# Share Milking Area and Milk machines etc.



## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Please share about your milk stand/milk stool, milking area and your method of milking..machine brand, hands,other storage methods, etc.
~Pics are most welcome or you can just tell us about it.
Organizing ideas or things you need to keep out in the milking area would be good.

I am trying to get ideas for setting up and organizing a milking area. Dh gave me one of his old metal tool chests that has a table-like top on it to keep my milk type stuff in. We will be building the milk stand. I have both Lamanchas and Nigerian Dwarfs.
I am currently converting an old metal garage/shed building (with a 3 car covered attached carport) into a couple kidding stalls and in the front area will be my milk stand etc. There is electicity out there and a hose spigot on the back outside corner. Its a 17ft x14 ft. building.

I will probably start out hand milking but I will be looking for a milk machine .
If people could share what brand they have and what they like or don't like about it, that would be great!


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

I still don’t have much of a setup, but I’m eager to see other people’s replies. 

Mine is about as simple as it gets. I have a little stand on my porch that my farrier made me, with a bench built onto it, but prior to that I just sat on the floor. I bring in the doe to be milked, give her udder a quick wipe with a clean towel, milk a few squirts from each teat into a bowl for the cats, and then start into the pail. I hand milk still - like I said, very basic here. Lol. Milk out as much as I can, take the goat back out, take the pail inside, pour into a half gallon jar and mark with a date, and into the fridge it goes. Then I put my empty pail in the freezer so I don’t have to wash it every single milking. 

I will say I love my pail. I used to use a bowl and if the goat moved the bowl spilled. This pail tends to slide instead of tipping over. I almost never lose any milk now. I also keep the filter and funnel on the pail when I milk so the milk is filtered as it goes in. Then when I take it inside, the milk can just go straight into the jar, I can give the filter a quick wash if it looks a bit dirty, but sometimes I do a few milkings in between washes since I keep the pail and filter in the freezer. 

I feed hay after milking to keep the goats on their feet until the orifices close up. I’d like to get a teat sealant of some kind for after milking (only heard about those recently) but haven’t found one yet. Surprisingly my local farm store doesn’t carry any, despite having plenty of other goats supplies. I suppose I’ll end up ordering something online.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

"Fight Bac" is a great teat sealant. Its for "cows", but is perfectly safe for goats. Comes in a black and white aerosol can that lasts a long time if you only have a few goats. Spray on after every milking.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Feira, You have an efficient system for milking and getting everything done quickly. It sounds like you have a permanent type of milk filter? What is the brand name on that? I've only seen the throw way paper filters. It would be nice to have a permanent milk filter!
I like the tip about keeping the pail in the feezer. It would get the milk colder faster.
We have a lot of cats around here too. Once they figure out where the milk comes from they will probably go nuts trying to get it lol!!

Goats Rock, good tip about the Fight Bac! I will have to look for some.


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

Yes, I have heard of Fight Bac. I will have to have another look at the feed store.

Can I paste a link here? I've never tried. I guess we'll find out. This is the filter I have: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-De...=milk+filter+and+funnel&qid=1606780170&sr=8-4

You can buy the funnel with a filter, or just a filter, or I think you can get a pair of filters also. I have a couple of filters so I can swap them out if I'm in a hurry and don't have time to clean one. And I bought the funnel because the filters fit on it perfectly.

I love these filters - the only downside is they don't really wash well in the dishwasher. They're supposed to be dishwasher safe, but I've found that little goat hairs and bits of dirt tend to get trapped in the rim if I run them through the dishwasher. However, hand washing them is quick and easy, so I don't mind.

Yeah, I like to keep it pretty simple. Don't want to turn milking into a huge chore, since I have to do it twice every day. I work and homeschool two kids so I try to make chores easy on myself whenever I can!


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

A good seamless stainless steel bucket with lid. I use the paper filters sometimes but i use butter muslin doubled more often now that i am milking a cow too. The cow milk goes sooo slow through a paper filter. A food safe sanitizer for spraying all my things after they are washed every day. I cannot imagine not washing everything after every use.


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

Wow, you milk a cow too? What is that like?

