December 18, 2017

Contemplating My Future Milking Room

While Dan has been working on the hayloft roof (pictures soon), I have been contemplating the layout for my new milking and feed storage room. Here are a couple of photos I took earlier this month, both from what will be the front doorway.

Doorways line up with the door in the Little Barn, which will become
Dan's workshop and home for equipment. Hoping stable doors will allow
the summer breeze to pass into the Little Barn and help keep it cool. 

It's pretty roomy - 13.5 feet by 15.5 feet. Part of that, however, is on a slope, because the concrete slab was originally a carport attached to the old outbuilding that used to be here.

Notice the slope, also how rough the concrete is.

The slope will be handy for entering the room with the wheelbarrow, but isn't useful when it comes to floor space. Ignoring the slope gives me 13.5 x 13.5 to work with. One idea is to build shelves or a work bench over top of the slope. I've drawn it out on graph paper to try out some ideas.

One idea. Cutouts are for cabinet and milking stand, circles would
be food storage barrels. Also contemplating shelves, an herb drying
rack, a work table, maybe a corn crib, and where to feed the girls.

This first floor plan is similar to the my milking room set-up in the Little Barn. It has worked well, as you can see in the photos here, although there are a few improvements that could be made. But I'm open, and so making more sketches to try out several ideas.

It will be awhile before we actually get to this part, but Dan knows I'm a slow thinker, so he's been asking me to start working on it. So here's my start!


13 comments:

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

When we had our dairy goats, we simply used an old coffee table and put a block at one end to hold a dish for feed. Their grain was in a metal trash can with a block on top (to keep raccoons and what not out). We were talking about them again last night. There is a shortage of organic butter in the stores in our area. I have zero access to raw milk too. Most of the people in the area do not homestead.

Leigh said...

Kristina, old coffee tables for milk stands is a great idea. I've thought about using them for sleeping benches and sometimes check thrift stores with that in mind. Most of the coffee tables I see there aren't sturdy enough for a goat!

Raw milk and dairy products are the main reason we keep goats. They are an extremely important source of protein for us plus calcium. It would be nice if you could get some goats!

Ed said...

If someone other than my spouse called me a "slow thinker", I might deck them!

I'm generally the opposite. I like to get all the thinking done right away so it doesn't keep me up at night. It doesn't take much these days to set my mind on fire and prevent me from getting a good nights sleep.

Leigh said...

Ed, well, I can't say that Dan actually accuses me of that, LOL. I just have to think things through, contemplate all the options, and if I can, try things out for awhile. That's why it took several years before I was ready to remodel our kitchen. Mostly I've got so many other things to pay attention to that I have to set aside time to actually work on something like this.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Leigh, If you are like me you change your mind several times before the real draft! Herb drying caught my eye! Nancy

Goatldi said...

We are supposed to make plans? Well three farms later and I can see the wisdom of it. Mostly learned by the what worked and what didn't. Funny thing is with goats "nothing seems to stay the same but change." Does that mean now with farm number three (the last farm) it is dripping in perfection?

Welllllll not quite but close. And for that I am grateful. Because that means there are still projects to come and I am still learning . Looking forward to seeing what your slow thinking brings.

Leigh said...

Nancy, I think that's what I mean by slow thinking; I change my mind a lot! I currently have two old house window screens that I'm using for a drying rack. But the cats like to sleep on them(!) and when the wind is strong, it blows through the windows and blows the drying herbs all over the place! Trying to figure out a better set-up for that a stumper!

Goatldi, LOL. Well, this will be my third goat "barn" since we've lived here. The first one was the simplest and there wasn't much space for the milking area, so I didn't have a lot of choice. But I learned a lot by having to make do, and the second one met my needs better. Experience is truly an excellent teacher, but having more room means more possibilities, hence slower decision making!

deb harvey said...

one screen to hold the herbs and the other put over top of it to protect the herbs.

Leigh said...

Deborah, that's exactly what I'll do. Thanks!

Goatldi said...

My first milking area was large enough to accommodate a milk stand and room for the goat being milked to turn around and exit the gate. There was a slanted roof attached to the back of the goat shed when winter came. I ran a 75 ft extension cord from an outlet on the back patio for light. Wouldn't have missed it for the world and I suspect that I am not alone 😉

Rain said...

You're off to a good start! :) I wouldn't know what to do with plans like that...I have good ideas, but constructing them into rooms and barns...I'll leave that to people who know what they're doing! :)

Meanie said...

Looking good!
I am excited for you (& your goats!)-- nearing completion!

Leigh said...

Goatldi, your first milking room sounds like my first! Except no light unless we had a middle of the night kidding. I learned a lot from that set-up, but am thankful for more room.

Rain, one of these days it may be you! Mostly I just work with what I've got, but with arranging new space I'm relying a lot on experience. Mostly what hasn't worked well or ways to make things easier. And except for built in shelving, everything can always be rearranged in the future!

Meanie, thanks! Some days it feels close, other days all I see is everything yet to be done!