Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of teat cleaning by two rolling brushes on oxytocin (OT) release, milk ejection and milking characteristics during milking in a single stall automatic milking system (AMS). Five treatments B0 (no brushing), B1 (one brushing cycle for 16 s, 4 s per teat), B2, B4 and B6 (two, four and six brushing cycles, respectively) were randomly changed and quarter milk flow curves were recorded. In addition, blood samples were taken from 10 randomly selected cows during milking at 1-min intervals for OT determination in treatments B0, B2, B4 and B6. Basal OT concentrations were similar (2.7 to 3.9 pg/ml) in all treatments. At the start of milking, OT concentration was lower ( P<0.05) in B0 as compared to all other treatments. At 1 min after the start of milking and throughout milking OT concentrations did not differ between treatments. Time until occurrence of main milk flow was lower in well filled udders as compared to udders with small amounts of milk stored. Frequency of the bimodal curves is decreasing with increasing number of brushing cycles. The teat cleaning device in the used AMS was suitable to induce OT release and milk ejection before the start of milking in treatments B2, B4 and B6.
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