Dairy Goat Milking Parlor
this is our milking set-up..copied from another dairy.. we made a few changes and feel this is almost the perfect system…moves them fast and easy and no chance to pass eachother on the deck..single file is now the rule! it takes little effort other than making sure they fully enter each stall. smaller goats dont always engage the gate fully, so following along ensures there are no traffic accidents! they learn fast not to back up and some choose to jump off the back deck rather than walk the full length. we are plotting an auto-feeding system and hope to soon have that installed… milking alone and filling all 34 boxes takes up a lot of time.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
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like your palor setup was wondering if we could come and see it? we are in southwest wisconsin.
nice dairy! you have a good dog there too!
@jschil01 we used to milk one side, kick them out and reload while the other side milked, but seemed we were giving them enough time and attention and spending our ‘quality time’ with the girls in a frantic hustle…now we milk both sides, kick them all out and reload…that way if someone from the first side dumps a ‘second stage’ of milk we have time to get it before they leave!
@jschil01 it may take a bit more vacuum, but we have the hp to handle it…. having the pipeline high keeps it out of the way (and CLEAN!) PLUS, gravity flow sends the milk downstream and the collection jar and transfer pump are at a handy height instead of being at the floor level….
@oneskypuppy So you guys just milk one side out then switch the milking units over and milk out the other side of the parlor? Does it take more vacuum to pump the milk up to the pipeline when you have everything over head like that or is it no more than if you had it level with your waist?
@jschil01 we run 11 units…ya, another odd number!…only because for now thats what fits in the wash-up sink! we may go up to 17 some day if we decide to to do clean-in-place system, but i prefer not to with the grade milk rules requiring the parlor to meet milkhouse standards…but really, this gives them full time to eat their pound of grain, so milking any faster and they may not eat it all..
Is that 136 goats per hour with a milker for each stall (32) or is it one milker for every two stalls (17) milking units?
Thats a very nice very low budget parlor and i think it looks like it works quite well!
@oneskypuppy I am in the process of remodeling an old dairy barn in central Washington and would love your measurements as well if you are willing.
@michigankids pretty much! lol! a few of the fellows know how to behave like gentlemen so we let them come thru the parlor!
@michigankids the ramp has some skids so they dont slip..altho they made get pushed from behind and stumble, they recover and move along just fine. the older gals take it slow, the young energetic ones race up the ramp…our old parlor had actual ‘steps’ that seemed more difficult looking back on things now. we’ve never had a goat injure herself in the parlor.
@oneskypuppy Do you ever have any trouble getting the fuller girls up that steep ramp? Do they ever get injured? Your set up is really nice.
@oneskypuppy Do you ever have any trouble getting the fuller girls up that steep ramp? Do they ever get injured? Your set up is really nice.
@oneskypuppy LOL I was wondering what was up with that! That cracked me up. Just one of the girls..I could picture his plotting…..”I’ll just get in line, no one will notice….gonna get me a little grain today!”
@cabelasportsmen um they’re called billys…and maybe the goat just runs with the herd and they don’t bother to cut him out at milking time
where is this at?
you are right..there’s a buck goat in there too….we shot his last fall..breeding season…since he behaves himself, we let him come thru with the miking herd.
ok everyone go to 1:24 the goat walking up the ramp is a ram i was just wandering how the heck are you planning on milking a male goat are you going to put the sucksion cups on his nuts or what he would go crazy what a sight that would be. i remember when i was like eight we would ride the goats and to get them to move we would grab there balls it was was soooo funny to see them take of pretty soon they learned to run when we reached for them. good times
Measurements would be awesome
Thanks! One of my uncles knows how to weld so hopefully I can bribe him into helping me 
hi naturelover,
glad you liked the vid….the system works well for us, but like anything, there’s always room for improvement!
yes, there is a short steep ramp at the end, altho many of the goats prefer to just jump off the deck as they exit…
if you have any questions in building your own parlor, i can give you our measurements if you need! it helps if you can do your own welding!
This is an amazing video.. I live on a goat farm and we (me and my brother) hand-milk 20+ does a day in a small herringbone parlor. Soon we hope to build a parlor like yours.. but I have one question. After teh goats are done being milked, how do they get off the stand, onto the floor again? (like at 6:05 -ish)? Are there steps or a ramp? Thanks
fantasic sep up very impressed
well i guess its better to have a herd that is living good and owners living cheap than to have a bad herd and living rich then they probably produce better..nut idk i just raise 12 dairy kids every year as a little cash money on the side….
gokory..we started without much money and have slowly built ourselves up..we live cheap while the goats live like queens…we choose to manage goats NOT to manage people. it’s all about finding a balance.
@oneskypuppy you forgot another necessity besidses goats,rotary and hire hands….money…