I have been milking our goat for a little over 2 months now.  I’m so proud of myself!  We get between 2 to 3 cups a day from milking twice a day.  I wouldn’t say I’m a guru yet…but one day I will be!  🙂 Since I’ve gained some knowledge from milking, I want to share my experience.

I found that once you get the hang of milking, it’s easy.  I remember the first time I tried to milk our goat, Hazelnut.  All I can say is “awkward”.  As I have mentioned before I have never milked an animal before.  I had watched several videos of other people milking.  It looked easy but when it came time to milk I found that it wasn’t as easy as it had looked  I grasped onto the teat, squeezing, and nothing.  I kept doing this and only got a few tablespoons.  Hazelnut then got frustrated, moving around, and I gave up milking her that time.  Of course I had to go back out later and try again since I didn’t want to risk her getting mastitis (blocked milk ducts).  

The second time I milked her that day it wasn’t as “awkward” and I actually got more.  It seemed like the more I milked her the better I was getting and knew how to hold my hand around the teat and get the milk out.

Basically when milking you have to grasp where the udder begins to get bigger from the teat.  Squeeze with index finger going under your thumb and allow the other fingers to follow down. 

Below I have posted pictures of how I milk:

 

 

 

You want to squeeze the udder where it gets bigger from the teat.
The other fingers will follow once the index finger and thumb are squeezing the udder.
Once the other fingers join in with the squeezing, milk will come out.

I have noticed even now that sometimes there won’t be much milk that comes out at the first squeeze.  She needs to “let her milk down” and once that happens the milking is easy peasy!  When you think you are done milking it’s important to give her udder a soft bump of with your fist or massage the udder because more milk will come down.  This will let you get a little more milk out.  

I made a video showing how I milk, which is posted below.  I’m hoping it will be helpful but really you just have to keep trying until you find your technique.  If you are having trouble milking then I promise it will get easier each time you do it.  In the video, I also put in there what to do when your goat is kicking.  When Hazelnut starts to kick or move around too much, I will bring her hind leg up and milk her that way.  

Enjoy watching the video! 🙂