I just figure if the milk is already filtered and clean going into the pail, then if I freeze the pail immediately after emptying it, I can easily milk several times without any of the milk residue on the pail ever being at room temp for more than about thirty minutes to an hour.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Sfgwife, A stainless bucket is definitely on my list. I didn't think about the lid but that makes sense especially with all the trees and stuff on the path from the barn to the house! Good tips on the lid and the sanitizer!
Do you wash the butter muslim by hand or the washing mashine? Do you use the sanitzier on it too?
Feira, Thanks for the link for the filter!!
I agree we need to be able to milk and still have a life lol. Thats why I am trying to get organized and figure it all out now.
I got the wood for the milk stand and we are going to start building it. Just gotta figure out how to make it adjustable for NDs and Lamanchas. Dh is pretty good at figuring that kind of stuff out though.

What kind of goats are you all milking?


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

I have Mini Nubians and an Alpine mix. But my stand is just a stand right now - I don’t have a stanchion on it yet. I don’t think I’ve seen an adjustable one before, but I’m sure you could figure out something creative to fit all your goats.  

All I have on mine is a leash at the front that I can clip onto my girls’ collars if they get very uncooperative, lol. Super low tech here. I would like some kind of wooden headlock for the front of it sometime. That’d be super handy!! Just haven’t gotten to it yet. 

If you figure something out that can be adapted for your different sized goats, please share!!


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Feira426 said:


> Wow, you milk a cow too? What is that like?
> 
> I just figure if the milk is already filtered and clean going into the pail, then if I freeze the pail immediately after emptying it, I can easily milk several times without any of the milk residue on the pail ever being at room temp for more than about thirty minutes to an hour.


We had our first calf here three and a half months ago. We calf share with Dozer. Separate at night and i milk until Bess's faucet is turned off and then let dozer in to finish. She gifts me about 10 cups in the morning.

Milkin Bess is like milking a big teated goat. Lol. Same thing just different. The pic was a bit over a month ago. They are dexters. .


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Gooseberry Creek said:


> Sfgwife, A stainless bucket is definitely on my list. I didn't think about the lid but that makes sense especially with all the trees and stuff on the path from the barn to the house! Good tips on the lid and the sanitizer!
> Do you wash the butter muslim by hand or the washing mashine? Do you use the sanitzier on it too?
> Feira, Thanks for the link for the filter!!
> I agree we need to be able to milk and still have a life lol. Thats why I am trying to get organized and figure it all out now.
> ...


I wash the butter muslin by hand and spray sanitizer on it daily. When it smells funky after i wash it i just throw it out and get a new piece. It is cheap. But a piece easily lasts me a month. I use Star sanitizer and it does not need be rinsed.


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

Cuties!!


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## Michaela Van Mecl (Sep 3, 2018)

Feira426 said:


> Yes, I have heard of Fight Bac. I will have to have another look at the feed store.
> 
> Can I paste a link here? I've never tried. I guess we'll find out. This is the filter I have: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-De...=milk+filter+and+funnel&qid=1606780170&sr=8-4
> 
> ...


Do you have a link to your reusable filters? My funnel came with one but I didn't feel like it was trapping everything, so very interested in seeing what works for you!


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## Feira426 (Dec 11, 2019)

Michaela Van Mecl said:


> Do you have a link to your reusable filters? My funnel came with one but I didn't feel like it was trapping everything, so very interested in seeing what works for you!


Yes, the link you quoted there should be the right one. I believe you can choose between the funnel or the filters on that one item page, so it may be a tad confusing.

They feel like a sort of nylon cloth. Very easy to clean and very, very fine. I haven't seen a speck of anything in the milk since we switched to these. I'm very happy with them!


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## CBPitts (Jan 29, 2020)

After years of hand milking in a shed both goats and cow I finally decided to build a barn.

A good milk room was important as was a kitchenette with hot and cold water. I broke both wrists a couple years ago (as we were building the barn) and I can't haul stuff from the barn to the house all the time nor can I hand milk anymore.

My machine is an ancient 1920's Delaval and it's a work horse! It's mounted on a shelf outside the milk room and everything in plumbed through the wall into the milk room.

I have a 2 goat stand and I use 2 goat attachments on an old converted Surge bucket. There is a door (blue in pics) that goes straight to milk does loafing area. This way I don't have to catch and lead to the stand, I just open the door and the first pair comes in.

The kitchenette is next to the milk room and has counters and a sink with a 12 gallon water heater set up. I have clean in place lines so I just fill each side of the sink and suck a soapy mix through then a vinegar mix. Once a day I use a diluted food grade sanitizer.

