Taming The beast

I actually managed to do it last night...

I separated the goat kids from Heidi.

Upon entering the barn this morning, I saw what I had hoped to see: Heidi with an absolutely engorged udder. I chuckled and told her that she looked like a cow. ;) She grumbled and muttered as she hopped onto the milk stand and began eating her breakfast. 

The goat kids started hollering...

Then came the moment... How would Heidi react to someone milking her?

Hehe... She didn't like it. She kicked, so I tied a leg back. She tried to sit down; so I put the milk pail directly beneath her. She sashayed to the side, so I moved with her. Seeing that her efforts were not working, as I continued to stream milk into the pail, she tried a different tactic.

She stopped letting her milk down. 

Dairy animals have the ability to choose to be milked or not. You can have an animal that is so full of milk that it's causing them pain, but if they don't trust you, or if they're stressed, then they can hold their milk back, which leaves you milking desperately but not getting a single drop of milk. And that's what Heidi did. She decided that she was done with me, and I had barely even started! Luckily for me, the goat kids were still calling, and that caused Heidi to let her milk down after a couple minutes; but she still danced and pranced all over the place.

With Capri and Ivy, all I have to do is start singing their favorite song (goats like routine, and they really do have favorite songs!) and POOF! They would let their milk down. I tried singing to Heidi, but she wasn't too keen on my warbling. :-/ I'm not sure how I started what came next, but before I knew it, I somehow found myself reciting Dr. Seuss' book, 'Green Eggs and Ham'! 

"Would you could you, on a train? Would you,could you, on a plane?"

"I would not, could not, on a train, I would not, could not, on a plane! I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I Am!"

Strangely enough, Heidi seems to like classic literature by Dr. Seuss. ;) She stood still, and listened to the strange words. Alas, I finished reciting the book too soon, and she held her milk back again. I gave up after milking her out halfway; it was a good start for the first milking. Heidi gave me one last withering glare before stalking back into the pen...

Inside, I strained the lovely milk into a jar. I managed to eek out a little over a quart this morning. But I think I could have gotten a full half gallon, had I been able to milk her all the way out. Maybe tomorrow..

Moral of the story? If you have a stubborn dairy animal, try reciting Dr. Seuss. ;)