Questions about milk & cream

[Baymule]

Yes, keep posting here. It’s your thread, do anything you want to. 👍

What wire are y’all using? Field fence or sheep and goat wire. I heartily recommend the sheep and goat wire! It has 4” holes. Field fence starts out with small holes at the bottom and gets bigger as it goes up. I’m thinking your mini kids can pop through the holes. Perhaps someone with goats can weigh in on this.

I use the sheep and goat wire. I like the smaller holes. Part of one pasture has field fence and the sheep can put their heads through it. Dogs can too. I don’t like it, but it was new fence when I bought this place.

Bigger barn is good news. We have laid it all out for you, you would be miserable with that postage stamp you were talking about to start with. Do plan on a lean to off both sides. You may have a tractor someday, keep it under cover. Storage for square bales of hay, or round bales if you have a tractor to move them. Extra space for the goats to hang out in. Plan for higher walls so you can add the lean to later.

And you are welcome. We enjoy helping others, especially when someone as nice as you are.

 

[dairydreams]

^I've got my eyes on 4ft goat fence with fixed knots at each crossing.
Also maybe a strand of barbed wire along the bottom and top to stop some predation (hopefully)--we already have a huge roll so not biggie to add it.

 

[dairydreams]

Aww thank you! The feeling is mutual, everyone has been really nice here and I truly appreciate all the feedback.

LOVE the idea of an "entrance" and "exit" into the milking area through different doors to keep everyone in line/ in order.

I'm sketching out a new plan now, will get it uploaded when it's readable, haha.

Well you all have me sold on having everything in the barn...but now the question is how to get water out there. I can stretch a hose, that won't be too much of a challenge but definitely not preferred. From the spigot to the barn would probably be 150 feet or so. We've been toying with the idea of trying to tap a manual well so maybe if we can do it near the barn area (which is at a lower part of the property, but not so low it'll be a mud pit in the rain)...hmmm...

 

[Alaskan]

can easily enough walk supplies to the barn to milk, perhaps easier than I can walk a goat to the garage. So should I just build it bigger and consolidate all goat related things to the barn in the extra space?

I milked in the barn. I would tie up everyone. They all wore a collar, and I had spots to clip them to.

After everyone was tied/clipped, then i would take them one at a time to the milk stand, that was right there in their stall.

i did NOT subscribe to the "perfectly clean everything".

My stanchion was in the goat pen, so yes, it got dirty since the kids especially would play on it.

[Oh... since you are hand making your stanchion... it is nicest if the feeder on the stanchion is metal or plastic, can slide in and out (to clean) but can NOT be pulled out or tipped by the doe, when the doe finishes eating before you are done milking.]

I used a perfectly clean, easy to clean stainless steel milking pail or pot (something food safe, obviously, and easy to clean, no hard to get at edges).

The doe would be rubbed over, to get dirt and hair to fall on the ground.. two squirts on the ground, the rest into the clean pail.

So no wash of teats or udder. My thought was that 1. I was not selling the milk, and 2. Breastfeeding mothers don't wash their breasts before they nurse... sure, sure.. most breastfeeding moms don't roll around in poo either...

Whatever, it never made us sick.

and consequently may or may not be whethering the males (likely banding). I'll likely be offering them up for sale young

Cutting out testicles requires zero new tools. All you need to do is find a knife and sharpen it. There are you tube videos you can watch to show you how. The entire "constrict, then watch it die, shrivel, and fall off" thing... uh... ew... but that is just me.

then just have two or three larger stalls that can be open or closed off

The problem with stalls that do not go away, is that you then have more corners and dead ends. Corners and dead ends are where animals can get trapped and then bullied or killed.

Stalls where the stall panels are folded completely out of the way, or where the panels can be picked up and put elsewhere for storage (in the loft or hung on the wall), result in way fewer spots for animals to get trapped, bullied, or in trouble.

a heat lamp. The purpose would be so that mom can't steal the heat from the babies. Does that seem potentially helpful or unnecessa

Heat lamps are a high fire hazzard.

for kids born in the winter... I used a warming box. Cardboard box big enough for the kids. On the back and side walls put a heating pad that will stay always on, that is protected by a huge zip lock. You can splice 2 zip locks together with duct tape. You can have a second heating pad, at a much lower setting, on the floor of the cardboard box. Then duct tape a washable blanket over the heating pads. The blanket must be 100%synthetic materials, or wool. NOT cotton!!! Run all cords where connections are securely duct taped together and better yet covered/hidden by stout plastic conduit.

