Here's my setup. What's yours?

[francismilker]

Here's some pictures of the girls in their stanchions. How do you guys do it? I always looking for ways to improve and could stand room for a lot of it.






I'm still a rookie at posting pictures, so let me know if they come out.

[Skye]

Do you hand milk or use a machine?

[francismilker]

So far I've been handmilking. I'm now setup to milk with an automatic milk bucket. I've got the vacuum, the bucket, and the cows. I just have to let them calve.
In the past, I've only milked one for the house. With the others, I've always put them in the stanchion and then turned loose the calves. The calves haven't been picky. They just grab the first available teat and latch on. When the cows are emptied out, I wrestle the calves away and turn the girls back out to pasture.
It gets kind of tiresome trying to wrestle 10+ calves away so I'm planning on milking with a machine this year and dumping it out into a trough that I'm going to make. I had a guy tell me about one he made once that was a long piece of 12" PVC pipe with a nipple about every 2'. He said it worked real good. Alternatively, I'll just dump the milk into buckets with nipples on them.

[JeffNY]

Here is our setup, the black mats in the front there were replaced with cement, raised it, and graded it so when cleaning, it was easier. The parlor is washed after every milking (hosed out). It also makes for cleaning them each time, if dirty. We use a pressure washer with 100 degree water (Rinnai on demand hot water heater). So yes, very spoiled, and quite clean. Somatic Cell here averages between 70-80k, bacteria is 1000, sometimes less. I might modify the parlor to fit 6, in a couple years. More or less 3 per side, angled to fit 6, would speed up milking some.



Jeff

[Ronney]

I had to have a chuckle at your photo's - bloody chooks running around. Exactly what my cowshed looks like except that I've also got 3 dogs, a goose, a duck and Pukekoes (swamp hen) to add to the mix.

I've never quite worked out what a stanchion is but from the look of your photo, it is a set-up where the cow puts her head through the gap and there is a bit of timber that can be brought across her neck to hold her there? We don't use that type of thing here and I've really got to learn to post photo's so that I can show you what my set-up it like.

Once I got up to milking 6 cows I gave up on the idea of both hand milking and sharemilking with calves. It became a physical hassle especially when the calves got older and weighed twice as much as me I now leave them with their mothers for the first 4 days by which time they have had a good start. I milk the cows and feed the calves on calfaterias. I've done the PVC pipe thing; it did work but wasn't very efficient and by the time we had bought everything, it would have been cheaper to have gone out and bought a 10 teat calfateria.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Up North]

Ronney is this along the lines of what you have in mind for calves?...

www.bradenstart.com locate milkbar feeders.

FrancisMilker-
I would encourage to use the milkbar feeder over the PVC setup as well, mostly less cleaning difficulties. I like your feed boxes. Keep grain dry up off ground. How do you get minerals to your cows?
I think the next improvement would be to provide some type of stall dividers between cows so they can't swing their butt sideways when you are training new heifers or milking a cow who is owly because she has a scratched or sunburned teat.
Thanks for sharing the Pics

[john in la]

Originally Posted by francismilker

I had a guy tell me about one he made once that was a long piece of 12" PVC pipe with a nipple about every 2'. He said it worked real good. Alternatively, I'll just dump the milk into buckets with nipples on them.

I would think long and hard before using either of these ideas.
You need something that cleans real easy and has no spots for milk to hide and spoil.
Most people have problems with nipple buckets because they wash it out with out removing the nipple. The bottom of the bucket looks clean but milk gathers where the nipple connects and spoils.

[Full_Cry]

francismilker, looks great for us poor ol hairy homeowner/farmers ...good job

JeffNY, how many cows do you folks milk in that lil barn? yrs ago i use to milk in one just like that. We milked 130 hd with a 6 stanchon 3milkers that we'd swing side to side....took for ever

When i got out we were milking in a doulbe 10 Parallel milking parlor
with 20 milkers. Milked around 300 and it took longer to get ready and clean the parlor after milking than it did to milk lol with a rolling herd average around 20,000 lbs

your barn looks very clean congrats to ya

[Sunraven]

Nice homemade stanchions Francis. And Jeff, wow, your parlor sparkles! We spray out everyday but we don't scrub down every day so there's always poo splatter stains on the walls. I'll agree with John some on the calf feeding things- I wouldn't like the pvc idea, too hard to clean, also if you use nipple buckets make sure you squeeze your soapy water through the nipple every time or milk will sit in there. It's actually just as easy to teach the calves to eat out of the bucket without a nipple and cleaner, and the buckets can be used for more things. Also you want have as much of the sucking on each other as if you use nipples. Another thing about the buckets, once your calves are drinking their milk good from the bucket go back through and give them water after the milk, then a handful of grain, anything that goes in that bucket they'll eat! When you get closer to weaning time just give them less milk and more water and grain and they'll wean themselves! You won't get much of the crying.

