I bought a new wood milk stand off of e-bay for $85. Got it today, put it together and it is really sturdy and wonderful. Seems to be built off of the Fiasco Dairy plans and was from a church. A fund raiser, maybe? Anyway, my goats' necks are too small! Or the opening in the headgate is too large. They can pull their heads straight out. These are 8 month old nigerians. How much will they grow? Or should I have the headgate re-done? (The fellow selling these on e-bay is very accessible and responsive.) I am not sure whether to let my goats "grow into" the headgate or have a narrow opening made. (Having the more narrow opening would require only one board being re-done, as best as I can tell.). Thanks!!
We made a step for our girls and then if their necks were to small, we wrapped a towel around their neck.
We built this same one and had to move the gate part 1/2" or 1", I can't remember which. For the larger goats we had to move it back out again. The step/platform raiser or towel is a great idea. I will have to try that one when our little doeling gets big enough to use it.
my milk stand was built 6 years ago by a "guilty DH" and was made to accomodate my horned goats, when I got my nigi's they were hornless and Binky could get her head out of the wider opening at the bottom....I fixed that by nailing a 8 inch piece of 2x4 across the bottom of the "yoke" just above the grain pan....now it even works for my smaller doelings :greengrin: And it hasn't hindered even my bucks horns from going thru.
Without seeing a picture, I don't know if this will work but can you just screw an extra board onto the inside of one or both sides of the neck stall? Then if you need to you can always take them off in the future.
