OK, here's the quick backstory. DH and I were planning to get 2 dairy goats this Spring, maybe April or May. Neither of us have ever raised a goat or milked any animal before. So through a series of events, we end up with Penny, an alpine/nubian goat already in milk, about 5 days ago. Her sister is also coming to live here by the end of this week. So right now we have Penny alone (which I'm sure is a stressor for her), in a new home, in milk for the first time, just separated from her kid an hour before she came here (they sold the kid to someone else before we picked her up), and with very little milking experience before us. They mostly just let her kid nurse.
And then you have us, with NO experience with goat care, let alone milking.
On the plus side, Penny's mother was a great milker...very calm, a gallon a day give or take. And Penny is very friendly, just nervous. I can understand her nervousness.
And on the plus side, I am very committed to learning how to care for her and milk her. In general, I learn best by experience rather than reading about it in a book, so I expected to have a steep learning curve myself when we brought home our goats all along.
Now to the details: she's been making leaps and bounds in her milk stand behavior. Yesterday, she *ate some grain!!!* for the first time while I milked her.
Before that, she was so nervous, she wouldn't even eat.
But her supply is going fast because she gets so upset and wiggly when I try to empty her. We had to use a goat hobble for her kicking during milking (plus I'm pregnant, so the goat hobble gives me the peace of mind I need to control her well), and she has a head stanchion with her feed bowl. She can't do any real damage to herself or me while we're milking, she just won't. stand. still. after a certain point to let me empty her. We get the milk out to the point she's no longer engorged, and then that's it. So obviously, her supply is waning quickly.
Also, it takes a full two hours at each milking. Can someone reassure me this is within the range of normal for us first-timers and will improve? Milking goes like this: massage udder, teat fills, I get 3-4 good squeezes, no more. Back to massage udder a bit, teat fills, 3-4 squeezes. This goes on and on. Every noise makes her freeze up. Every change in my position.
I don't know if goats are like us, but my letdown response is not there when I'm scared or feel unsafe. Could it be the same for her?
Things are definitely improving. I'm really getting to know the feel and anatomy of udders and teats and how you can literally feel the milk come into the teat, feel where the milkbag ends, etc. I guess I should if I'm working there for 2 hours at a time every day!
But I'm afraid that she will dry up before we can get the hang of things. Any suggestions and tips appreciated, especially about getting her completely emptied, unless they have to do with things we can't change now. Could we have done things differently before bringing her home? Surely.
But that doesn't help the current situation, so I won't even let myself dwell on that until I work us through whatever needs to be done now. 
Please help us! Thanks!!!
And then you have us, with NO experience with goat care, let alone milking.
On the plus side, Penny's mother was a great milker...very calm, a gallon a day give or take. And Penny is very friendly, just nervous. I can understand her nervousness.
And on the plus side, I am very committed to learning how to care for her and milk her. In general, I learn best by experience rather than reading about it in a book, so I expected to have a steep learning curve myself when we brought home our goats all along.
Now to the details: she's been making leaps and bounds in her milk stand behavior. Yesterday, she *ate some grain!!!* for the first time while I milked her.
Before that, she was so nervous, she wouldn't even eat.But her supply is going fast because she gets so upset and wiggly when I try to empty her. We had to use a goat hobble for her kicking during milking (plus I'm pregnant, so the goat hobble gives me the peace of mind I need to control her well), and she has a head stanchion with her feed bowl. She can't do any real damage to herself or me while we're milking, she just won't. stand. still. after a certain point to let me empty her. We get the milk out to the point she's no longer engorged, and then that's it. So obviously, her supply is waning quickly.
Also, it takes a full two hours at each milking. Can someone reassure me this is within the range of normal for us first-timers and will improve? Milking goes like this: massage udder, teat fills, I get 3-4 good squeezes, no more. Back to massage udder a bit, teat fills, 3-4 squeezes. This goes on and on. Every noise makes her freeze up. Every change in my position.
I don't know if goats are like us, but my letdown response is not there when I'm scared or feel unsafe. Could it be the same for her?
Things are definitely improving. I'm really getting to know the feel and anatomy of udders and teats and how you can literally feel the milk come into the teat, feel where the milkbag ends, etc. I guess I should if I'm working there for 2 hours at a time every day!
But I'm afraid that she will dry up before we can get the hang of things. Any suggestions and tips appreciated, especially about getting her completely emptied, unless they have to do with things we can't change now. Could we have done things differently before bringing her home? Surely.
But that doesn't help the current situation, so I won't even let myself dwell on that until I work us through whatever needs to be done now. Please help us! Thanks!!!
)
I wrote about it on our blog:
I read your blog post. 
