Milking Parlors

What is a flat parlor?

Cow walks in and milking units are attached from the side, may or may not have feed available

What is a tiestall parlor?

Cows are housed and milked in same area, cows are tied to stall area, portable milking machine is brought to each cow

What is a side opening/tandem parlor?

Cows line up nose to tail and milking units are attached at the side, takes longer to milk each cow, cows can leave whenever they are finished and don’t have to wait on each other

What is a herringbone parlor?

Cows line up diagonally next to each other, milking units are attached from the side

What is a parallel parlor?

Cows line up side by side, workers operate from and attach milking units from behind, reduced walking distance for worker, situation where tail docking was helpful (so worker doesn’t get hit in the face)

What is a rotary parlor?

Cows get on a constantly turning platform, someone has to drive cows on and back cows off, cows constantly getting on and off, usually turn ccw, typically require more workers

How do you determine how much labor you need?

By how much milking needs to be done, labor always determined by parlor needs

What is zigzagging syndrome?

When workers zigzag back and forth to different cows across the aisle, want workers to stay in their zone

What are some causes of inefficiency in the parlor?

Time to enter, udder prep, time to attach milking units, post treatmen takes too long, and too much idle time, etc.

How do can you calculate how long it will take a cow to milk?

5 mins + 1 minute for every 10 lbs of milk produced