We are getting closer to having baby goats running around so we figured we had better get on the ball and start halter breaking our goats so that we can start milk stand training them. Of course we can’t very well milk stand train without a milk stand so I decided to take advantage of a few hours of time between projects the other day and bang out a milk stand. Every design I could find was very similar and so I just built one without drawing up any plans and without following any actual plans. I did however find a very nicely done set of plans at Fias Co Farm that I would highly recommend to anyone that isn’t confident enough to design and build one on their own or who needs a set of measurements to work from. I built my platform from some old decking boards and 2″ x 4″ boards I salvaged (isn’t it great when a project costs you next to nothing?) and some 2″ x 4″ legs. I secured the frame together with screws and the legs to the frame with screws. I attached the deck boards to the frame with nails (I use nails when possible because they are some much cheaper).
To build the headstall I used two short vertical boards and two longer boards sandwiched between four horizontal boards. One of the longer vertical boards is fixed in place and the other pivots on a single bolt in the bottom. Depending on how wide you build the headstall you will possible need to cut a relief angle in the top of the short vertical board next to the pivoting board as well as the bottom of the pivoting vertical arm. In the picture on the left you can see the top of the fixed vertical board with the relief angle cut. In the picture on the right the bottom left side of the pivoting board has a matching relief angle cut.
I glued and screwed all the headstall boards except for the pivoting arm and then used my jigsaw to notch each side of the tall vertical boards. This will allow the arms to close around the goats neck without choking the goat. To hold the headstall closed I just used a simple eye hook catch that I had lying around.
I noticed in all the pictures that I found of milking stands everyone attached the headstalls to the front board of the frame. I felt like this would put a lot of pressure on the fasteners used to attach the headstall and that with pressure and time the headstall would break loose from the platform. To combat this I actually attached the headstall to the inside of the frame board and notched out the platform. This will allow the boards to place pressure on the platform board and the face board and relieve pressure at the fasteners. I hope that this will significantly extend the life of my milking stand. To give room for the head of the bolt in the pivot board I simply used two scraps left over from cutting the headstall boards and sandwiched them between the headstall and the frame face board. I could have done my cut out so that there was an additional piece in front of the headstall as well for aesthetic reasons but as this is a practical barnyard tool I wasn’t too worried about the aesthetics.
To finish the milk stand off I attached a feed bucket to the front so that we can give the goats something to munch on while training and while milking. To do this I attached a board to the lip of the bucket and then attached two spacer blocks (one to each end) and screwed it to the headstall.
Milk/goat stands are pretty generic and only serve one purpose, to hold a goat while you milk it or work with its hooves or injuries. My milk stand is nothing special but I hope that between the plans I listed above and the pictures and walk through here that you are inspired to build your own milk stand for your goats. Enjoy and God bless!