Wild goat Milking
By Connie Reynolds
I'm starting to worry about my selling practices. I think I am selling
all my good ones and keeping the idiots. This could be lack of sleep
talking, since we are still kidding. I keep hearing about selling off one
kid so the other can have more milk (especially if she's your replacement
doe). Good theory, but my girls can count. It there aren't two or even
three rumps there in line nursing then no one nurses.
I've had two pull this on me this year. The newest one is a 94% from
Texas, wildish, had triplets, cautiously I sold one buck off, waited a
week, everyone was nursing all right. Waited another week, sold the other
buck. Lily counted rumps, found only one, said no way and refused the girl
nursing rights, and immediately bagged up as big as any dairy goat.
We cornered her, manually got her in the milk stand, she's fighting mad
now. Lee starts to milking, she starts to kicking and jumping up and down.
Grain is not going to pacify this girl. I had left her a day in her
condition hoping she'd let her daughter eat, no go. She starting humping up
in the back and looking sick by the end of the day from all the milk.
Milking was the only answer, or one of our deaths.
I grabbed hold of a hind leg with both hands, she's kicking so fast and
furious my hands are pumping back and forth like an old locomotive, but Lee
is able to get in there and start milking. She's getting really mad now,
the milk stand is a bouncing, my arms are pumping back and forth trying to
hold onto her kicking leg, Lee's ducking and dodging, trying to milk, and he
has to speak up over the noise, "What are you laughing at?" I had to holler
back, "Isn't this the funniest sight?" He rolls his eyes back. If only we
had a video camera.
Got a quart out of each side to ease her only a little (she's still huge)
and she wins by laying down in the stand with her head hung in the
stanchion. She insists she's quite comfortable this way. We get her up by
letting her baby run and jump on her back, forcing her to stand. We thought
the baby should get a little revenge on mom.
Tonight we have to milk again.
Connie
