Examination of systems that exert traction on the teatcup and reduce teat bending in machine milking of ewes

Abstract

Summary — Two systems were designed to exert traction on the teatcups and reduce the bending of teats during machine milking: 1 ) an articulated arm, which held the teatcups in a fixed position throughout milking; and 2) a system using springs, which were joined to the short milk tube at one end, and hooked onto a wire mesh at the other end after the teatcups were attached. These systems were compared with the traditional milking system in a Latin square design (3 x 3 weeks), using 36 Manchega ewes in their 3rd week of machine milking, after 5 weeks of suckling. Ewes were milked twice a day with machine and hand strippings. The system using springs produced an increase in total milk production compared with the traditionally milked control group, although the increase was not very large (3.7%). However, its composition (percentage of fat and protein) and residual milk did not vary. Fractionation also improved, increasing machine milk by 16% and decreasing the stripping (machine stripping by 60%; hand stripping by 26%). The arm system produced lower total milk production (6%) when compared with that of the control milking system, although the composition and residual milk did not vary. The machine milk fraction was similar to that of the control group, but stripping decreased by 41 and 7% for the machine and hand strippings, respectively. Teatcup falls increased slightly in the spring (6.6%) and arm (8.9%) systems compared to the control milking system (5.1 %). The incidence of mastitis, estimated with California mastitis test, did not vary significantly. In conclusion, a simple spring that exerts traction on the teatcup and reduces teat bending gives better milk fractionation. This could be interesting economically when stripping is eliminated from the milking routine (rotary parlours with automatic cluster removers).