Milking time on a dairy farm is a balancing act between maintaining cleanliness and calmness while moving quickly enough to finish on time and get the cows back to their pens where they can eat, drink, rest and produce milk.
What happens before milking time matters, said Carolina Pinzon, University of Wisconsin Extension specialist.
The release of oxytocin is crucial for milk letdown and for a fast and complete milking. However, once an animal experiences fear or pain, it takes 20 to 30 minutes to calm down. For that reason, handlers should walk calmly, avoid loud noises and use gentle pressure to create a smooth flow to the parlor, Pinzon said in a news release.
Traffic areas should be clear of distractions like hanging objects, misplaced hoses or trash that could slow cow movement.
Crowd gates should be used gently and moved little and often to keep cows near the parlor entrance and minimize empty space in the holding area. Crowd gates should never be used to force cows into the parlor. That misuse raises animal welfare concerns and can impede a smooth flow.
Advanced systems using RFID tags can automate that process, reducing stress and improving efficiency.
Cow movers must ensure the parlor never runs out of cows to milk and that the next group is ready in the holding area as the last cow in the prior group finishes milking. Balancing parlor and pen sizes ensures cows spend no more than 60 minutes per milking session away from feed and rest areas.
Consistency should be maintained in procedures, sequences and timing. The goal of a milking routine is to attach the milking unit to clean, dry and well-stimulated teats. It is essential that teat disinfection methods such as dipping, foaming or spraying ensure adequate coverage and a minimum contact time of 30 seconds for bactericidal effects.
The routine should also involve stimulation for optimal initial and continuous milk letdown, resulting in a faster milk-out process. Stimulation, such as fore stripping, wiping vigorously with a towel, or using an automatic scrubber, should last at least 12 to 15 seconds to optimize milk letdown.
Ideally the lag time from teat stimulation to milking unit attachment is 60 to 120 seconds.
Cows love consistency, therefore all milking technicians must follow the same steps, in the same order, at the same pace for every cow during each milking session.
Training the milking crew on proper cow handling and milking parlor best practices is critical. During team meetings and training sessions, also consider discussing other key practices that enhance parlor efficiency:
- Prepare all supplies and have them centrally located at the start of milking.
- Nonessential tasks, like refilling dip cups and getting clean towels, should be done at a time that does not interfere with milking.
- Ensure cows enter the parlor voluntarily with minimal human intervention. Do not train cows to get fetched.
- Instruct milkers to stay out of the holding area except at the end of the pen or when handling new animals.
- Avoid loud noises and sudden movements because those can cause cows to back up and delay milking.
- To move cows forward, use the “walk-back-by” technique, which involves walking in the opposite direction of the cow when loading them onto the platform.
- Begin prepping cows as soon as the first couple of cows are in the milking stalls. Milkers should not wait until the entire side is loaded to start milking.
- Monitor cows being milked on the other side of the parlor. Re-attach or adjust units as needed so that all cows are finished when it is time to post-dip them.
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