Farm Life, Milkers

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 6:24 am

I think every tie barn I was ever in had the cows facing one another with the feed alley in the center of the barn. I supposed there are pros and cons to each setup.

There are very few tie barns left in operation in my area, and most of them are multi-generation. Some have gone organic to try and get a better margin for their product...current pricing is pitiful.

I think we had about 200 milkers when dad decided to switch to custom heifer raising and selling feed...ended up with 1800 heifers.

warminmn · Post by **warminmn** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 7:33 am

It must be a regional thing, as I was never in a milk barn with cows facing each other. They were always 2 rows where the cows pooped into the middle, with gutter behind each, like the pics Wilder included. They were mostly small setups Ive been in, with one exception.

I never saw tie stalls here although Im sure some were/are used. All used stanchions. Like I said, must be regional differences.

looks nice Wilder. Yep, the way they test the milk if it were a problem with the calves you'd know it. It keeps momma cow happy too.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 7:45 am

wilder11354 wrote:Feed alleys are feed alleys, calfs born and in barn, tied to walls are NOT a piss/*censored* fest. Keep close to mom, so mom milks easier, calfs *censored*/pee mothers milk. Beddind is Dried sawdust absorbs more water/pee/ *censored* than you believe, after 3 weeks they go to pens, calves in pens move to heifer barn. iMilks tested every pickup... no problems. So whats your problem? Machines did what you wouldn't do, and put your DAIRY farm out of business, to costly? Uep, everyone has a way of doing... some cost wise effective, others... you got to do this to be produce safe milk. Test at pick up tells the sanitary story, not how you use keep calfs, to heifers, to freshened, to grave lifes sanitary. Yes more labor involved cleaning barn... but production is good, and what you think is S/P in feeder lane isn't. Cows maybe DUMB, but none will eat. *censored* or Pee! So windyhill... go back to your great NON farming hill! Oh its 80 milkers, everyday, plus 80 heifers in heifer barn, about half bred, and about 10 4 month old calves in pens, ones tied to walls are about 2 days to 2 weeks old.

FACT: I already knew more about dairy farming by the time I was 16 than you will ever learn about it,especially with your pissy mindset.

I never said that the piss & shyt was going into the milk,......
I said that I don't know of a milk company that would allow calves to be tied in the feed alley like shown in the pics.,none in this area would... at least they would not have allowed that 15-20 yrs ago..... but that is here in the non-dairy state of Pa.

Yes,i am totally aware that milk is tested EVERY pickup,you have forgotten that I have lived on a dairy farm for most of my life.

I did not own a dairy farm,therefore MY dairy did not go out of business.
Maybe you should reread that my father was killed in a farm accident,that is why my family got away from the dairy farm.
When I worked for the farm that milked 225 cows,we had automatic milkers in the parlor,something you still need to learn about,& that was back in 1975

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 7:48 am

Rob R. wrote:I think every tie barn I was ever in had the cows facing one another with the feed alley in the center of the barn. I supposed there are pros and cons to each setup.

There are very few tie barns left in operation in my area, and most of them are multi-generation. Some have gone organic to try and get a better margin for their product...current pricing is pitiful.

I think we had about 200 milkers when dad decided to switch to custom heifer raising and selling feed...ended up with 1800 heifers.

Rob, I have worked in both barn designs...
It is easier to feed the cows when they are head to head,but tail to tail is much better when milking,especially when 2 people are milking,it is much easier to help the other person in the tail to tail setup.

Post by **coaledsweat** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 7:55 am

There is a big farm in Durham that does an open house tour every now and then. They have hundreds of cows. I was amazed at how high tech it was. The manure is cleaned continuously, feeding and milking is fast and easy. There is a pit the milker stands in and it seems like the cows know the routine as well as the farmers. Simply amazing.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 8:02 am

coaledsweat wrote:There is a big farm in Durham that does an open house tour every now and then. They have hundreds of cows. I was amazed at how high tech it was. The manure is cleaned continuously, feeding and milking is fast and easy. There is a pit the milker stands in and it seems like the cows know the routine as well as the farmers. Simply amazing.

