Where do you milk your goats?

[LeviS]

I'm in the middle of getting everything ready for accommodating a new dairy goat, will be my first time keeping a milking goat. I just finished building my stanchion and have been collecting supplies. Now its time to designate a part of my barn for milking. Looking for any ideas on what other peoples set ups are.

My barn is a 30 x 40 pole barn, so all open except for my one heated room in the corner (raises chicks in here and a place to bring in baby goat-cicles when its -50 out. I have a 7' x 10' space next to my heated room in my barn where I would like to have chest height, solid walls and will eventually be under my loft (when I get that built). This would be right next to where I keep my 13 boer X does (will be closer to 20 this fall), will this suffice as a "milk room"? I guess my main concern would be smell? i guess, with it being in my goat barn and not being completely sealed off from the rest of the goats.

Would like to hear others thoughts on my plan and hear what others do, thx!

 

[LeviS]

I know its hard to visualize, I will try and get some pictures up this evening.

 

[MsDeb]

and a place to bring in baby goat-cicles when its -50 out.

OK, with that one phrase you succeeded in making me laugh, almost cry and scare the bleep out of me. That is all. You may proceed.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That caught my eye too! I was hoping it just meant below 50 F... not 50 below! Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[LeviS]

OK, with that one phrase you succeeded in making me laugh, almost cry and scare the bleep out of me. That is all. You may proceed.

That caught my eye too! I was hoping it just meant below 50 F... not 50 below! Inquiring minds want to know...

Gotta love the arctic, errr, North Dakota. It was especially horrid this last winter. 50+ mph winds plus -40 - 50 without windchill AND like 3-4ft of snow, you just can't make this stuff up! Still....wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

 

[babsbag]

Temperatures like that are just wrong...

I milk in a 10x12 shed that is attached to my goat barn. It does have doors on it but I leave it open when I milk and it is fine, the milk does not pick up odors, even when the bucks are in rut. The trick is to get the milk out of the area ASAP and chilled ASAP and you will be fine. Don't milk and then do chores, milk last and be ready to take the milk to house when done.

 

[Harbisgirl]

I milk in the goat house. I have the milk stand in the corner and its fine. The second I'm done milking I cover the bucket with a cloth to keep out dust, then I filter it of course. You definitely want to get it chilled quickly. I milk into a smallish stainless steel bucket, which is placed in a larger SS bucket that is filled with ice and water (get the buckets from Jeffers, way cheaper). The milk gets chilled instantly as I'm milking - works great and the milk is icy cold before I even get to the house. I put enough ice to keep it cold for a bit in case I get distracted with something.

 

[hilarie]

Ditto what everyone says about keeping the milk cold. I milk in a small (now enclosed) carport adjoining the barn. I leave it open too, except when I take the goats up into the woods to browse (someone always gets a wild hair and STAMPEDES back to the milkroom, where the grain is stored. Imagine the disappointed looks on their snoodles when they find the door closed ) I'm only milking three goats now, and in the bucket I put a couple of those refreezable ice block things you use in coolers. I sanitize them in bleach water just like everything else, and then to the freezer; I take them out just before I milk. The milk is cold enough to drink when it's taken (immediately) into the house.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Somehow I don't think LeviS is gonna have a problem keeping the milk cold! At least not in the winter....

 

[LeviS]

Somehow I don't think LeviS is gonna have a problem keeping the milk cold! At least not in the winter....

Haha! I might have to milk into a heated bucked!