The centre of the yard must be offset from the centreline of the milking area. The aim is to balance the areas feeding into the milking area, in the case of a herringbone dairy. For a rotary dairy the offset allows more space for facilities like teat sprayers, scales and drafting systems in the exit races.
The yard entry must be on the same side as the offset. If the designer was to stand at the entry to the milking area, facing the centre of the yard, the entry must be in the quarter of the circle nearest the milking area. This is aimed at producing a more consistent flowpath through the yard.
Automatic washdown systems must have scrapers ahead of, or part of, any water jets under the backing gate. Manure pats are thus broken up so that the water carries them more successfuly to a sump near the centre of the yard. When two gates are fitted, only one need have the washdown system on it. Obviously, the yard must slope down to the sump near the centre, the slope being appropriate for either manual or automatic washing. If two backing gates are fitted, one has to have a knuckle near the pivot post if it is necessary to allow the outer ends of the gates to come together.