Here's a photo of one side of the parlor here. I'm glad I don't milk in stanchions! Too hard on the knees.



I'll try to take some better photos later.

[francismilker]

Hey JeffNY, I'm jealous lol! When I grow up, I want to have a setup just like that.
UpNorth, thanks for the link to the milkbar calf feeder.

I also appreciate all the info on using PVC nipples and bucket feeders. Thanks for the other pics as well. I'd like to have a raised parlor I just can't financially justify it at this time. It's interesting to see how other do it!

By the way, I've got two calves on the ground this morning. Both of the little ones (half Jersey) aren't much bigger than a jackrabbit! I went out to do the morning chores early this morning. After breakfast, I went out to make one last look before morning church service and found the heifer I been fretting over standing over a new bull calf cleaning him off. After church, I came home to one of my 1/2angus 1/2 holstein heifers standing over a new little heifer cleaning her off. I'm pretty happy that neither of these two needed anything from me but to be left alone for awhile to get their business done.

[Ronney]

That's them Up North. I use a brand called Stallion which is very similar and I prefer it as the teats and valve unscrew for easy cleaning. I also have a 10 teat Milk Bar.

Sun, your cowshed took me back a few years....... How many aside is it?

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Up North]

Ronnie,
I've gotta know...What's a swamp hen??? You've gotta learn how to post pics. I would love to see your place.

Heather

[DaleK]

This is one of our stalls from the back. Every 2nd stall has a waterbowl on the back of the post.



This is from the front. 31 stalls on the right, 31 on the left that you can't see. We keep the cows on the right in a freestall barn, we actually milk 35-55 cows through the stalls on the right depending how many we're milking.
Still working on installing the parlour (double 10 Kipe parallel but it'll be installed with the units swinging)

[jerzeygurl]

i milk out side on dirt floor in lean too against barn with a head gate and a bucket for feed....

[Tam319]

LMAO My set up is pretty bare bones. I tie her up to a tree in the pasture and milk under the stars. LOL

[Up North]

Originally Posted by jerzeygurl

i milk out side on dirt floor in lean too against barn with a head gate and a bucket for feed....

Sure is good to have a roof over one's head

[linn]

Our big barn burned a couple of weeks ago. I will try to post a picture of the homemade stanchion DH made for me in our small barn. We just milk one or two cows so ours is a small setup also.

[jerzeygurl]

Originally Posted by Up North

Sure is good to have a roof over one's head

lol i used to not, the head gate is on the end of the loading shute, i used to milk there, it was hard retraining them to walk to the other side of the gate, i miss the stars

[JeffNY]

Not many are milking, and I plan to go no more than 20. I am after the genetics part of things, and would rather concentrate on 20 solid milkers, vs more that could be so so. The barn is being modified again, this time to make things better for me, and for them (keep them cleaner). Going with 100% adjustable stalls, something that can accomidate any size animal, big or small. Also putting in 4 box stalls in the barn, to accomidate those calving, or any other issue. Instead of walking around the barn, they will be able to walk through the center of the barn. One end will fit 18, with the other end fitting 6, so a total of 24 stalls. I plan on turning over some animals, as I improve. So having the ability to keep more than needed, allows me to sell off excess, and keep turning things over. When I get to the point where all 20 are solid animals, then I will turn over the heifers, improving here and there.

The main goal is to sell genetics, sell feed, and ship milk. A three pronged approach, not simply milk. I am after a show barn, and this spring will accomplish a major hurdle. Better presentation as anyone comes in, keep the best animals on that side as they come in, organized look. These steps were taken in the milk house/parlor. Clean walls, clean floor. As far as scrubbing, anyone manures it usually is washed off shortly after. Here is a partial shot of the milk house.



I use silicon milk hose, it takes a long time to wear out, it doesn't harbor bacteria, it can withstand hot temperatures and cold temperatures without loosing structure. Stuff I reccomend to anyone who milks using a machine. It costs more than rubber, but it outlasts rubber significantly.


Jeff

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by JeffNY

Here is our setup, the black mats in the front there were replaced with cement, raised it, and graded it so when cleaning, it was easier. The parlor is washed after every milking (hosed out). It also makes for cleaning them each time, if dirty. We use a pressure washer with 100 degree water (Rinnai on demand hot water heater). So yes, very spoiled, and quite clean. Somatic Cell here averages between 70-80k, bacteria is 1000, sometimes less. I might modify the parlor to fit 6, in a couple years. More or less 3 per side, angled to fit 6, would speed up milking some.

Jeff

We have some of those same stanchions in our old dairy barn.