My brother helped me out yesterday by making a milking stand. We had an old stand that came from a friend. It was not only old and rickety, but sized for dwarf goats. Some of the wood was still in good shape, though. So we (okay, he) started out by taking that apart.
Building the Milk Stand
Using some of the original wood and other salvaged wood, he built another stand for full size goats. For its design, we combined elements from two plans. The first is part of the book, “Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way” by Jerry Belanger. The second plan came from Fias Co Farm’s Milk Stand (free online, donations welcomed).
It would have been nice to follow one plan fully, but we were aiming to work with the time available to us, as well as the simple tools and materials we had on hand.
I’ll try to recap the which plan we followed for each part of the stand.
1) The base/platform’s width and height stayed the same as the original stand, although we replaced the legs with 2×4s for stability. They were 1×4s. This base/platform is bigger than either of the plans. It is 20-1/2″ wide, and I’m not sure how long.
2) We added cross supports to the platform (can’t be seen; they’re under the plywood serving as the stand or seat), as detailed in the Fias Co Farm’s Milk Stand.
3) The head gate and feeding shelf was constructed according to Fias Co Farm’s Milk Stand, with the exception of the head hole. To cut out a head hole as in that plan, we would have needed a jigsaw, which we don’t have. So we instead put the two restraining planks 4″ apart (which appears to be the same width resulting from cutting out head holes). Refer to Fias Co Farm’s Milk Stand to see pictures of a head hole fashioned from cutting into the width of the two planks.
The platform and base we were able to fully construct using salvaged wood and miscellaneous nails and screws. As the project neared completion, I called Jeff at work and gave him this short list of additional hardware to pick up on his way home from work:
- 2 corner braces
- a 4″ latch hook and eye
- a bolt for the head restraint that swivels (though we didn’t ask for the right size, so I need to get a longer one)
We started the stand about 11 am and finished about 7 pm, with a couple breaks. My brother worked so hard and I’m so appreciative! I know this is going to last us a long time.
Trial Milking
When the stand was done last evening, we put some oats in the feed tray, gathered Belle (strongly encouraged) up onto her stand. She’d been nursing her babies all day, so we knew she would not have much milk to give. We used the time to clean her udder and stroke her, and Naomi practiced expressing the milk. We were so excited that Naomi got some squirts out! The milk stand appears to fit a full-size Nubian well. We’re so happy with it!
Last night we had Mama and babies sleep separately. They were on either side of a cattle panel, so they knew where each other was. We hoped they would sleep across from each other, and sure enough, they bedded down in easy reach and sight. The goal was to prevent the babies from nursing during the night, so we could milk Belle this morning.
This morning, the kids and I and Jeff went to the barn and found Mama and babies eager to be reunited. But they would have to wait a bit. We got Belle up on her stand (much more easily this time). She didn’t want to eat or cooperate that well until we let the babies be below the stand, around her. Then Belle ate and without complaint, let Naomi practice milking. I held the bowl (still don’t have a milking pail… it is on the way from Hoegger Goat Supply) and applied pressure to keep Belle’s body in one place.
We consider the morning’s milking a trial run, so are happy with the 1 cup of (delicious!) milk we got. Because of reading about milking once a day (at Fias Co Farm) our intent now is to milk each morning, but not fully. So when we’re done, Mama will still have milk for her babies. We don’t intend to milk at night, but instead want Mama to be able to nurse and wean her own babies as she determines is best. Separating them at night, to ensure a full udder for the morning milking, is hard to do, though it seems to make sense. But, we will be hard pressed to make any more interventions in the Mama-baby relationship.
After Naomi finished expressing the 1 cup of milk, we let Belle off the stand (which worked very well; she was comfortable, yet restrained). The babies joyfully finished off the milking, making us hope that one day we would be as efficient!
This evening, we are going to through the milking routine again, even though we don’t intend to milk in the evening. Our intent tonight is to increase Belle’s acceptance of us and also to trim the hair around her udder.
What a nice brother! What a blessing he is to you! God sent him at the perfect time to be of service to your family. Mikah looks thrilled to be “helping”. He probably learned much more than any school lesson could teach him.
Sound like you are off to a nice start with your milking. The babies are adorable! Naomi must be so excited. I will keep praying. Love, Mary
Mary,
I am very grateful for his help! He’s a great brother. We haven’t seen him for several years, so the visit was wonderful for many reasons.
Here’s a video of our new goats. The babies are nursing. It is so sweet!
Very cool. I hope it doesn’t take long to establish a routine and you can turn your focus to creating wonderful things with the fresh goats milk.
They are sooo cute! Yup – I’m still an urbanite.
gilliebean – Then I’m an urbanite, too
They ARE sooooo cute.
In that picture, Mikah and your brother have a definite family resemblance. Is it that way in person too?
Marg, yes, they are quite alike! And in more than appearance. Mikah is like a little clone of him.
Thanks ,
For sharing this with all of us.I need to tell you I was not aware of milking the goat this way .
Regards
Sudeep
hi wardeh! im so excited for your new endeavor. if/when you have a surplus of milk you want to sell, sign me up (im sure you will have a long line of customers)!
i grew up on a ranch/farm and milked a cow morning and night for most of my childhood. i didnt like getting up to do it at five AM, but it was quite an experience.
one of my sisters loved it, and when she was home from college she would take over the chore. she always managed to get a LOT more milk than anyone else. i believe now it is because she enjoyed the task and this was somehow felt by nancy agatha (our cow) and relaxed her into fully emptying her udder.
as an interesting note: we all grew up drinking this raw milk and butter, cheese, ice cream, etc made from it (though we also ate commercial cheeses). no one had any problems. however, once moved out on our own, several of my siblings developed lactose intolerance! and i myself now tend to get very phlegmy on commercial dairy. too bad the milk in stores today is so unhealthy for us.
Gabrielle – That’s great to hear about your sister and how she loved milking. I know that’s how Naomi is. But, today, milking was really frustrating. Belle has figured out that we’re newbies and she refused to let us milk her. She kicked and thrashed. Stubborn goat. We finally let her off the stand, and she got right down, and opened up for her babies to nurse. We weren’t intending to deny them, we just wanted some first!
I’m going to buy a goat hobble ASAP!
That’s interesting about your lactose intolerance – but it makes sense because the raw milk contains the enzymes to help the digestion.
I want some more does and if I have a good enough supply, I will let you know!
Gabrielle, one more thing: there’s a lady in Myrtle Creek offering both raw goat and cow milk. Find her on the realmilk.com listings for Oregon, under Roseburg.