I've read a lot about what to do with the milk once I have it and I'm pretty sure that I'm good with that.... I have kid sized hands so I thought milking the pygmy would work as she had tits about 4 inches long.... I used my index and thumb to try to milk her.... well I only got a few drops.... maybe I'm not doing it right... I know if you were milking a cow that you would have your fist open when you are at the top and then squeeze close as you get towards the end.... okay I figure do basicly the same with two fingers but I couldn't get a stream of milk to come out, only a few drops each time.... What do I need to do to hand milk?? BTW: Having re-read this... it is funny and off-color
Sorry I don't know how to explain it but maybe you can go onto youtube and watch some videos of other people doing it. I've learned a lot about goats giving birth just by watching videos on there.
i saw a video for something called a maggidans milker..and it has a good video on milking pygmy goats.
Place your hand right up against, but not on, the udder. Use your thumb to squeeze off the teat by pushing your thumb tightly against your pointer finger; at the same time kinda wrapping your pointer finger around the tip of your thumb to help with the squeeze. Then, as you said, squeeze down with your middle finger. One big difference between milking goats and cows... never pull down on the teat when milking goats. Just squeeze - no pulling on the teat. I have never milked a pygmy but I know the small breeds can be more difficult (and impossible for some people) to milk. You have a head start by having smaller hands. I agree that looking on YouTube might give you some good sight help. The only other thing that I can think of is that it's possible your pygmy doesn't have much milk? They aren't considered a milking breed.
