New milking barn-open house-you are all invited

Those that regularly read this forum may remember me posting photos last fall and winter of my brother Ron building a new freestall barn with milking parlor. The facility has been the talk of the county being a state-of-the-art model barn so to speak, and the builders and equipment vendors along with the family will be having an open house open to the public for all to attend and see it. It is located near Indiana, PA, and the tentative date is August 5,2014. If you are traveling this way on business or vacation and want to attend we would love to have you visit. For directions or any questions email Ron at [email protected] put "Open House" in the subject line.

I remember you posting the pictures last winter. Glad to see it's all finished and operational.

Been years since I set foot inside a milking barn. Sure does look different! Congratulations on the completion of project. Nice outfit.

PRETTY SNAZZY!!! Pretty $penny$ I'll bet too!

Wow that's a vert neat & sharp building . I do have a question if you don't mind . Ny one Uncle (who's deceased now)& his family owned a nice older Dairy farm . He had a large barn with stanchions & a smalll milk house attached . It was set up with automatic milkers which sent the milk to the milk house . Now I don't know much about fairy farming & milk houses , but I think I can remember the milk house was always very cold even in the summer weather , & cold water seemed to be running over a large (maybe 2") pipe that was installed thru the large sink in the milk house .My cousins told me the cold water came from their spring so it would start the cooling process of the milk before it entered the large stainless bulk storage tank .I can still recall how nice & cold that milk was when they'd fill a jug for their personal use .Oh & the fresh yummy taste of that fresh icey cold whole milk .Now the time frame was back in the 50s & 60s as a teenage kid ,They sold their milk by those large nilk cans which got picked up every day by a large truck . So my question is : my Uncles cows were put head first into the stanchions & sometimes very stubborn about it . So how does your friend get all his cows backed in the stanchions ? I always thought it extremely gross when my Uncle & cousins were milking those cows peed & pooped all that soupy poop .My cousins would laugh at me over that issue . I really appreciate all farmers for all that work & mess to provide us with milk .Now another question is : what type cows does chocolate milk come from ? TeeHee !God bless, Ken

Very nice set up indeed. I wish I could come to the open house but, I doubt I could get there and back in time for chores . I too would like a new barn some day, just have to wait and see if it is in the cards. Congrats to your brother, and the milk price right now must give him added peace of mind. Bruce

I have been watching your post and I can't believe the changes in the dairy farms. Congrats to your brother and thanks for the invite. BTW I love that E Mail address.

Not FarmerJohn but I'll try to answer your question about cows backing in. The cows don't back into position. They come in the entrance end and file in and make a right or left angle turn, depending on which side of the parlor they are on. In front of them is a bar or head catch that raises to release all the cows when they are done. Rapid exit. This is called a parallel parlor. I have never milked in one but there is a splash guard and poop gutter on some systems.

I still don't get how a rught orleft turn would put them in reversed position . I remember my Uncles barn did have the poop ditch about 4" behind the cows rear hoofs , But still when they peed & dropped that slush , it would go splat splat & fly a few inches around . My cousins always had a bucket of warm water to wash thoes big whombas off before installing those suction cups . I hadn't been up to the farm for years due to my X couldn't stand the smell , nor did she like their farm language sso she wouldn't allow me to drive there & spend anytime , So thru many years I missed out on a lot enjoyment with my relatives . So both my Uncle & Aunt have passed away & my cousins have gotten much older so last summer I decided that since none of us know when our tickets will expire & no wife in control of my time I took a drive .What shock when I arrived ,The barn collapsed with all that equipment underneath . What a shame . Ok , I've yakkkkked too long . God bless , Ken Oh, I forgot , what about the cows who make the chocolet milk ?

Watch this video and you may understand better.
parallel parlor

Thanks John . Now I can see just how it works .Those cows sure were smart . God bless ,Ken

Wow! That's impressive! Bet the cows like it too!

Couple things I don't agree with in the video. Production and quality are more about proper prep than the parlor. It helps on the speed, too. One thing I never could get through to the kid that milked for us the last couple months we had the cows. The so-called herdsman taught him the superslop method on his way out the door and no matter what I showed or told him he wouldn't change.

And I don't like the gate design. If a cow goes down, she has to get back up, right there, or she's stuck.

I've only used a double herringbone so I do not know about this system or how well it works.

Ya learn something new everyday; neat system. Sure beats the way my Uncle taught me when I was a youngster, wash the udder & teats with a weak bleach solution and then hand strip the teats into a stainless steel pail; 'course he only had just the one cow.

:>)

Doc