Here's my setup. What's yours?

Highland · #41 04/16/11, 10:35 AM

I milk 25 cows -- mostly Jerseys.Its a walk thru parlor.When a cow is done I pull the feed bucket out of the way and she walks out.Low budget operation but it works very well.
Ed

francismilker · #42 04/16/11, 11:07 AM

Highland your pics are great! I assume you're grade A with that setup? It looks in working order and very clean. Do you sell to a coop? When I was a kid there was a barn setup like that setting on every quarter section milking 15-30 cows but they slowly went out. Nowadays, if a person wanted to get started the setup would be sufficient but you couldn't talk a coop into doing a pickup unless there was a mega dairy around the corner that they were already on the way to.

Thanks for the pics and if you get a chance, post some pics with the girls in action.
Thanks.

francismilker · #43 04/16/11, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalk Creek

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's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

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.
Here's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

This is our tub and alley, sorting gate, palp cage, squeeze chute, and scales.
Here's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

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.
Here's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

Absolutely awesome is all I have to say. Once again, you folks from Colorado have a piece of Americana right outside your door anytime you step outside. That's an awesome barn and an awesome view.

wannabfishin · #44 03/04/15, 05:50 AM

bumped

myheaven · #45 03/04/15, 08:40 AM

Thanks for the bump I went looking for this thread.

sammyd · #46 03/04/15, 03:40 PM

I see my older pics disappeared due to losing a domain so I'll repost.

On the organic farm we had a home built parlor. UW Wisconsin has some great resources if you are looking to build your own. http://www.uwex.edu/ces/dairymod/milkingcenter/
It was a swing 6 parallel but we only used one side. It had in floor heat where the cows stand but we only kept it warm enough to keep the water from freezing and several days it froze anyway.
Our cows stayed on pasture year round no free stall or bedded pack barn.

Here's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

Currently not farming just homesteading kinda but a couple of years ago I put a tie stall in the garage in case I decide to lose the goats and go with a cow. I have a thick stall mat I put in there.
Here's my setup. What's yours? - Cattle

francismilker · #47 03/06/15, 10:43 AM

Sammyd

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I wasn't smart enough to do it on my phone!��

sammyd · #48 03/07/15, 02:10 AM

somebody else bumped it. but it is nice to look through everyones set ups again.

willow_girl · #49 03/07/15, 09:54 AM

I don't think I have any pics of it, but we milk Marianne in the shed where her feed bunk is. We feed her at milking time, so she goes in without any trouble, and has something to keep her busy while I'm milking.

Numb put a loop of chain through the wall, secured to a post outside, and we run the lead from her halter through the ring. That way, when you pull the lead rope, it snubs her up to the ring and the wall, instead of pulling her toward you. This is crucial as she tends to be a bit unruly when she's in heat.

The rest of the time, she's a perfect angel, and stands quietly to be milked, but every 21 days, look out!

Of course now that she's bred, that's not an issue. Actually, at the moment, she's dry, so it's REALLY not an issue.

domino · #50 06/24/15, 03:28 PM

I would like to see more pictures of your setup please. We have more heifers and need to build a better way of feeding them.