You can get heating pads rated for animals that are pretty sturdy. Many however have an auto shut-off. Avoid those.

My does never pushed the kids out of the heating boxes.

I have seen a heating box made from a plastic barrel, with the entrance cut the size for a kid, in those the mom would have more difficulty crawling in there... if she felt so inclined.

Also is it OK if I keep updating about this journey here? I mean even when I do start building? Or is there a different place on the forum to post things like that? I mean we're all invested in this now right? LOL

You can keep on here... or start your own journal where you keep a running record of everything that you are doing.

 

[Alaskan]

Well you all have me sold on having everything in the barn...but now the question is how to get water out there. I can stretch a hose, that won't be too much of a challenge but definitely not preferred. From the spigot to the barn would probably be 150 feet or so. We've been toying with the idea of trying to tap a manual well so maybe if we can do it near the barn area (which is at a lower part of the property, but not so low it'll be a mud pit in the rain)...hmmm...

I think I missed one of your questions... in my last post... ha! If you know what I missed, tell me!

As to the hose..

For goats... they are picky about their water. So, fully fresh daily is best.

Some times we had a hose out to the barn. (And our barn is 150 or 200 feet away), some times we just hauled water in a 6 gallon water jug.

For horses... who drink much more water.. we used the hose if at all possible. In the winter we would hook the hose up to the sink in the second story bathroom, and run the hose out the window. This way we could use hot water, which was very helpful in the winter. When done with the hose, it would be pulled up through the window and stored in the shower in that bathroom.

For my chicken coop I did spend the money to install a spigot by the coop. One that self drains, so can be used all year. And... with my blasted arthritis I CAN'T USE IT! It requires a great amount of hand strength. The kids don't use it either. It is a bother to use, even for the young and fully able.... they haul, or I use a long hose. I would think that there must be better models....

 

[Baymule]

It is easy to run PVC pipe. Even I can do that. It comes in 20’ lengths. Rent a trencher to dig from water line to the barn. Dig up water line, turn off water, turn on water faucets in the house to drain the lines. Also with faucets open, when you turn the water back on, it will push the air out of the lines. Then go around house turning water faucets off.

Cut the water line, dry it real good and glue a Tee in the line. Then start laying down the PVC, glued together with couplings or unions. It can be done in a day. Be sure to put in a cut off valve, close to the main line. Cut off valves are important. With a cut off valve, you can cut off water to the barn without having to cut off water to the house.

Use a frost free faucet at the barn.

Rent the trencher on a Friday, take it back on a Monday morning or you can pay the rental place to bring it and pick it up. While you have it, run other water lines to where you will have a garden, the buck pen, hog pen or whatever.

Run electric wire to the barn. Leave plenty of extra on both ends to connect it. This would be a good time to consult with an electrician to find out what wire, cost for connecting it to the breaker box at the house and a breaker box at the barn. From the barn breaker box, wires can be run for lights and plug receptacles. Wire is made to be buried, but using conduit makes it last longer.

I’m throwing this out there to give you ideas. When you do run water and electricity to the barn, have a plan. If you have friends or family to help, make sure they know what they are doing. Or hire an electrician for the wiring part.

I don’t have a barn yet, much less water and electricity run. I’ve been here a little over a year, 3 weeks after moving in, I had knee replacement surgery. Didn’t get much done last winter. LOL It’s on my radar now. But opportunity knocked, neighbor is having a bulldozer come clear his fence rows and I’m having him do my front fence row. $$$ That has the barn building on hold, in a days time, Mr Bulldozer can do what would take me a year to do. Then I can start buying lumber and plywood and metal for roof and more lumber, more plywood, more metal for sides, more, more, more….,,,,, then I can run water and electricity to it.

I’m kinda in the same spot that you are. Major fencing to do. Planning on two 3 sided barns. Cross fencing. Garden. Fruit and nut trees. Grapes, berries and I’ve always wanted a gazebo-screened-summer bugs are awful, especially at night. Oh and a BBQ hut and a fire pit. Will I get all of this done? Maybe-if I live long enough! Hahaha!

