On Sunday afternoon Schone Vida welcomed a new face to the barnyard, Tinkerbell. Tink is a 3 year old (we think) Nubian doe. The real awesome part about her is that she is currently producing milk! That means in a short span of time we are going to be enjoying fresh raw goat milk and more excitingly cheese!
Tinkerbell on the right
Now taking on this big responsibility was not something I, nor Justin, took lightly. Bringing a milking doe onto the farm requires us to make sure she gets milked every day. Yes, we already have Charlotte, but she will not be in milk until next spring. Because of my full commitment and uber excitement for this lifestyle, I knew this wouldn't be a problem.
Tinkerbell came to us from a lovely woman in a neighboring town. She told us that she'd tried to milk Tink for a while, but that it was always a struggle to get her on the stanchion and to hold still during the process. I knew that training Tink to get on the stanchion and quietly stand through milking would take a few weeks. She is strong girl, so getting her to do something she might not necessarily want to do is a struggle. My job is to show her that milking is a relaxing time for her to eat her grain away from the other goats. In a couple weeks I should be able to go out to open the barnyard gate and have her calmly put herself in the stanchion. All it will take is patience and lots of consistency.
The first day I put her on the stanchion I was nearly finished milking her out when she kicked putting her right rear hoof directly into the milk pail. As they say, there's no use crying over spilled milk. I calmly took a deep breath removed her foot from the milk pail and continued milking her out. Once I was finished I patted and talked quietly to her. She and I are going to spend a lot of time together, so I want her to trust me.
That night I read up on all things goat, finding this amazing website from a farm back east called Fias Co Farm. They have a large herd of La Mancha dairy goats that they raise holistically. The owner, Molly, is very knowledgeable about herbs and their various uses. On her website, she talked about this goat hobble she uses on nervous milkers. Essentially it is a 2 in wide piece of nylon with Velcro that you wrap around the goats upper legs to put pressure on the rear ligament. The pressure is enough to render the goat unable to kick. In time, Molly says 2 weeks, the goat learns to stand quietly without kicking at all. I immediately ordered one for us. It cost me $10, but will save me lots of frustration and tears later. I know Charlotte will definitely need it when she's in milk since she's the biggest punk ever.
After milking Tinkerbell had another milestone to pass before she was in the clear. She had to meet Charlotte and Buttercup. First, I introduced Charlotte knowing that grew up in a large herd of goats. They sniffed each other then happily ate hay nearby. Next I brought in Buttercup. She is the dominant goat since she has horns and a major attitude. Well she calmly met Tink then came back around and challenged her with a mock head butt. Tinkerbell played it right by immediately putting Buttercup in her place with a well back up head butt and push. Buttercup quickly got the point and moved on. Now the three of them are calmly munching on food in the barnyard.
Welcome Tinkerbell, I know we'll have many of great years together at Schone Vida!