Right now I have a small fridge in the corner but I'll be looking for a big fridge/freezer soon.

I always have a few stainless milk buckets, wipes, fightbac, funnels and filters, teat dip, uddermint, and clean glass jars with a bucket and ice packs to chill my milk right away.

I only keep 1/2 gallon a day for the house and the rest feeds pigs or gets frozen.

The kitchenette has all my meds, syringes, cleaners, and wound care.

We built the whole thing on a budget ourselves but the barn came from a kit. It's engineered and after you set the ground poles a big truck drops off everything you need to build it including blueprints. The 24x36 barn was 4K and everything else we built as we went and had time and money available.


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## Michaela Van Mecl (Sep 3, 2018)

Feira426 said:


> Yes, the link you quoted there should be the right one. I believe you can choose between the funnel or the filters on that one item page, so it may be a tad confusing.
> 
> They feel like a sort of nylon cloth. Very easy to clean and very, very fine. I haven't seen a speck of anything in the milk since we switched to these. I'm very happy with them!


Thanks! Definitely going to try that. The disposable filters aren't cheap!


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## Michaela Van Mecl (Sep 3, 2018)

Another nod to the fight bac. It seems a bit expensive but that single can will last me, with milking two goats twice a day, over 6 months. It's well worth it! And it is soooo convenient.



Feira426 said:


> Yes, I have heard of Fight Bac. I will have to have another look at the feed store.
> 
> Can I paste a link here? I've never tried. I guess we'll find out. This is the filter I have: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-De...=milk+filter+and+funnel&qid=1606780170&sr=8-4
> 
> ...


no


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

CBPitts that is a fantastic setup! Goals for sure lol. I love how convenient it is for you to be able to wash up everything right next to the milking parlor! You guys did a great job too. I appreciate all the photos and list of items you use.

We have pigs too (Kunekunes) What kind di you raise?

I was toying with asking dh to put a little hot water heater out in our barn haha. We plan to move in a year, or maybe sooner because we desperately need a bigger property and want to get further outside the city, so I have a feeling he won't want to mess with getting hot water yet. When we move, I'm going to though!


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## CBPitts (Jan 29, 2020)

[mention]Gooseberry Creek [/mention] you can always take the hot water heater with you. I know I would!

I hadn't intended to quite as all out as we did but I'm really glad we did. It all makes a difference. Especially with the problems I have with my wrists and arms now.

As for pigs, we just buy around 6 to 12 weaners a year in the late summer or early fall. They're usually Hampshire or Yorkshire crosses and we give them all the milk I don't use or sell. I only sell for craft/animal consumption and I've always been able to sell everything we weren't using, mostly to wildlife rescues but this year the buyers weren't there. I did donate 50 gallons to my favorite rescue but the rest went to a few individual buyers for bummer lambs and such and the rest was fed to the pigs.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

here is a thread of the milking stand we built.
https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/the-monstrosity-no-more.212349/


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

It is important to rinse (95ºF - 100ºF) your milking equipment right after milking, then wash with a good chlorinated soap in at least 120ºF water and rinse well. freezing a bucket does not kill bacteria and milk bacteria is dangerous. Listeria can happen pretty quickly with dirty milk equipment. 

I know most goat owners are not selling milk for human consumption, but if you use it for yourself or family, please clean the equipment correctly for yours and their health.


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## McCarthyFarms (Apr 24, 2020)

We have a very very basic milking set up. We built a little stand out of old timber and pallets, and my husband made a head bail for it. After using it for an extended period of time, it definitely needs some adjusting LOL. The goats can easily get their heads out. But we use it for milking, hoof trimming, vaccinations etc.

On the list for next projects is to build a little milking stall to move it into - right now, it's out in the open next to the goat paddock. I go out in the morning, dump a scoop of feed into the bucket hanging on the front, go to the goat paddock and Pamela (our only current milking doe) knows where to go. I open the gate, she runs out and around the corner and up onto the stand. When I start to milk Lacey I will have to clip her collar to the stand but Pam I can just shut the head bale and she stays put...usually.
I milk by hand into a steel pail after cleaning her udder and stripping the first couple squirts (but now will start keeping it for my cats after seeing that posted here!).
Once I'm done, she goes back into the paddock, milk comes straight inside and filtered into jars that I keep (after cleaning and sterilising) in the fridge to help cool it quicker.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

CBP, good point about the hot water tank. I will see if he will go for it lol.
I think my KuneKune might be preggo but she is inly 9 mos. Ive been looking online for signs of kunekune pregnancy lol. She is currently housed w a male who is 11 mos. I read the males dont breed till 1 yr old and females 9mos to a yr old... but who knows lol. I am gonna start bulding a separate pen and farrowing house, just in case!

fivemoremiles: Wow, that is an awesome milk stand. Very smart on using the Husky Shelves! Maybe when I have more goats to milk someday, I will look into that. I like how you used the rubber mats on the steps. I was thinking of putting one on the stand itself. Florida is so wet and humid and the girls get muddy feet/hooves alot. 

