LEAFLET NO. 56
SEPTEMBER 1957
v%
F7
WALTER GRUB, Assoc. Agr. Engineer
J. H. YEAGER, Assoc. Agr. Economist
MORRIS WHITE, Assoc. Agr. Economist
L. A. SMITH, Supt., Black Belt Substation'
LOW-COST MILKING BARN
f I' 4._N C7 ll# i t, C,, t Ig -J 'C IC/ i;,Lkairjj
N OBODY
5 
WA NTS 10 MILIK ilit a tiok,
djr-tx, unomfort0talie shell or illdl at
tite ill th( 100 ii lot. HBlt lihlov (1,111510(11
pro (II Ici~. I ol allutactll I i-ildt' mil1k lvt
still lisiog~ suhel "facilities hl)olsc of
(Thet plic for 111lallufactull (gi ae mlilk
ill Alabarna is id-rlit half1 that of moilk
tic tilli Ado ntl 11)1)11(1 co1111 ttill iof
ippIicciaBet io tto is aiossc odg13.1'
A GI CU TU A EX ~li \.'asalJ. o
cxeoiv iikinig ibiiis. T]d ('i- ore,
10111101 it' lollfelregal il S nlell aie
to elijos tihe comfort ililtl ((ils eliellee (It
mlodernl ilkiw har)11 s.
A mlilkin g parIil tha~t 1Oct5 bolth
11(11(11 51(5h lll tl 10W5 (lOSt Ie(
1
1111elllIltS
has been dies]ign etd 1)v tilt Agicltuall
Exp)erimen'It Statioo of' the .Alabamoa
bcc ui11ft at tile 131actk Belt Sub stat 
ion1,
\ltrioll juncltionl (stec title photo ), ailtl
he built itas at sepirate struture, Figur e
1, or1 ill tit torne 1or 11site of at lall III
PERIM ENT STATIO N
.daALABAMA POLYTECHNIC
E. V. Smith, Director
I NST IT UT E
Auburn, Alabama
FIGURE 1. Shown above is the floor plan of the low-cost milking parlor built as a
separate structure.
shed, Figure 2. Many dairymen have
existing facilities that can be converted
to a similar parlor with little expense.
Neither a pit for the operator nor an
excessively high ceiling is required since
the stalls can be constructed on the
outside and protected by a small over-
hanging roof.
DESCRIPTION
The milking area is small and com-
pact, yet efficiently arranged. It has two
elevated walk-through stalls, a milk
cooling tank, can racks, water heater,
wash vats, storage cabinet, feed storage
space, can hoist, and a milk loading
ramp, Figure 1.
The parlor is 11 X 20 feet, including
the elevated stalls. The working area
measures 8 X 20 feet. Side walls are
built of treated lumber and covered on
the inside with a durable, hard finish,
moisture resistant building board. Fram-
ing members are exposed on the ex-
terior. Work space and stalls are cov-
ered with a low pitch shed roof that
provides ample protection for the work-
ing area and the elevated stalls.
EXISTING BARN' AREA
FIGURE 2. The unit is designed so that it can be built in the corner of an existing
barn or shed to reduce building cost.
[2 ]
FIGURE 3. Elevated stalls make milking
easier by eliminating stooping, bending,
and squatting.
Sict tilt Citirt XX 111k iii-c is ol o)1 it
leveti, theri t r noi il) tepxs for the [Ci ii
glltter Ill dia ill uilllili tilt stalix. iiiff
iiigi a wel rii iiilied Ill hr foir slte footiiigr.
IiIIXc I fl boor and( perlI I it Illilkilig
FIGURE 4. The strainer is only a tew steps
efficient]y-a rra ng ed barn.
"Y4-
from the milking machine in the compact,
[:13]
IIic 3.
'I' e cani inito) X Ilicil milk is stiii itd
is aiilV at few steps from thet m1ilking
ioilcinc, F'igure 4. W\ eii full, the call
is lifted( into) the clldllimr \st XX ith it
hoist is iisttl ill liftiiig tfill Calls fromi
the tanik to loadii i ato.
il),itll thestlls so) that collirit tCS diCI(
The il)\A~ stalls, step)s, ad Id tll
are xii lippI) t ed oil fICresxliii) ti iclti) polesx.
Stepjs iid II~ ofi i thile catc st talls III-(
fiaiutd x itli tltiti)(l Iillihler dllidl xlii
faced wXith dt 4-iii shii) of rinfiiorced
tOilCiCtc), Fi~ viir . 'Ilii wXaik tliiiiigi
Staills li) construlctedI of ti Cilteti huimlici
hll illprovide i liiw-cost subsitituite fur
\ated raip ii) ill steps Call bei built of
suil and to proitect the opierito fro111m
cold( iioritlid ul
1
XCst \v ilix. 1For addeIid
FIGURE 5. Steps and floor of elevated stalls are built of treated lumber surfaced with
concrete and supported on pressure-treated fence pasts.
Comfort d11im co) d (011 lvX, tXX I heat
lam~ps call lbe diriectedl toss arti the ifftaX
ill XX liitl tlhe operator spilds il1st of
his tiilict
COST of PARLOR
at parlo 1), l\ tile Ixpei iiieit Station plan~
is al mitt $400t to 8601) at 1957 prices.