We will be able to commiserate our misery together and celebrate our success!
Let’s ROLL!

 

[SageHill]

Water to the barn ……
Our house is 700 ft away from the barn. We trenched and hand dug and jackhammered (lots of underground boulders here) from the main house line to the barn. Hoses get in the way (mowing, weed whacking, tripping over), break, weather and break, get chewed on and break, bake in the sun or heat and especially when you forget to turn it off they split and gyser!
PVC is much mess troublesome 😊 because when a hose goes it’s never at a good time. 😉

 

[Ridgetop]

I can easily enough walk supplies to the barn to milk, perhaps easier than I can walk a goat to the garage. So should I just build it bigger and consolidate all goat related things to the barn in the extra space?

If your stanchion is in the garage, you will have to walk the goats to the barn (and goats HATE rain) you will have to walk them back, get another goat and repeat the process. Then the final trip back to the house with the milk. Better to have the stanchion in the barn with the udder wash, one trip to barn with milk bucket and pail of warm water for washing udders, do milking, one trip to kitchen with bucket of milk and everything to strain milk, bottles to store, etc. keep in house. After straining and storing milk you can wash the equipment in the house. I used to rinse milk equipment well with cold water then run the milk bucket, strainer, bottles, etc. through the dishwasher. I used pint and quart canning jars first for feeding kids, later switched to buckets with 8 teats on each.

Also after reading the above it looks like it might be overkill to be having 4 stalls. I'm thinking about bumping the whole plan out a few feet in every direction, then just have two or three larger stalls that can be open or closed off (for purposed of kidding or medical isolation, for example--and before anyone says it, any contagious goats will be moved to the stall across the property). This way I have more space to adjust as needed. Oh and to try to build in multiples of 4

Good idea!

I did watch a woman on the YouTubes that said in her next barn she would be creating a door between stalls that would be small enough for smaller kids to get through but not mom, so they had a space to escape to and in that space would be a heat lamp.

Instead of gates if you want to let kids have access to another stall, make a creep gate. Look up online. If you use a heat lamp, be sure to loop all cords up on hooks in ceiling. A standard 100 watt incandescent bulb can be used instead of a heat lamp bulb.

I think I missed one of your questions... in my last post... ha! If you know what I missed, tell me!

As to the hose..

For goats... they are picky about their water. So, fully fresh daily is best.

Some times we had a hose out to the barn. (And our barn is 150 or 200 feet away), some times we just hauled water in a 6 gallon water jug.

Instead of a hose, run PVC pipe to your barn underground. If the griund freezes make sure to bury it 18" deep.

Run electric wire to the barn. Leave plenty of extra on both ends to connect it. This would be a good time to consult with an electrician to find out what wire, cost for connecting it to the breaker box at the house and a breaker box at the barn. From the barn breaker box, wires can be run for lights and plug receptacles. Wire is made to be buried, but using conduit makes it last longer.

Run the electric wire to the barn underground in electric PVC conduit. You can bury the wire in conduit at the same time you do the water pes. Be sure to seal all splices with glue.

 

[farmerjan]

Although our weather has not been as cold the past few years... the standard here to bury water lines is minimum 24 "..... that is below the frost line. Talk to any older plumber and see what they say. The younger ones do not remember the years of 10* weather for a week or 2 at a time... If you are going to bury lines make sure they are at least 24" ... what is another 6" deep rather than have a cold winter with no snow cover that will cause the line to crack and water spew everywhere. Snow will insulate the ground... but we have had a few times where it has just gotten down right miserable cold and have had to deal with frozen water places in the past. I am talking 40+ years living here. Originally from Conn... we buried water lines up there 36" to stay below frost line. Better to be safe than sorry.
If you go the hose route... and I have here for the chickens sometimes... just make sure you unattach both ends, open or remove any nozzles, and drain and you can get by with using a hose... it will get old after awhile... but it is doable..

 

[Finnie]

Yes, keep posting here. It’s your thread, do anything you want to. 👍

You can even change the title later on if you want to. Some people edit the titles of their journals to reflect what has been happening lately.