The Milk Stand

In order to milk your goats, it's very helpful to have a milking stand. There are lots of free plans online (Here's an easy set of plans from Fiasco Farms: http://fiascofarm.com/files/Milk_Stand_Plans.pdf). My husband built mine out of scrap wood.

My stand doesn't have a stanchion or head gate. I run a mixed herd of horned and hornless goats - so a head gate would not accommodate the goats with horns. Because of this we left it off, and instead attached a ring below the feed trough that can hook to a lead or halter.

My goats all wear halters. I have read a lot of others saying not to leave collars or halters on your goats because they might get stuck. None of my goats have gotten stuck on any branches or fencing because of their halters. The halters give me an easy way to lead and restrain the goats as necessary. I use goat halters (These are the exact halters I use: goat halter on Amazon. This is an affiliate link!) and dog leashes as leads.

Your stand needs to be at a comfortable height for you. You can see my stool next to the stand in this photo - I milk from the side. A taller person may want a slightly taller stand. Additionally, you want the stand to be a comfortable width. Too wide and the goat may crowd to one side, making you really reach when it's time for milking. So make it narrow enough that they can stand comfortably but not move side to side much. Some people have side rails on their stand to keep the goat in place - I don't because I may need to switch sides sometimes.

One feature of my stand that I don't often see is the shelf underneath. This is a great place to store wipes, a teat dip cup, udder balm, hoof trimmers, a hand broom, and other useful tools you might want in the milking parlor.

Like I said our stand was built out of scrap wood we had in the garage. I've seen them built from discarded coffee tables and other furniture pieces. The milk stand doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be sturdy and at a comfortable working height for the milkmaid.