I am so excited to have my friend Ashley here today to do a guest post today! She was inspired by my milk room tour, and wanted to show off hers too! I personally really enjoyed this because her milk room is so different from mine (What? No mirrors or stage???) I hope you enjoy it too!
Hi, I’m Ashley! I blog over at The Browning Homestead where I share our family’s adventures, mishaps, and musings of farming and life on a homestead. We live in the Montana countryside, raise our own food, homeschool our children and enjoy living the good life! And I’m so happy to be over here with Heather at Green Eggs and Goats!
When I decided I wanted our family to have a milk cow and fresh milk, I had no clue what I was getting into! Sure, I loved bovines but boy did I get myself an education in the life cycle and reproduction of cows. I’ve learned so much about animal husbandry since then and have fell head over heels with my milk cow!
While there is lots to know about owning a milk cow, by far the easiest thing is to milk her. That is if she lets you 😉 There is no fancy equipment needed for the family milk cow on a homestead. There are only a few things you’ll need to get you started. Ok ok….I’ve listed 11 things but its really not that fancy!
- Dry area for milking in the winter (I live in Montana so this is a must!)
- Post to tie your cow to
- Halter
- Lead Rope
- Brush
- Stainless Steel bucket for milk
- Bucket for the udder wash
- Hot water and/or liquid castile soap
- 2 towels (one to dry your hands on and one to clean the cow’s teats off with)
- Metal strainer and filters
- Half gallon or one gallon jars
Now that I’ve I’ve told you all that I use to milk my Tilly……step into her parlor! Its not super fancy and that is fine by me! Because homesteading isn’t fancy, we use what we have to get by.
There you have it! Super simple setup and you’ve got fresh raw milk everyday!! It’s delicious and she feeds our family of four and all our animals…..chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs and cats!
Come follow along with our adventures:
This is awesome! You have inspired me to start designing my own milking parlor (don’t tell my husband)! Thanks for sharing!
It’s not fancy but it’ll do for now 😉
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