Technical note: Effects of attachment of hind teats before cleaning and attachment of front teats on milking characteristics in automatic milking systems.

Besier, Johanna Franziska; Schüpbach, Gertraud; Wellnitz, Olga; Bruckmaier, Rupert (2017). Technical note: Effects of attachment of hind teats before cleaning and attachment of front teats on milking characteristics in automatic milking systems. Journal of dairy science, 100(4), pp. 3091-3095. American Dairy Science Association 10.3168/jds.2016-11712

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Milking characteristics differ between the 4 quarters of a dairy cow udder. In particular, milking time is mostly prolonged in hind quarters compared with front quarters because of the usually higher amount of stored milk. The standard milking routine (STDMR) in both conventional and automatic milking systems (AMS) consists of teat preparation of all 4 quarters, followed by attachment of the 4 teat cups, regardless of the distribution of milk between quarters. In the current study, an alternative teat preparation and milking routine (ALTMR) in AMS was tested, which consisted of cleaning and starting the milking of hind teats before cleaning and attachment of front teats. The hypothesis was based on the fact that hind quarters have usually a longer milking time than front quarters. Starting the milking of hind quarters while the front teats are being cleaned may reduce the difference in the end of milking between front and hind quarters and thus reduce total milking time. Both routines were tested on 5 Swedish dairy farms equipped with AMS in a 4-wk experiment in which treatments were alternated weekly. Total milk yield did not differ between treatments. Machine-on time (MOT) was longer in ALTMR than in STDMR because the difference in milking time between hind and front quarters was less than the time needed to prepare the front teats. However, the longer MOT in ALTMR was compensated by a shorter total preparation time, including the attachment of the first teat cup, as only the hind teats (instead of all 4 teats) were cleaned before milking was started. This resulted in a similar total milking time from start of cleaning of the first quarter until the end of milking of the last quarter in both treatments. Because of the prolonged MOT, average milk flow rate was lower in ALTMR than STDMR. Peak flow rate was higher in ALTMR than STDMR, but only in teat cups 1 (first attached, hind quarter) and 3 (third attached, front quarter), whereas main milk flow was higher in ALTMR than STDMR in both front quarters. In conclusion, splitting teat cleaning and the start of milking between hind and front quarters does not prolong total milking time, including teat cleaning. The partially positive effect on peak and main milk flow indicates that the ALTMR is a suitable milking routine in AMS. In herds with a greater difference of milk stored in hind compared with front quarters, a reduced total milking time can be expected for ALTMR.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Veterinary Public Health / Herd Health Management
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Veterinary Public Health Institute
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Veterinary Physiology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH)

UniBE Contributor:

Besier, Johanna Franziska, Schüpbach-Regula, Gertraud Irene, Wellnitz, Olga, Bruckmaier, Rupert

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology

ISSN:

0022-0302

Publisher:

American Dairy Science Association

Language:

English

Submitter:

Lorenzo Enrique Hernandez Castellano

Date Deposited:

26 Jul 2017 16:30

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:28

Publisher DOI:

10.3168/jds.2016-11712

PubMed ID:

28161171

Uncontrolled Keywords:

automatic milking system; milking routine; teat cleaning; udder preparation

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.95421

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/95421

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