Milking without a stanchion?

[NeHomesteader]

Does anyone milk without a stanchion? Tell me what your set up is or how it works.
Since losing our barn and having a makeshift stanchion put in the corral things have been really trying with Willow,our heifer who calved July 30th. Seems we have tried everything with a stanchion and nothing works with it being outside. She is such a calm heifer so we have resorted to putting the pan in front of the stanchion and letting her eat and then bringing 2 panels in beside her to keep her from dancing around. Our other heifer loves the stanchion ,no problem. So when we get the barn built i'm looking for ideas on what to build for Willow that will work if a stanchion doesn't. Thanks!!!!

[Awnry Abe]

We have milked without a stanchion, out in open pasture, as well as in a shed. In all cases, we just hitched her to post or tree and milked. I have friends that have always milked without stanchion. Their cows just walk up to a feed bunk and stand there. They currently have cow-length dividers between each cow, about 30" high, made of 2x6. Each lane is probably 6-8 ft wide. In the feed bunk, dividers are set up such that one cow cant snitch another's corn. They have it set up so they can hitch if needed. Prior to this, they had loft fed hay bunks and the cows just stood while getting milked. No hitching or anything.

I have one cow that I could get away with doing that, the other two are a bit dancy. All 3 started out as train wrecks, similar to what you describe. Three FFers in one month is not what I would suggest for a first-timer, such as myself. It's a mistake that I won't even get to repeat. You'll definitely want to get in your cow's head and figure out what her fear is. Just persist. You will win.

(For the record, I'm not a seasoned pro. I just started in March.)

[NeHomesteader]

That is okay if you aren't a seasoned pro ,neither am I that is why I'm asking these questions. Sounds like you have had alot of experience in that amount of time. I don't know about you but i'm sure enjoying the dairy cows even with a few problems. We have always just had beef cows and talk about different.......Thanks for the great advice!!