Milk Stands

When you get a dairy goat the first thing you should get is a milk stand. Pails. Filters. strainers. Milk stand. Easy right? Train the goat to get up on the stand. And voila! Easy to milk them. Trim Hooves. Give shots. etc....

Not Here. We do things backwards!

In the beginning, i borrowed no less then 4 milk stands to try. Friends lugged them over for me. I tried them and sent them back.  I hated them all. For some reason i just preferred milking on the ground. It was simpler. Easier at the time. And more conducive if I wanted to show the goats not having to lug around milk stands to shows. And easier to just teach the goats to stand tied to anything. Must be my Trail horse riding days, ground tie the horse and you could drop anywhere and she'd stay put....

Seems.. I've changed.

A good friend brought over her aluminum milk stand, weighs a whole 34lbs. and I used it because really you should milk on a stand. And especially when giving a presentation on the proper way to milk a goat.... and sadly I LOVED IT. but..... At the $400 price tag it was just not in the stars. I used it for about two weeks and well...  Sadly, it had to go back home. you can see pics HERE

Sheridan (Riki's Husband) who we keep in contact thru the work at the fair, or babysitting each others animals when we have to leave town, offered 2 years ago to make me one, when I watched the goats while Riki was sick. I finally hit him up on the offer. What a thing of beauty. :)

It's a work of art. And it's now in my garage. Where it will become my new milk station. I can keep the garage door shut. Shutting out the pig, the ducks, chickens and so forth. Milk at night. In the rain.

Milking inside like this is so cool. So very excited.

THANK YOU SHERIDAN!

Linny is a doll baby. jumped right up and never said a word.

The head goes into the stanchion and gets locked into place.

The red bucket is where the food goes to keep them happy.

Plenty of space for the goat to feel safe. Heavy enough where it won't

fall over in case of a goat spooking. Need to water seal it. I bet this will

last for a decade or more.

 Look at the detail he put into it.

 Delilah? well lets just say she is sort of on board with it. Must remember i've been milking her on the ground for 4 years. She really has no idea what or why i've been asking her to please get up on there. Sooner or later she'll comply. I'm sure it will be later rather then sooner.