Twin Willows Farm Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats Logansport Indiana
Like us on Facebook
  • Home / Blog
  • Meet Our Herd
    • Senior Does
    • Junior Does
    • Bucks
    • Bucks On Ice
    • Retired
  • 2025 Breeding Schedule
  • Show Records
  • Genetic and Production Awards
  • Goats For Sale
  • Pre-Purchase Questionnaire
  • Sales Policy
  • Goats Ever Owned
  • Farm Services
  • Herd LIVESTREAM
  • How to Get Started Raising Goats
  • Nigerian Dwarf Facts

How to Hand-milk a Goat

1/6/2013

5 Comments

 
Here at Twin Willows Farm, if we only have one or two does in milk, we choose to hand-milk instead of using the milk machine.  We feel that the cleanup time required to use the milker is not justified by the time savings during milking.  We currently only have one doe in milk, and her name is Precious.

First, let's start off by listing the items required to hand-milk:

A goat in milk (obviously)
A stanchion w/ feeder
A milk stool
Some grain (we feed Purina Noble Goat)
Paper towels
10% Bleach water solution in a spray bottle
1 clean & sanitized milk bucket
Small cap or jar
1 gallon plastic bag (the twist tie kind, not the zipper kind)
Fight-Bac Teat Disinfectant Spray

How to milk:
First, lead the doe to the stanchion.  Ours usually come out of the stall willingly and go to the stanchion on their own, and when we have more than one doe milking they will come to the gate to be milked, in the same order, everyday.  Feed your doe grain in the stanchion so that she is occupied during milking. This creates a pleasant experience for the doe and is enough to make her want to come to the parlor to be milked the next time.
Picture
Precious on the stanchion ready to be milked.
Cleanliness before,during, and after milking is paramount, especially if you intend to consume the milk, which we do.
We line the milk bucket with the plastic bag.  This makes everything easier to clean up while providing a sanitary vessel for storage and transport of the milk.
Picture
Line bucket with gallon plastic bag for cleanliness.
Next, we spray the teats with the 10% bleach water solution and wipe clean with a clean paper towel, and use the bleach water solution to disinfect our hands, using a clean paper towel to dry them. We also have teat wipes to clean the teats before milking, but I, personally, like the bleach water better.  I find that teat wipes create a stickiness on the teats and hands, and makes it difficult to milk. We find that the bleach water does not have any adverse effect on teats, but it DOES badly dry out the milker's hands.
Next, strip each teat once into the small cap or jar to check for any signs of mastitis.  Any blood, pus, lumps or irregularities is checked in this first milk.  If all is clear you may proceed with milking. If not, you need to treat the doe for mastitis immediately.
Picture
Precious- Ten hour fill.
I prefer to milk from behind the doe, but you can easily milk from the side as well. If the doe is used to being milked and is content with letting you milk her while she eats, I find that milking both teats from behind is the easiest and fastest way to get it done. Place the bucket in front of and centered between the doe's back legs, underneath but slightly forward of the teats. Now you are ready to milk.
The method of milking a doe depends mostly on the teat size (I can address this issue of smaller teats in a later posting.) Luckily, Precious has large teats, and I have small hands, so milking her is extremely easy.  The trick to milking is to trap the milk at the base of the teat with your fingers and roll it out of the teat with your other fingers.  I like to use my thumb and index finger in a circle to trap the milk, and then gently close each of my other fingers in turn to gently extract the milk out of the orifice.

Note--The following pictures are a little awkward because I had to turn my hand toward the camera for demonstration.  When milking, the backs of your hands should be parallel with the doe's inner thighs.
Picture
Trap the milk in the teat with thumb and forefinger encircling the teat at the base.
Picture
Close your second finger to advance the milk down the teat and out the orifice.
Picture
Close your third finger to finish advancing the milk down the teat. Release and repeat.
When the teat is empty, I release my thumb and forefinger to let more milk into the teat, trap it again with my thumb and forefinger, and repeat the extraction by closing my other fingers down the length of the teat.  Sometimes, I milk both teats simultaneously, while other times I alternate one teat and then the other.  Whichever way you decide, it is important to milk both sides evenly to keep the two halves of the udder producing equal amounts of milk. The key to milking is to be gentle, yet firm and always be calm.  Milking should be a relaxing experience for the goat as well as for the milker.  Never pull or otherwise displace the natural position of the udder or teats.  You should be able to gauge whether or not your doe is relaxed.  If she tenses (and this is easy to gauge if you are paying attention) she may kick over or step in the bucket, so you need to be quick in the calmest way, and remove the bucket from under her before she moves. This tension or restlessness in the doe usually means that her grain is gone and she wants more.  When this happens I remove the bucket and set it in a safe place, refill the grain, and start again. If she does kick over the bucket before you remove it, do not worry.  It happens!! Clean it up and start over again. I've spilled lots of milk, and had lots of hooves in the milk bucket!
Picture
Precious gives us a full gallon of milk every other day.
Continue milking until there is no more milk to trap at the base of the teat.  When her udder is empty, remove the bucket and set it aside. At this point, I get up from my stool, remove the bag from the bucket and tie a knot in the bag. The sooner the milk is out of the open air, the better. Next, I spray each teat with a hefty dose of Fight-Bac teat disinfectant to each teat.  This helps to keep the teats clean and free of disease.
Picture
Release your doe from the stanchion, and start your cleanup. If you are milking more than one goat, the next one in line is probably waiting at the gate.  Make sure that everything is clean and disinfected thoroughly for the next milking. 

Stay tuned for next week's installment, "How to Trim Goat Hooves."
5 Comments
Kelsey link
3/17/2013 04:49:50 am

I decided that I wanted to get goats, but I have been doing a lot of research before I purchase them. I decided on Nigerian Dwarfs so that my young girls could enjoy them as well as their milking ability. I have read a lot about the milking process, but you brought up an awesome technique that I love, the gallon bag is awesome! Thank you for sharing!

Reply
Aubrey link
12/13/2014 04:53:10 pm

Thank you! This is very, very helpful.

Reply
Brianna link
12/14/2020 10:10:27 pm

Nice post, thanks for sharing.

Reply
Construction Cleaning Port Saint Lucie link
7/29/2022 06:15:16 pm

Nice blog thanks for possting

Reply
Thai Escort Telford link
5/19/2025 02:00:10 am

I appreciate learning about your hand-milking process.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Click below to view
    Twin Willows Herd
    24/7 Livestream
    Picture

    Welcome to
    TWIN WILLOWS

    ADGA/AGS/NDGA Registered
    Nigerian Dwarf Goats

    Logansport, Indiana

    ADGA PLUS HERD
    DHIR/LA/DNA


    Entire Herd Disease Free CAE/Johnnes
    ​

    Last Tested - August 2024
    See Results
    ​

    ADGA DHIR Herd Code 32-09-5-001

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Erica Hopkins

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    May 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All


We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!


Telephone

765-337-4348

Email

[email protected]