Chad called the news station and demanded they run another follow up story in response and tell people not to call an exterminator but a beekeeper that could remove the bees alive.

I have already been on the new channels website with a comment and expressed my outrage at this man's stupidity.

Oh, the drama.....

 

[ksalvagno]

It takes time for you and her to get used to each other. My boarder picked up her goats and I was getting at least a quart per day from the goat and she stands beautifully for me. Not so for the boarder. She also isn't eating her grain. They really do get upset with change. Even more so than other animals. Unfortunately it is just time and patience that are needed.

I have a female that doesn't like to be milked. I milk one teat at a time and have to hold her leg or hold it up so she doesn't kick all over the place.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i know what you mean about the milking drama. i'm milking one doe right now and she was really testing my patience. i tie her back legs to the stand. she can still get her legs up and about but not enough to step in the bucket (which thankfully she hasnt because i might have lost it lol). when she lifts her leg up i say "foot down" and if she keeps it up i grab her foot and hold it down firmly and tell her again. gotta make sure you dont let the tie on her legs get too tight because that'll make her kick alot more because it'll be uncomfortable.
i'm on day 7 of milking her. we are both getting used to it now.
i'm gonna start milking my second doe now too. i know she's got a worse temper and her teats are so small... not really looking forward to milking her tonight...
as for the laying down thing, i would try sticking a bucket under her belly. one that is just shorter then her belly so she doesnt feel it there until she tries to lay down. although i've never had a doe do that to me that is what i'd try.
good luck

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

If it comes down to it, I would tie both legs just above the feet to the stand, and also place a heavy bucket or block under her belly.
She is not a first freshener right?

My FF is breaking rules too. Poops at least twice every time she is milked

 

[Farmfresh]

An old horse trick to keep weight on a back foot is to pull the tail towards you. This shifts the body weight so that they either have to put weight on the foot or fall.

Another horse trick is a "knee hobble". You use a wide belt or strap around the leg just above the foot then bend the knee and run the strap around the foreleg above the knee which holds the foot in a bent position and off the ground.

The final hobble is a "scotch hobble" which you use on the side opposite where you are working. A large fixed loop is placed around the neck and the back leg is pulled forward and off of the ground. Again you either stand still on that other back leg or fall.

Here are some decent pics of the hobbles hobbles about half way down the page.

 

[TanksHill]

Sorry to hear your having trouble milking Lori. I would definitely talk to someone in Management at your feed store. They if anything should ship it form the further away store to the near one for you. At now extra charge.

Farm Fresh, those poor horses looked like they were in hand cuffs. I know there has to be a good reason for it though. Kicking etc...??


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