Izzie is nearing the end of her first milking cycle. At her peak she was giving us a gallon of milk a day, but that is now down to a quart, and I expect it to continue to decline. Even if she is still producing, in 2 months I will stop taking milk and let her dry off, so her body can focus all its energies on finishing off the kids we hope she is brewing for a June delivery.
Izzie and my start to milking was a bit rough, but we have made amazing progress. We have moved from goat wrestling just to get her on the milking stand, and hobbles to keep her from kicking over or stepping into the milk bucket, to a quick and comfortable routine that is almost like an embrace. She knows that she now gets grain only on the milking stand, and since she loves grain she hops right up so we can get started. (And thanks to advice from Amanda –Wild Dandelion Acres, her doelings have never had grain anywhere but at the milking stand, so hopefully, when it is their time to learn how to be milked, we can skip the wrestling.) The process of hand milking (trap the milk in her teat with thumb and first finger, squeeze it out with the rest, relax, let it refill, and repeat ) is no longer awkward, although I am not sure if I will ever be a two handed, two teats at a time milker. When we first transitioned away from needing the hobble, she was still restless on the stand, and while milking I would stare at her back feet, so that I could pull the bucket away when needed, to protect it from a moving foot. But I have learned that if I sit right on the stand and rest my head and shoulder against her side, that contact seems to calm her. In addition, I can feel when she is going to move, allowing me to move the bucket and give her a second to shift positions when she feels the need to. And any worries I had about freezing hands when milking on cold winter mornings have been laid to rest. Goat udders and teats are excellent hand warmers and Izzie has been good enough to never object to my putting cold hands on her while milking. Even on the morning when the temperature was -3 F, my hands were warm when I finished milking.
So, as I face the upcoming pause in our milking routine, I will miss not only the milk but the milking. I will wait eagerly for the new babies to get old enough for us to again share the gift of Izzie’s milk, and for she and I to share our milking hug.