I have mentioned previously that our youngest goat (Millie) is still nursing her mama (Aurora) at 9 months old, and I am trying to stop it. We were separating them at night, but it is so cold that they need the warmth of cuddling, so we are trying taping to wean her. When you tape the udders, it is simply a piece of low stick tape you place over the teat, going down one side, covering the hole, and coming back up the other side. This was working well, except that it made Aurora kick like a maniac every morning when I went to take it off, and again when I tried to put new on after milking.
Saturday, my parents came up to stay the night. I wanted to make pancakes for breakfast, and just needed 1 and 3/4 cups of milk to add to the whey I was using. We have been getting 3-4 cups or more of milk a day, so I saw no problem and premixed everything except the milk in before I went outside to do my chores. As soon as I walked into the goat shelter I could see her udder was empty. The teat tape was completely gone! Millie had somehow managed to get the tape off and drank all the milk. She was quite pleased with herself and was happily munching on hay while I put Aurora in the milk stand. After getting every drop I could, I still had less than 3/4 of a cup. Before I headed back inside, I made sure to not only go up and down the teat, but also around that tape with another piece to secure it. She was not getting my milk again! Poor Aurora though, she hates that tape.
Fortunately, I had more whey, and a tiny bit of milk in the fridge so I combined those and made the pancakes. They ended up very flat, but tasted good. The good news is, I did end up running to the farm store and got a heated bucket, so at least I wasn’t breaking ice! Best $25 ever spent.
With goats, it is always something.
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