Goats rock, good reminder on milk safety.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

McCarthy Farms, Sounds like you have a good setup that works for you. Your goats sound like good girls! I need to work on the gate between the milk area and the girls pasture area.

Pallet wood is so great to make things out of! 10 yrs ago we made 3 chicken coops. One was made of heat treated pallet wood and the other 2 from pressure treated 2x4s and plywood. They were all painted or stained. 2 eventually succumbed to FL humidity and termites, only the pallet coop still stands lol. 
We have built a few more by now but we should get more pallets. Its a lot of work to take all the wood off the pallets to make coops with but worth it in the end. 
Haha so I thought I would take advantage of the Black Friday sales and got a over the fence type feeder for my milk stand. Well I must have been more tired than I thought, shopping late online one night because, I thought the feeder was 6 quarts but when it got here I realized it is 16 Quarts!! :bonk:
Im sure I will use it for something but not a milk stand lol !!


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## AndersonRanch (Oct 18, 2020)

I don’t have a whole lot of info for you since I don’t have dairy goats just a jersey cow, I mean I could tell you about my “set up” if you want a good laugh lol 
But I can totally tell you about a machine! When you are ready I highly suggest looking into a simple pulse! I purchase mine earlier this year and I have been absolutely impressed with that thing especially for the money. 
Like I said not much to give ya but there you have it


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Anderson Ranch, Thank you. I will look into the simple pulse. I envy you having a Jersey cow!!
I am always telling hubby that one day I am going to bring home Jersey heifer. They are so adorable and give good creamy milk when they grow up! The property we have now is a little small to add a cow or I would have one! Hopefully when we move, I will get one.


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## AndersonRanch (Oct 18, 2020)

Jerseys are adorable and the sweetest personality there is. But hardy they are not! I honestly won’t get another full jersey. Lol I’ve actually been having to milk my brangus cow so I think she just got promoted to my new milk cow lol


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

AndersonRanch, Do you mean they aren't hardy to cold or just physically easily get sick or injured etc?


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## AndersonRanch (Oct 18, 2020)

They are easily sick and injured. They really haven’t been bred over the years for anything but milk. When I was shopping for semen I did see where one company was keeping track of longevity score so I do think they are slowly starting to see a issue. Probably mainly just the homestead breeder and not the big dairy breeders.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Thats too bad. I hope the Brangus works out for you. Here in FL I see Dexter cattle advertised quite a bit. 
There are also Cracker Cattle advertised here alot lol. No clue on if the Crackers give good milk. I read they give average amounts of milk but are mainly raised for meat. They are exceptionally parasite hardy. In Florida, parasites reign so if this was a homestead breed for the early FL Pioneers, they would have to be parasite resistant to survive here. I would love to get some Cracker Cattle but we would definitely need more than our 4 acres first lol :/

Besides the Jerseys, for cuteness, I love the Highland Cattle. Such cute faces! I see them for sale here but it seems they would surely suffer the heat and humidity here.


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## AndersonRanch (Oct 18, 2020)

I’m not going to milk her full time. She’s like a boer goat, she has the milk but not a WHOLE lot extra. I mean she does at the moment, which I’m able to stock my freezer with colostrum again lol but it won’t be a huge amount. I do like that she does allow me to milk her though just in case I ever do need milk.
I had to look up what this cracker cow was! I had never heard of them before. It looks like they are a Florida long horn. They would definitely be a hardy animal, but I’m not a fan of how absolutely terrible long horns can be lol I could write you a book  but when they get it In their mind to be nasty or escape there is nothing you can do to change their mind. I’m oh so lucky and our neighbor has long horns, it’s very.........interesting when they get out on us and we have to gather them up lol
I almost got a Scottish highlander once!!! Someone raised them and was selling out and pretty cheaply too. But then I thought about all the foxtails and birds and what not getting in that long hair and backed out :/ from everyone I know those are very sweet and easy to handle cows.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