ThIiis expenIIse call b e reduiced 1\ iX
Li iner snippl\ ing his own'I labor anid b\
obltajiiiiry soille ol the iiterial tri a ll i
oldt] liiillii or the I dii) XX 0idiot. Con-
10 ieh cliilpei thal co ist ructii g i 1C%\
A\jproiinltce~ cost of' building the
pi-oi at the Bifaek Belt Slihstatioll ill
tilt Ltii of 1954 iXtas foaii\\s5:
It( ill Cost
New~ materials
S111e 11t au, 1.2 s~loics 8 :)5
L'tnllitcd \tltie of old( framlinl-
Labor
Skilled, 2t0 holuirs 120)
Commilon, 18) hours11 90
101 iI 8511)
Inl additioll to tihe in1ilkilo4 arlea, there
is at ila shed uised for tile c05X s. \ iime
oIf this biiniig is apprimitlntel 865t).
Total 1115 estin-ent ill iiil(ls is abloult
.S1 10 for at 28-toss lerd -84 1.43 per
(-o\\,. Esven fort herds ats small ats 8 to
19 I u issS. it appears reasole1) that this
lilildiiig ills estiiient XXIoiiId he jiustified.
LABOR EFFICIENCY
All 8 tIIXX stililthlill il )111 \XXIX used Ilt
tile Black Belt Suhstattioa leil the
tikei ill tie It stainIIcion 1111barn) cli) cill
the leXX\\ parlo~r tol Comparilit ld es ldiilte
laborii elhciecX oIf each. Litlbor r ecords
fouar ittes XX ere talkell 1)ll tXX II per's~iis
ill 1111)1 inn Os. I1(1) (:150 ase trainled per-
solill lilstt stop
1 
XX Itehcs ill gettingo tile
tuile dalti. Each milk~er XXh Ill XXIitd i-
the n- i ieX t
1
ril (lid thet c11111 fol~r seXveia
XX eaks letforie timie recd is XX ere takein.
D~ilg( thlt time XtilXv ptro tl d,rlet
lifiti eiit XX lrkers Xwerte ii i (IXet ( see
tLile). Tis iesililttd frollm chllliles inl
ireitd op~eraor otii5( thle dlii ' iliit. I ~XXI
siilgle-iiiit ikii (4 ilmeihines XX ere lused
iii ll! taies, ilith I II tile stalllhioil ilali
[ 4]
M
TIME USED PER COW PER MILKING IN THE STANCHION AND ELEVATED-STALL BARNS
USING TWO SINGLE-UNIT MACHINES, BLACK BELT SUBSTATION, MARION JUNCTION,
ALABAMA, 1954-55
Item
Stanchion barn Elevated-stall barn
Man A Man B Man B Man C
Cows milked, number
Time per cow per milking, minutes
Total'
Idle man
Machine on cow
Clean up
Idle machine time
2 , 
minutes
Man hours per cow per year
28 18 20 23
4.6
.2
6.3
1.0
.7
55
6.6
.4
7.1
1.7
2.4
79
7.6
.4
5.4
1.5
4.8
91
3.4
.6
3.7
.3
2.4
41
SDoes not include time used in getting cows from pasture, feeding hay, or feeding
and care of calves.
2 Total minutes of all idle time from "off cow" to "on cow" divided by number of
times idle.
Man C did the various chores with
the least time per cow per milking. His
time was less than that for the other two
men, one of whom milked in both barns,
and one in the stanchion barn only. In
spite of this low time per cow per milk-
ing, man C showed the greatest idle
man time per cow. Man B was slowest
in getting the work done in both the
stanchion and elevated-stall barns. Ap-
parently he was not able to take advan-
tage of the change in physical facilities
and arrangement. This, of course, points
up the importance of the man or human
element in achieving labor efficiency.
Some supervision was given each
worker. Nevertheless, the variation in
time used by the three men in doing
the various jobs emphasized that ar-
rangement of building facilities and
equipment must be considered together
with the skill and ability of the worker.
In all time studies, the general pro-
cedure followed was setting up ma-
chines and equipment, getting cows
into holding pen, turning in, feeding,
washing udders, attaching milkers, ma-
chine stripping, turning out, and pour-
ing milk. Cows were turned in and out
in groups of eight in the stanchion barn,
but by twos in the elevated-stall barn.
The elevated stalls, as built, did not
provide for individual side entry and
exit. In a number of cases this slowed
the milking operation, since a cow could
not come into either stall until milking
of both cows was completed. It seems
desirable to modify the stalls to provide
for side entry and exit. This modifica-
tion is included in the plan and can be
done at little extra cost.
A major advantage of the elevated
stalls over the stanchion barn was elimi-
nation of stooping and squatting. This
made the job considerably easier for the
worker.
Clean-up time was only 0.3 minute
per cow per milking for Man C as com-
pared with three to four times that
much for the other men. This is evi-
dence that 10 to 15 minutes daily can
be saved in clean-up time when milking
about 20 cows in a barn of this type.
SUMMARY
The elevated stall milking parlor de-
signed by the Agricultural Experiment
Station is practical and economical for
producers of manufacture-grade milk.
Some dairymen may not be able to take
advantage of such a milking area to
reduce the time required for milking;
however, there is little doubt that milk-
ing is made easier by reducing stooping,
bending, and squatting.
Elevated stalls make it possible for
the worker to do a better job of clean-
[5]
V ~V
ing udders and machine stripping. They
do not permit easy inspection of udders
from both sides as in the case of milk-
ing in a stanchion barn.
A walk-through arrangement of stalls
in tandem does not permit full use of
milking machines and man time. There-
fore, facilities for side entry and exit of
cows from stalls appear desirable.
Plans for the two-stall milking barn
described in this leaflet are available
from the API Extension Service, Au-
burn, Alabama. Request plan No.
BH-86.
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