What do you folks do for a milking area for your goats? When I started out with goats, I had one milking stand and two goats that I'd lead to the stand and milk. Last year I was milking ten, so I installed another milking stand, and put a stock panel pen around it with an incoming and outgoing gate to make the milking more streamlined. Also, that way I can milk while they are eating aand don't have to wait around for them to finish the grain. Our present set up has a number of problems though, including, it is out in the open, and we all get rained on when it's rainy (hate milking in the rain!!) it's in a low area so the ground is often muddy, and the goats step on the stands with their muddy feet. Pretty soon the stands are covered in mud,including the part where I have to sit. Not a lot of fun to sit down on a sloppy, manure covered stand. Then there are the flies, which buzz around and irritate the goats, making those muddy hooves kick restlessy,flinging mud into the air. In short, it's not sanitary. I have looked in all the goat books and such that I have read,they have advice for commercial dairies, and for one or two milkers, where you lead them out to the stand like I used to, but nothing for dealing with hand milking 8-16 goats.I'd like to make a small milk house farther away from the barn,with cupboards and a cooling trough for the milk. We have a very cold creek near the barn,which could gravity feed water to the area. Any ideas?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 28, 2000

Answers

We are just now finishing up our new barn, but we grew so fast we are now building another. what we have right now that works for milking is a large pen area that holds all the milkers. then on the other side we have a milking room area we made. At first we partioned it off with cattle panels, but then added walls. We have a section cornored off for the milking stand. I hand milk 14 does right now. You could build yourself a temporary leanto(sp?) barn with a roof and then make your milking area inside that. Just a thought. I know one lady who used an old back half of a delivery truck for her milking room. It will work, nothing fancy. Its a gradual process and you will eventually get your milking area right. Just takes time.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 28, 2000.

We have a center isle milking area. It is 20 by 10. It has acess to all of the other stalls, and the feed room, from the feed room and milking area I can feed all the stalls without going in with the goats. The goats have learned over the years to come in, and actually stay in order most of the time, I do other chores while they eat their grain. I like to have my best milkers eat the bulk of their grain and any treats, with no competition. I also trim feet, spray for flies, and give them a checkover while they eat. I have a large shop fan that blows on us and the girls while we milk. I started in a small barn and milked under a lean-to. I know folks who have those cattle panel hoops set up and milk under them. My best friend has her goats come to the garage to milk. I was lucky to have a big export go through several years ago, and was able to build my dairy barn. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 29, 2000.

Rebekah - have you looked at the plans for a miniature dairy given in "The Havemore Plan"? (pg46.) Might be helpful. A little off the subject, but do you milk goats 2x perday like you milk cows? I'm interested in buying a milk goat in the near future and will probably have many more questions at that time.

-- N Mays (mays@raptor.afsc.k12.ar.us), May 05, 2000.

Goats are usually milked twice a day, but some heavy producers are milked three times at eight hour intervals. Normally you milk at twelve hour intervals, selecting whatever time works best for you, but you can stretch that to up to ten hours/fourteen hours if you have to. It is a heavy committment of time, seven days a week for usually ten months out of the year, or year round if you breed more than one goat at staggered intervals so you (hopefully) are never out of milk. It is hard to find someone reliable to help with the milking if you want to go away for a few days, so you really need to weigh all the factors before you decide. Dairy animals are the biggest and usually last step in owning livestock -- if they aren't properly taken care of, your milk supply will suffer, and so will the animals. I don't mean to discourage you, but it is better to know what you are getting into before you do it. Personally, I wouldn't care if I never left home (I mean for a vacation), but I know that a lot of people feel a real need to get away once in a while. You just have to be honest about which kind you are!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 05, 2000.

Bernice -- I just noticed your post here, and am struck by the amount of committment it must take to hand milk 14 does. What does that take, about 2 1/2 hours in the a.m. and p.m. ?? That is really something. Good for you!

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), June 03, 2000.