Its good that you are getting a lot of colostrum. That may come in handy!! 
Yes the Cracker Cattle do have some horns but nothing as big a the TX longhorns. They are fairly docile and smaller than the avg cow but I am sure they could get hormonal and onery just like any animal. The Tiger striped ones are so pretty!! 
They were brought here by the Spanish hundreds of year ago and thrived running around in the swamps. The were called Cracker Cattle due to the FL settlers/cowboys who used a long whip and cracked it behind the cows to round them up. I am not from Fl (originally from Calif) so I love all ahe FL history lol...kinda like the Key West/Gypsy chickens ( we have some of those lol). A little different story on the KW chickens but they are pretty cool. Florida is a wild state lol.


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## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

I have read the replies that you have gotten. What works for you may not work for some one else. But you can get good ideas. 
I have been milking cows and now goats for almost 62 years. Our method is simple. We have 2 milk stands with feed troughs attached on the end with the head locks under a shed attached to the feed building where we keep a refrigerator and other necessary medicine and tools and such plus feed and minerals. The shed is enclosed with goat panels. At one end of the panels is a gate to the goats. On the other end a gate to exit and enter the building. 
We clean the teats with baby wipes with no alcoholic content. Then when clean, we hand milk into a half gallon plastic pitcher and when finished with that doe the lid is put on. Each doe gets a separate pitcher for het milk. That way we can inspect and isolate any milk that might need to be kept separate. After milk the milk is placed into the refrigerator. When milking is complete then we carry the milk to the house and strain it through a fine coffee filter. The kind that comes with a coffee maker. It washable and reusable and removes all particles from the milk. Simple but effective. We can milk our 4-5 milk does before we could even think about setting up and then clean a milking machine and hoses. Good luck and hope you figure out what you need.


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

TexasGoatMan, thank you for your reply.
Wow 62 years of milking experience! That is amazing. I bet you could write a book on all your milking and goat/cow "adventures" lol. You must have some stories to tell!
That's a good tip on keeping the milk in separate containers until you can inspect it and make sure it won't contaminate all the other milk. I will be looking into that coffee filter. Its good to have a reusable source.
I need to rig up a little fridge out by the barn somehow. We are converting an old metal garage/barn with a sandy dirt floor (Florida). It has a 3-car metal roof carport attached to it.
I am thinking of keeping the milkstand in a part of that open carport area, gated off from the rest of the barn etc. We set up a gate between the pasture and carport and will have individual stalls with gates built inside the barn.
I ended up making a wood milk stand then buying a metal head stall part.
I decided to start out hand milking so I can become proficient at it before buying a machine. It will be only me milking and I work, so it would mainly be for time saving reasons.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

The problem with a milking machine is if you only milk a few goats, there isn't a lot of time saved if you have to wash all the equipment each milking. Hoegger used to sell a belly milker, with only the pan, lid and inflations that needed washing- but I doubt they still sell that. 

My personal rule is under 4 goats, hand milk, over- machine! (because I have carpel tunnel, 4 is the max I can milk). Our power goes out, I am toast- milking 65-70 by hand - no way!


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## Gooseberry Creek (Jun 3, 2020)

This spring, I'm only milking 3 so hand milking is good. I am planning to keep any does I get from kidding and I have 2 does coming from a breeder next month. I have 2 does now that I didn't breed this past fall because they were a little young still. I will be breeding them next fall. 
So, I figure next year, I will be milking at least 7. So maybe it will be feasible then. 
I also have Carpal Tunnel, its so annoying sometimes.


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## littleheathens (Apr 27, 2019)

We have a large Mini-Nubian and a smallish Nigerian and our stand works for the two. If you cut the space in the stanchion correctly (a wide vertical area) and keep your rail for feed bucket at the right position, it works. We've had a full size goat in milk too. I might make a removable riser several inches high for the Nigerians because it seems like it would be more comfortable. I want to hinge it on to the stand so it folds up and creates a little wall on one side so they feel a little more contained. My goats are leaners. 

I've yet to find my perfect bucket system. Sometimes I use a disposable coffee filter (actually tea, I screw it on the jar with the ring), and sometimes a reusable gold coffee filter. When I have my stand in the attached garage it's great- right next to kitchen.


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