Stanchion...success!

When Esther had her first kid we did not have a stanchion--which is really essential--it locks on goats neck/head in place and they are occupied eating so you can milk them.  You should see us on hoof trimming day--a stanchion would yet again be useful! I have to hold the goats down and keep them from moving while D.H. trims!  And all the while minding Ruth's horns!  D.H. says I have earned the title of a farmer's wife for sure!  Here is the proud picture upon completion:

The middle left plank swivels open and closed and then up where DH has his hand you insert the "key" that locks it in place.  We did have to measure our goat for how high to put the feed box and how far out. 

Metal stanchions on craiglist sell for $125 easily.  We probably built this for $50 or less.   

We can't take credit for this though--we got the idea from you-tubing it.  This guy Josh has an incredibly detailed video.  Pretty awesome.  We used microsoft one note to copy the screen and print the material slide which was really helpful (I wish he would have somehow included a pdf of that material list).  Here is the link:

How to build Josh's Goat Stanchion

And here's one of me and the little guy that day :)

 ...and....this is us making fun of Josh in the video---he demonstrates how to build the crossbars of the stanchion from this pose--pretty comical (because he was serious!)

I love being a help mate and working with my husband--he is my best friend and we have so much fun.