ALFS 13, L21: Cattle 4

Given term, answer w/ definition

List the main components of the milking machine

Good hygiene of milker

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Reason:

• Either done by

Cows move into parlor

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Reason:

• Either done by

Foremilking/striping teat

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition

• Reason:

  • Removes Bacteria from end of teat

  • Checks for mastitits

  • Stimulates milk let down

Teat preparation

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition: Teats must be clean and dry

• Reason:

Pre-dipping

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition: Disinfection of teats before teats before usuage of milking machines. Teats are disinfected, let it sit for 20-30 seconds, and then wiped off before milking machines used

• Reason:

  • Assists in the control of environmental mastitis

  • 
    

Attachment of cluster

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition

• Reason:

  • R

Automatic cluster removal

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition

• Reason:

  • R

Post-milking teat disinfection

1 of the __ Stages of the Milking Routine

• Definition: Can be done via teat dip or spray, recommended to be done in figure 8 pattern to ensure coverage of all teats. This disinfectant is not wiped out, will ideally last for 12 hours, should be a long acting disinfectant. Typically has a molant, which prevents teats from drying out or cracking in addition to killing bacteria

• Reason:

  • To prevent bacteria from cluster infecting cow

Milking Order:

Milk the cows that are the most susceptible to mastitis first, and those with suspected/confirmed mastitis last

Only feasible in large dairy herds of over 1,000 heads

1. Freshly calved cows

2. Higher yielders

3. Medium yielders

4. Low yielders

5. High somatic cell count cows

6. Cows with mastitis

2 times/day

Majorty of dairy farms in the UK milk _______ time/day

Dump bucket

• Used for cows to keep their milk separate from the bulk tank

• Used for cows who are receiving antibiotic treatment and those that have calved recently so colostrum can be saved

Milking in the byre

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition:

• Advantages:

  • R

• Disadvantages:

  • R

Static parlor with individual cow entry/exist

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: Cows go on a raised platform, and are milked side by side; old fashioned, more popular with smaller herds

• Advantages:

  • R

• Disadvantages:

  • Restricted to ~12 cows per

  • Signficiant bending down,

Tandem parlor

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: cows milked nose to tail

• Advantages:

  • Popular in continental Europe

• Disadvantages:

  • Parlors get long, milker must walk down

  • limited to ~6 cows per batch

Chute parlor

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition:

• Advantages:

  • R

• Disadvantages:

  • R

Herringbone parlor

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: Cows are at a 45˚ angle, cows milked through their back legs; most common in the UK

• Advantages:

  • Less walking for milker

  • Can be massive (20-30 cow long); but typically just designed for 1 milker (10-15 cows)

• Disadvantages:

  • R

• Variations:

• Swing over parlor

• Trigon - 3 sided herringbone

• Polygon parlour

Side by side parlor

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: Cows 90˚ to milker, milked beneath back legs

• Advantages:

  • Less walking for milker

  • Can be massive (20-30 cow long); but typically just designed for 1 milker (10-15 cows)

• Disadvantages:

  • R

Rotary parlor

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: Highly mechanized, cows move, not milker. Typically used for larger herds (at least 400-500 head)

• Advantages:

  • Fairly adaptable

  • Allow for expansion of the herd

• Disadvantages:

  • High cost of operation and greater maintenance costs – requires ~3 people to milk (1 to disinfect teats, another to wipe teats and put on milking machine, and another to remove milking machine and disinfec

• Subtypes:

• Internal rotary

• External rotary

Robotic milking machines

1 of the 7 Milking Parlour Designs Discussed:

• Definition: Cow choose when to enter station to get milked, milked by quarter NOT by cow. about 20% of cows in UK milked with robots

• Advantages:

  • Remove milk quickly from the udder with minimal risk to udder health

  • Relatively low labor

  • Improved welfare – cow can choose when to get milked

  • Increased yield – most cows will go into the stall 3 times a day, but some go in as many as 5 times/day

  • Modular, adaptable to herd size

  • Significant monitoring capabilities to monitor cow behavior, health, and milk

• Disadvantages:

Impact of Milking Machine/Routine on Udder Health:

• The milking machine Alternates between vacuum and massage to mimic the movement/stimulation created by calf’s tongue

• The higher the vacuum you use, the more likely you are to damage the teat - most milking machine works at 50 kPA

• Clusters with more weight will stretch the teat and allow milk to flow faster. Most clusters weight around 4-5 kg and the the heavier are about 0.5 lb heavier. Putting any more weight on the teat will damage it

• Milking machine MUST be washed and disinfected after every milking

• Liners must be changed regularly as they degrade quickly

• Milking machines must be checked weekly, and tested every 6 months

• static testing: testing while milking not occuring

• Dynamic testing: testing while milker is occuring, put sensor on the end of the liner, to check that pulsation is working correctly

Impact of Milking Machine/Routine on Udder Health:

• A cow with mastitis will transfer bacteria to the next cow if milking machine is not disinfected between cows

• If milking machine has too high vacuum or has pulsation problems, it will damage to the teat end (appears like a cauliflower teat end), and make cow’s teat canall more suceptible to bacterial colonization

• If the end liner slips, then it will force milk into the other 3 teats, introducing bacteria into them