How to Milk Your Dairy Goat as a Beginner

Dairy goats does produce milk after giving birth to a kid. After kidding, does need to be milked on a daily basis to maintain their milk production. To a beginner, the thought of milking a goat can be daunting, but with a little practice, you can master the art of goat milking. Inexperienced milkers tend to find it easier to learn the process while practicing on a doe that is accustomed to being milked rather than an animal that has no prior experience.

Things You'll Need

  • Milkstand
  • Milk collection bucket
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Instructions

    • 1

      Tether your goat to the milkstand by placing its head in the headstall. If you do not have a milkstand, you can tie the goat to a sturdy object while milking.

    • 2

      Sit on the milkstand seat facing the back of the doe. If you do not have a seat, use a bucket or stool positioned so that you can comfortably reach the doe's teats.

    • 3

      Place a clean milk pail directly under the teats.

    • 4

      Gently grasp a teat in each hand.

    • 5

      Pinch the top of the teat with your thumb and forefinger to prevent the milk in the teat from going back up into the udder. You should see the teat bulge slightly from the captured milk. Continue to maintain this pressure while milking.

    • 6

      Squeeze your three remaining fingers in sequence from top to bottom to express the milk out of the teat and into the pail. Maintain pressure with each finger as it wraps around the teat to keep the milk flowing down and prevent it from moving upward into the teat. Be sure not to pull downward on the teat during this process as you can damage it. Squeezing is the only action required for milking.

    • 7

      Squeeze until you have emptied all the milk from the teat. Once it is empty, let go of the teat.

    • 8

      Push upward slightly into the udder using your thumb at the top of the teat to trigger a new supply of milk. The teat should refill with milk.

    • 9

      Grasp the teat, constrict the top using the thumb and forefinger and repeat the milking process.

    • 10

      Continue to milk until the teat does not fill with milk upon release and is pliable. At this point, you are done milking from that teat.

    • 11

      Practice milking with one hand until you are comfortable with the process. Once you have mastered one hand, begin practicing with the other. After learning the technique with each hand separately, you can combine the process and milk the doe using both hands simultaneously, alternating the pressure on each teat.