Case Study: Increasing Prep Time in the VMS Automatic Milk Stations does not Affect Milk Performance Indicators

摘要

Adequate teat preparation is an important management strategy to reduce new intramammary infections in dairy cows. The cleaning and disinfecting of teats before milking also provides stimulus to release oxytocin and facilitate milk ejection before vacuum is applied to teats. Manufacturers of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) have programmed settings that allow sufficient time for teat prepping so that lag time is not negatively affected (Bruckmaier et al., 2001). Also, previous studies proved that automatic stimulation was sufficient to guarantee proper milk ejection (Bruckmaier et al., 2001; Gygax et al., 2007). In the DeLaval Voluntary Milking System (VMS), the teat cleaner cup (TCC) cleans and disinfects teats before milking, by means of vacuum, air and water/disinfectant. Despite existing settings allow adequate lag time for milk letdown. This study evaluated the effect of increasing the teat prep time to increase milk flow, and its effect on total milking duration, and mastitis indicators in the DeLaval VMS.