I thought I'd begin the next stage of the renovation of the Milk Barn with a brief explanation here as to what is currently there, what we intend to do, and ultimately how we envision it looking when its done.
This is what we are faced with at the moment. Apart from the front 2 rooms (where the previous owner made honey), it hasn't been used for close on 25 years and was originally designed for cattle in a 5x5 herringbone configuration that could milk 10 cows simultaneously. All the original stanchions remain and much of the transport piping is still in place. The steel needs cutting out and the concrete herringbone over the pit needs to be redone so the pit is properly rectangular. Of course the entire ceiling needs replacing, new walls need constructing and the floor needs to be relayed (thankfully it appears that thr septic system piping is still working after all these years).
The above plan (click on the image for a larger picture) shows what the final layout will hopefully look like. We will be limiting our initial milking process to a maximum of 6 sheep simultaneously although the equipment we will be purchasing does allow for expansion by units of 2. Depending on the eventual size of our flock (yes we are still discussing it) and our production figures we may switch from bucket milking to a basic vacuum pipeline, but the bucket units themselves will be fully integratable into a vacuum system, so no additional costs other than constructing the pipeline and buying the vacuum pump are involved.
This is what we are faced with at the moment. Apart from the front 2 rooms (where the previous owner made honey), it hasn't been used for close on 25 years and was originally designed for cattle in a 5x5 herringbone configuration that could milk 10 cows simultaneously. All the original stanchions remain and much of the transport piping is still in place. The steel needs cutting out and the concrete herringbone over the pit needs to be redone so the pit is properly rectangular. Of course the entire ceiling needs replacing, new walls need constructing and the floor needs to be relayed (thankfully it appears that thr septic system piping is still working after all these years).
The above plan (click on the image for a larger picture) shows what the final layout will hopefully look like. We will be limiting our initial milking process to a maximum of 6 sheep simultaneously although the equipment we will be purchasing does allow for expansion by units of 2. Depending on the eventual size of our flock (yes we are still discussing it) and our production figures we may switch from bucket milking to a basic vacuum pipeline, but the bucket units themselves will be fully integratable into a vacuum system, so no additional costs other than constructing the pipeline and buying the vacuum pump are involved.
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