A new method was developed to compare pre-milking teat preparation by a robotic milking machine to that of humans. Previous methods used to determine efficacy of pre-milking teat preparation include visual assessment, use of swabs to harvest bacteriafrom teats, and use of tracer materials contained in soils artificially applied to teats (Knappstein et al., 2004; Melin et al., 2004; Slaghuis et al., 2004). In our study, the live bacterial content of teats both before and after pre-milking preparationwas of interest as was the physical removal of soils. Previous methods using swabs to recover bacteria from teat skin have shown a high degree of variability in the amount of bacteria recovered depending on the amount of pressure applied to the teat/swab interface, the variability in the surface area of the teat swabbed, and the choice of the area to swab (as the entire teat surface cannot be practically swabbed). A new method was developed to recover bacteria from teat skin to address some of these issues and is described here.
展开▼