The pit you refer to is a milk parlor setup,that is how the farm was set up for milking 225 cows,it had 24 automatic milking machines. That particular farm was a test bed for many of the new,improved milking equipment that came along.

Post by **Rob R.** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 9:39 am

The big farms now use rotary parlors. The cows go around in a circle and the milkers stand in the middle.

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 10:30 am

An old idea, made new again.
http://hancockshakervillage.org/museum/historic-architecture/1826-stone-barn/

Went there about ten years ago. The Shakers were rather advanced for their time, using some of the latest technology of their era.

Paul

Post by **coaledsweat** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 10:58 am

windyhill4.2 wrote:
coaledsweat wrote:There is a big farm in Durham that does an open house tour every now and then. They have hundreds of cows. I was amazed at how high tech it was. The manure is cleaned continuously, feeding and milking is fast and easy. There is a pit the milker stands in and it seems like the cows know the routine as well as the farmers. Simply amazing.
The pit you refer to is a milk parlor setup,that is how the farm was set up for milking 225 cows,it had 24 automatic milking machines. That particular farm was a test bed for many of the new,improved milking equipment that came along.

Yes, exactly. I was amazed at how fast they cleared a cow. And the cows themselves seemed to know exactly what to do. Almost automatic.

wilder11354 · Post by **wilder11354** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 9:25 pm

WindyHill, before I even look at post, I APLOGIZE to you. Thats all.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 9:53 pm

wilder11354 wrote:WindyHill, before I even look at post, I APLOGIZE to you. Thats all.

Apology accepted.

This thread has certainly taken me back in time...
While thinking about those days, I since have remembered more of the dairy farms that I worked at,some of them as a relief milker so the owner could go on a vacation.Set up's from tie stalls with milk buckets to carry the milk to the tank, other tie stalls with pipeline to tank,even the dumping station ( Pa dutch called it a sputnick) in several tie stall barns.I also remembered another parlor with either a double 4 or double 6 ,this one was back in 69 when I was only 12 yrs old. I have worked with manual wash milk tanks & the auto wash tanks.. I much prefer the auto wash, I always hated having to wash the milk tank.

I also never liked having to shovel the manure out of the gutter into a wheel barrow,wheel it out,onto a plank on the manure pile & dump it,did plenty of it tho. I much preferred the powered gutter cleaner.

wilder11354 · Post by **wilder11354** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 10:05 pm

Point is to all inputs... Fed Govt milk only alwas X amout of dollars pay per hundred weight of milk...... weither you high tech.... costs YOU 1K to make 1 hundred weight of milk, or low tech costs you 92.95 to make a hundred weight. UNTIL the feds get out of a busines price controlling of it it will always be a HARD way to make a living, BESIDES the 24/7 time one has to put in.

wilder11354 · Post by **wilder11354** » Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 10:14 pm

i enjoy this.. call me stubborn, old, whatever..... I call it independent business... up to no one but ou to make or break.. what you want from it, see it as... stisfaction of being own boss... or something that is something if not passed on... someday there won't be MILK in store anymore, just processed chemicals(mostly BAD), like processed cheese foods! (PLastic/oil mixed poision)

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Jan. 14, 2017 7:08 am

I am not sure how it works in PA, but in NY once you are over a certain number of animals the DEC considers you a "CAFO" (concentrated animal feeding operation), and the rule book for that is MUCH different than an 80 cow farm.

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Jan. 14, 2017 7:18 am

wilder11354 wrote:Point is to all inputs... Fed Govt milk only alwas X amout of dollars pay per hundred weight of milk...... weither you high tech.... costs YOU 1K to make 1 hundred weight of milk, or low tech costs you 92.95 to make a hundred weight. UNTIL the feds get out of a busines price controlling of it it will always be a HARD way to make a living, BESIDES the 24/7 time one has to put in.

There are some farms in Vermont that package and sell their milk directly, giving them a more stable price. Monument Farms Dairy and Booth Brothers Dairy are two examples.