frustratedearthmother
Herd Master
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Awesome!
Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter
- Thread starter babsbag
- Start date
Pearce Pastures
Barn Babe
- Thread starter
- #74
babsbag
Herd Master
Last weekend I visited Pholia Farm in OR after watching some videos that they had made showing their milking setup. I contacted the owner and she was nice enough to let me come for a visit and observe her milking routine. She milks four goats at a time and uses the exact same equipment that I intend to use. She suggested that 6 at a time might be too many for one person so I am going to start with 4 but have room and the vacuum pump big enough for 6...just in case.
What really drew me to her design was that she leaves her milk can in the milk house when she milks and she has a little pass through hole in the wall into the milk barn that she sticks the inflations through. I had thought about doing this but told myslef I was crazy, but when I saw it in her video I knew that I had to see this in person. Fortunatley the farm is only about three hours away and I have met the owner before.
By not taking the milk cans into the milking barn I save myself room in the barn/milk house trailer and the purchase and the daily cleanup of an extra set of cans. I was going to have to build a "transfer area" for the milk so that the cans in the milking barn never go into the milk room and I wasn't allowed to use the cans that had been in the milking barn to pour the milk into the bulk tank so I was going to have another set of cans in the milk room that I would transfer the milk into in the "transfer area". Copying her design will save me all that trouble and some expense.
(The inspector had already approved that idea but I wasn't sure it would work.)
It is so great that people are willing to share their ideas. I got a lot of tips and tricks, the trip was totally worth the time. The owner of the dairy, Gianaclis Caldwell, has a book coming out in the Spring... "Mastering Basic Cheesemaking" and I was able to get a copy early...another plus of that visit.
She has other books on cheesemaking and dairying that have been a valuable resource to me so I was excited to see another one.
What really drew me to her design was that she leaves her milk can in the milk house when she milks and she has a little pass through hole in the wall into the milk barn that she sticks the inflations through. I had thought about doing this but told myslef I was crazy, but when I saw it in her video I knew that I had to see this in person. Fortunatley the farm is only about three hours away and I have met the owner before.
By not taking the milk cans into the milking barn I save myself room in the barn/milk house trailer and the purchase and the daily cleanup of an extra set of cans. I was going to have to build a "transfer area" for the milk so that the cans in the milking barn never go into the milk room and I wasn't allowed to use the cans that had been in the milking barn to pour the milk into the bulk tank so I was going to have another set of cans in the milk room that I would transfer the milk into in the "transfer area". Copying her design will save me all that trouble and some expense.
(The inspector had already approved that idea but I wasn't sure it would work.)It is so great that people are willing to share their ideas. I got a lot of tips and tricks, the trip was totally worth the time. The owner of the dairy, Gianaclis Caldwell, has a book coming out in the Spring... "Mastering Basic Cheesemaking" and I was able to get a copy early...another plus of that visit.
She has other books on cheesemaking and dairying that have been a valuable resource to me so I was excited to see another one.
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OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Last weekend I visited Pholia Farm in OR after watching some videos that they had made showing their milking setup. I contacted the owner and she was nice enough to let me come for a visit and observe her milking routine. She milks four goats at a time and uses the exact same equipment that I intend to use. She suggested that 6 at a time might be too many for one person so I am going to start with 4 but have room and the vacuum pump big enough for 6...just in case.
What really drew me to her design was that she leaves her milk can in the milk house when she milks and she has a little pass through hole in the wall into the milk barn that she sticks the inflations through. I had thought about doing this but told myslef I was crazy, but when I saw it in her video I knew that I had to see this in person. Fortunatley the farm is only about three hours away and I have met the owner before.
By not taking the milk cans into the milking barn I save myslef room in the barn/milk house trailer and the purchase and the daily cleanup of an extra set of cans. I was going to have to build a "transfer area" for the milk so that the cans in the milking barn never go into the milk room and I wasn't allowed to use the cans that had been in the milking barn to pour the milk into the bulk tank so I was going to have another set of cans in the milk room that I would transfer the milk into in the "transfer area". Copying her design will save me all that trouble and some expense.
It is so great that people are willing to share their ideas. I got a lot of tips and tricks, the trip was totally worth the time. The owner of the dairy, Gianaclis Caldwell, has a book coming out in the Spring... "Mastering Basic Cheesemaking" and I was able to get a copy early...another plus of that visit.
We bought semen from a buck that they bred
Pholia Farm Buck Finn
Sounds like things are coming together
Last edited:
Baymule
Herd Master
I bet that was a lot of fun to go see her dairy. Plus seeing her dairy in person helped solve a problem for you.
HomesteaderWife
Herd Master
Please keep us updated! I just got into reading this thread and I am very much interested to see your continued progress, and the final result!
- Thread starter
- #78
babsbag
Herd Master
I will post as the exciting stuff happens. Last year CA had a "nice" drought going on and I wasn't building a dairy. This year it is cold and wet and miserable (yes, I am complaining already) and we are trying to work on the trailer. DH is off next week and he hopes to get it water tight. That would really be amazing wonderful and a blessing. The trailer is in my goats' new barn and they want their new home...NOW. 
I don't typically do a kidding thread on BYH, everyone would get bored. I have 8 does due the first 10 days of Feb and then a break (I will need it). 16 does due in March and then a few in April. And one thrown in some where along the line...she was with the buck for a month or more. Will be a busy time for sure. They should be in their new barn by then, and hopefully I will have the cameras up and ready so I can watch from the comfort of my warm house and bed. My girls like nights *SIGH*
I don't typically do a kidding thread on BYH, everyone would get bored. I have 8 does due the first 10 days of Feb and then a break (I will need it). 16 does due in March and then a few in April. And one thrown in some where along the line...she was with the buck for a month or more. Will be a busy time for sure. They should be in their new barn by then, and hopefully I will have the cameras up and ready so I can watch from the comfort of my warm house and bed. My girls like nights *SIGH*
- Thread starter
- #79
babsbag
Herd Master
I have been blessed
The milking setup I was going to use is less than ideal as my back complains about lifting cans of milk and leaning over sink washing buckets, but it is what it is....until a few weeks ago.
I was perusing a website I visit often getting ready to buy the milk bulk tank when I see a consignment section and low and behold there is a small goat pipeline system for sale for the same price as what all the buckets were going to cost. Now granted it is in NC and I am in CA but I have this friend in NC that lives 1.5 hours or so from this dairy and she went to visit it. Thanks @Southern by choice. She and her family took pictures and checked it all out and I am going to buy it. DH will fly to NC, document, train, dismantle, rent a truck and drive back home. He thrives on this kind of thing. I may or may not go with him for a few days, verdict is out on that one. I feel like I need to, but with dogs that need to be boarded and goats that are close to kidding, and the airport being 2 hours away, it makes it all a little challenging.
The milking setup I was going to use is less than ideal as my back complains about lifting cans of milk and leaning over sink washing buckets, but it is what it is....until a few weeks ago.
I was perusing a website I visit often getting ready to buy the milk bulk tank when I see a consignment section and low and behold there is a small goat pipeline system for sale for the same price as what all the buckets were going to cost. Now granted it is in NC and I am in CA but I have this friend in NC that lives 1.5 hours or so from this dairy and she went to visit it. Thanks @Southern by choice. She and her family took pictures and checked it all out and I am going to buy it. DH will fly to NC, document, train, dismantle, rent a truck and drive back home. He thrives on this kind of thing. I may or may not go with him for a few days, verdict is out on that one. I feel like I need to, but with dogs that need to be boarded and goats that are close to kidding, and the airport being 2 hours away, it makes it all a little challenging.
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
That's great
