Here's my setup. What's yours?

I think that is a great idea. There is good money in replacement diary heifers

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Sorry, I am not a very good photographer.

Here's my stanchion in the corner of the two-car garage. I have a milking stool I built myself out of some 1"x6" cedar. There are two 3'x3' thick, black rubber mats that hook together for her to stand on that I drag onto the driveway and hose off as needed, sometimes needing to take a stiff brush to them...usually water pressure is sufficient to get manure off...if she soils them at all! [I got them at Home Depot.] There is a small grain box built into it on the other side of the headgate just big enough for her grain. The side and rear of it comes apart for storage when not in use. I did have to put one side rail thru on the right side of it for when I'm milking, so that she keeps her hind end inside of it! The kitchen is upstairs over the garage and accessed via stairs at the back of it, so it's not very far to go.

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it works out.

Because of the calf and my knees, I've not been milking this past winter, but will be pretty soon, when she weans her calf.

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Jeff, I'd be frightened to go into yours in case I got it dirty - and as for putting cows in there

Heather, I promise I will get on to this photo posting thing. A friend has given me some detailed instruction designed for idiots on how to post a photo using Photobucket but I spent today trying to figure out why I can burn files on to a CD using a DVD writer but I can't write anything on to a DVD I will try and get some photo's of my swamp hens. They are a native bird and, as their name implies, they live in wetlands. Not a particularly pretty bird with long red legs, dark blue body and red beaks and head shield but quite comical and cheeky. I'm quite flattered than they feel comfortable enough to live around the cowshed and wait for the handful of kibbled maize I throw them. This year they felt confident enough to bring their babies with them and that's a first. They join a possum that has lived in the roof of the feed shed for two years and annually produces a mini-possum, and a Blue Heron that hangs out with my rams. Doesn't sound like a big deal but I get a huge buzz out of the wild life that has chosen to live close to me and my activities.

Cheers,
Ronnie

Bump..................For those who have any updated pics. I've since poured some concrete and changed the wooden feeders from wood to plastic. But not much else has changed. (Other than feed prices.)

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

will have to get some of my new one soon

We have 24 cows. 10 are milking 2x a day and 2 only at night. The rest are due pretty soon.
We milk in a swing 6 parlor but only half of it is finished. Grain, mineral, and kelp are fed in the parlor.

Here's the cow area

the pit

some girls milking

this is our "free stall area"

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

Just a one-cow setup for me.

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Beautiful cow and calf!

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Thank you, that is my little Dexter, DD and her third calf. DH built a combination garage and milking parlor for my after our barn burned. This picture was taken a couple of years ago.

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Francis, I like your setup; very nice.

Here's our setup, just ignore the guy there. :baby04:
There are concrete feedbunks up front, used semi mud flaps in back, to catch the um...splashes, as it were.
We can milk anywhere from 3-5 at a time, depending on where he closes the front gate. The feed is overhead and he lets it down through a series of pvc pipes and little chutes. I don't have any pics of that though.
I think we are milking about 42 cows now.

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This is my set up I milk 3 at a time i have the forth stall but just did not think I needed it...I milk 12 cows twicw a day only from Sept to March...I left one end open to let the smell out...I have a very good smeller and I can take the cold better then the cows...Laugh at my holding tank..but thats all it ever does holds the milk till I take it out and feed the calfs...I pour out left overs I have the 500 gallon tank but to hard to clean ..of course I had to use one of those $110 buildings to cover it

Myers, looks like you're a professional bottle calf raiser and have got it down to a fine art! I like the quanset hut you have for a milking barn.

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Francismilker

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16

BTW the reason the barrel is so high it gravity feeds right into my japanese truck to haul to calfs...I think your right Francis feeding 90 bottle calfs at one time will make you a professional or you will go broke


Wish I had bought a few 100 beef calfs now when they were pulling the babies off broken mouth cows last fall....need a new tractor...wait I bought 2 tractors this year but being a farm never can have to many tractors can you

Wow, there are some really nice barns on here. I'm getting barn envy! My isn't nearly as nice. I only have one cow in milk at a time and I milk by hand. I share milk with the calf, so have set up things to work for that.

Here is my poor little 13 x 20 log barn. It was built in the early 1900s and is looking sort of shabby. We put a new roof on it last year and this year it is going to get a new walk-in door, new paint on the big doors, gables and trim, some chinking replaced, and logs refinished.


Here is the stanchion my dh built for me. The screen at the front is for when I have a calf tied there, the cow can see and smell it but it can't spill her feed everywhere. I tie the calf so it can butt the cow in the belly just behind her front legs, but it can't get back far enough to get in my way or make a mess of my milk. I've done this for more than 20 years with purebred Jerseys, beef cows, Dexters and crossbreds of all kinds. I very, very rarely have trouble getting a cow to let down using this method.


This is our tub and alley, sorting gate, palp cage, squeeze chute, and scales.


This is our loading area. We back the trailer to the corner of the barn and the trailer gate swings over the the fence. The cattle are confined in this small area and it's easy to load them. When unloading, I can put them into 3 different corrals from this spot.

I'm getting barn envy! My isn't nearly as nice


if you want to trade for mine would be on the road in a minute to pick yours up...that has is one nice museum piece.. would love to have something like that just to set in myself and think about each log and what it took to make it HISTORY THERE

Chalk Creek, I think your log barn is a beauty now. I can imagine how great it will look when you are done. Your milking area looks so organized. I'm waiting for my Jersey Annabelle to have her first calf. This will be my first time milking. It's so helpful to be able to see all the pictures of other milker's set ups. Sometimes I have a hard time picturing how it will all go together. I think we can make something similar to what you have- minus the beautiful log cabin look. Did you make your milking stand or did it come that way? It's such a clear lay out that I can actually picture milking in there. Thanks for the inspiration!

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Thanks, my dh gets all the credit, he is an amazing welder. He built it out of heavy pipe years ago to use as a chute before we got our squeeze chute set-up. Once we got that, he stripped it down into what is now the stanchion. I like the bar across as it prevents the cow from stepping over sideways, but it's high enough that it doesn't get in my way. The cow is elevated about 6 inches, which helps my back while milking.

Thanks, I spend a lot of time out there, even when there's no chores to do.

I thought I was "squared away"....beaten again...Nice place.

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