Qs about milk stand constrxn and untrained-animal behavior

[patandchickens]

My husband reminds me that the whole reason I *got* these sheep last year was to milk them. So, I guess now that I finally have lambs, I had better ought to make some moves in that direction

I figure I will build a basic goat-style milk stand, have checked out the Fias Co plans etcetera. Am ok on the general construction/design aspects.

However, these are not pet goats, they are ditzy not-very-pet sheep, two of whom are really don't like being messed around with by people. I expect I can get them up onto the stand ok with grain, but am concerned that things be set up so that they do not have any accidental Memorably Bad Experiences such as falling off the side of the stand while sidling away from me.

I can put the stand up against a wall on one side, but that still leaves the other side for a sheep to accidentally step offa while being stupid.

So:

1) would it be worth running a low 'sill' along the side, so a hoof can't just *slide* off the edge? Or is there some reason that would be undesirable?

2) is it worth trying to do some kind of body-height side rail? I think it'd have to be connected over the top by a horizontal piece going over top the sheep to stabilize the two sides together. Do you think this would be desirable, neutral, or a bad idea to try. Some of the sheep may have to be milked from the side, others from behind, b/c of the location/orientation of their teats (they are not quite like goats)

3) any other tips for minimizing the chance for Bad Things Happening To Scare The Sheep, when the animals are skittish?

I want to get this built this week so I can start putting them up on the milk stand to get used to me messin' with their bags and such, gradually, now, IN ADVANCE of when I will actually start taking meaningful amounts of milk from them.

Any suggestions appreciated,

Pat

 

[aggieterpkatie]

With sheep you're going to need a different head stall system than with goats. Goats have skinny necks, and sheep have thick necks and wool. If you want them to be able to eat on the stand, you may have to figure out some method of keeping them there but allowing head movement so they can eat. Perhaps you can halter them and tie their head to something in front of the stand? Maybe you could put a large eye screw on a wall and put the stand in front of it? That way they can move their head to eat but not back out of the stand. I have a stand built like the Fiasco one, and I know none of my sheep would fit in the head stall.

As far as sides,here's a good example of something that would probably work. When we were young and in 4-H my dad built us wooden stands for fitting and trimming, and he used a metal pipe (fairly thin) and bent it into the shape like the ones in the link. Then he drilled holes in the floor of the stand to slide each side of the pipe down in. Are you going to be milking from behind? If you're milking from the side (like I do for my goat) you'd be fine putting the stand against the wall.

In my experience, you really want the head stall to be very sturdy because they can pull against it and push against it, so you want it to be able to handle all of that pressure. I'd imagine your ewes would really push against the head stall in order to get away from you touching the udder. I think in this case a wall fairly close to the front of the stand might also come in handy for that reason.

And I've had sheep and goats step off the stand before. In one experience when I was in 4-H, my ewe stepped off and the stand tipped over with her. Head stalls for sheep are much different, where the head is actually held still so she couldn't really move much. The stand I have now is wide and low to the ground, so if the animal steps off w/ the hind feet it would be no big deal at all.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[miss_thenorth]

WE made our milking stand wider than a normal goat stand. Basically, we took a strong pallet, filled in the open slots with more thick wood, and then covered it with carpet.for traction. WE put it up along the side of the shop wall. I sat on the actual floor of the stand while I milked. It was not very comfortable, but it worked if you crossed your legs and sat facing sorta backwards. We did invest in hobbles, and they were a life saver. Once she was hobbled, she barely fussed. Getting her up there was a pita. So we kept a collar on her and got her close to us with grain, then snapped a lead rope on her and coaxed her up on the stand. Making sure she doesn't run out of food is also key to keeping her still. WE didn't use it when we milked, but I think putting some alfalfa cubes would be the way to go to keep her busy. For us, she ran out of grain and then got antsy. If I can dig out the stand, I will take pics to show you how hubby made the neck part.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Sorry-- I just went out to look,and the stand is buried with junk (alhtough hubby would disagree with that, and it is in front of his skidsteer. So, no pics :/

 

[patandchickens]

Thanks, both of you!

I have sort of generally been figuring on leaving the head part unfinished -- not trying to fix the sheep in there the first time up, just let 'em have a snack to try it out -- and once I have sheep on the thing, I can see what will work best, tying or stocks or what.

Hope is the one I have the most doubts about, b/c she is biggest and although Kurly is generally stupider I milked Kurly a little last year (tied) and she wasn't that bad about it. Hope doesnt seem to mind me touching her udder as such, she just doesn't like being controlled or confined overall. I will have to keep in mind the hobbles idea, in case of need.

I am hopeful that a grain bucket with some large rocks in it will slow 'em down enough to keep 'em busy for a full milking; at least at first, and ideally as time goes by they will get more used to it. She said optimistically

So, I think I will go ahead and build the platform with at least partial side rails and a sort of generic headgate end, and then try it out and see what modifications it needs.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

Side rails might be agood way to go, and make them ergonomic, so that you might be able to rest your arms on them while milking. Seriously, hobbles WILL be your best friend. We ordered them from Premier one, although, while I am searching for the on thier website I can't find them. If they don't fit my cow,we can talk I wish you the best of luck. I would change several things about our milking stand design if I were todo it again, (and when I say that, hubby built it, so I gotta take what I got)

If you leave the neck part of the stanchion unfinished, you can figure out what you need, and build as needed. Or, you can tie the lead onto something so they can't go anywhere, My experience is that as long as they have food to eat( and NOT hay, cuz they will get impatient with that, cuz they get it all the time,) they will be all right.

 

[Bossroo]

Pat... This may help you to build a custom to fit for a personal and comfortable height raised milking stand while you are sitting or standing. Make your measurements for height size when you are sitting in a stool or chair or standing for the most comfortable possition. We built this raised chute to collect semen from over 100 rams via electorejaculation at UCD for ram fertility studies. We made a wooden raised chute with wood slats ( 1' x 4") for sides ( 3 sided crate with a solid floor) and a 45* ramp to get the rams into it. Build the floor and sides about 12" longer than the lenght of your largest sheep to allow for back and forth movement so that the ewe can step back and feel solid footing and not jump forward if she feels imballance. The bottom side horrizontal slats were raised 1" from the floor so that the feet wouldn't slide off the sides of the raised chute floor and still allow for droppings to pass through for cleaning. You can space the other side slats 4"to 6" appart. You should skip one or two botom horrizontal slats at the side that you will be milking from to allow access for milking. We made an adjustable neck hold at the front ( similar to a cattle squeeze chute)... we installed one 1" x 4" non adjustable board ( vertical) on one side of the front of the chute, then another one 4" to the other side of it then installed 1/4" one bolt at the middle bottom of a 1 x 4 as a pivot point and it's bottom sides trimmed so it is rounded allowing it to form a "V". This allows the top of the board to travel in an arc from the bottom center of the "V". The top of that board is about 6" higher than the top 2 sandwitch boards across the top ( adjusting handle) which that board fits between. Then we drilled 6 holes through them at 3/4" intervals and one hole in the middle of the tall adjustable board, and used a 1/4" bolt for a pin making for an adjustable side to side neck hold and still allows the head to move up and down. We were able to collect from 7 month old ram lambs to over 300 lb. mature rams using this one chute. Good luck and enjoy your milking experience.