Milking stall and calf pen

Don and I couldn't agree on something. The issue has been nagging at both of us, and we couldn't come up with an adequate solution. I refer to the subject of building a milking stall and calf pen.

Maggie, our Jersey heifer, is getting close to her due date, which we estimate will be toward the end of May, give or take a few days.

What we typically do with our milking cows is to let the calf have unrestricted access to mama's milk for the first week or so. This will insure the baby gets suitable colostrum and an opportunity to bond with mama. Additionally, since this is Maggie's first calf, she'll need a few days to get used to being a mother.

After that, however, it will be time to milk Maggie. And to do this, we need a calf pen where we can separate the calf up at night so I can milk Maggie in the morning. Once-a-day milking will give us plenty of milk and is less stressful for both cow and calf.

But how to build the calf pen and milking stall? That was the question. This is not a trivial issue. These structures will shape the function of the livestock side of the barn for years to come.

The problem is the limited space we have in the barn, which has already been subdivided into multiple uses (storage lofts, tool shop, wood shop, hay storage, etc.).

The space we have dedicated for interior livestock needs (including the feed box) is about 10 feet by 30 feet. With the feed box at one end (taking up 10 feet of space) and a wide center gate (taking up about 9 feet), we wanted to put the calf pen and milking stall at the other end.

This leaves us about 11 feet of room. Ten by eleven feet; that's what we had to work with.

Initially both Don and I had vastly different ideas of how to build these two facilities. His original vision was to put the calf pen on the left, the milking stall in the middle, and the milker (me!) sandwiched between the milking stall and the right-hand wall. (The arrow indicates where Maggie's head will be facing.)

I didn't like this because it only gave me about three feet of space, which didn't give me room to back up or move around. Believe me, when cows decide to let loose and urinate during milking, the milker learns to scramble out of the way, taking the milk buckets with her. I needed space at my back.

My thought was to have a sideways milking stall, with a fold-out gate where I could close it and lock Maggie inside, when me on the outside.

For a variety of reasons, including the difficulty of physically securing a freestanding stall, Don didn't like this idea. Additionally, I would be crouched on a milking stool with my back to the cows while milking, which is a vulnerable position should some other bovine decide to get rambunctious.

We stared at the available space and tried to come up with other options. "Just a crazy outside-the-box thought," I suggested. "What if we put the milking stall along the wall and I milk while inside the calf pen?"

Don didn't like this idea because the calf would be all over the milk buckets while I was milking ... not to mention chewing on my hair and clothing.

Again we stood back and stared at the space. We were stymied, absolutely stymied, as to the best configuration for the milking stall and calf pen.

Finally Don had a brilliant idea, based in part on my last suggestion. He suggested building an inner (calf) pen and outer "milking" pen, with either sliding or swinging gates (we haven't decided) leading into both. The milking stall would push part of the way into the calf pen. The outer "milking" pen, which is where I'll be sitting to milk, will be protected from the other animals, and extra pen space is always a good idea.

So he mocked up the design on the computer, in part to figure out how many posts he'll have to secure to the concrete, etc.

As this project takes physical shape, doubtless we'll be making tweaks and adjustments; but given our space restrictions as well as personal preferences (I like to milk from the cow's right side, for example), this is the very best use of the space we can think of.

Just another example of what it takes to develop infrastructure on a homestead.