Abstract
Successful introduction of fully automatic milking systems requires safety measures to avoid cow and equipment damage due to the behaviour of cows and due to collisions of animals and milking equipment. Investigations are reported on parameters which could be used to solve this problem and on possibilities to prevent accidents by appropriate treatment of cows. It was found that the activity of eating concentrates and variations of load on the hind legs were related to the frequency of leg lifting. As expected, leg lifting was observed to be mainly caused by collisions of milking equipment with different parts of the cow, especially with her legs. A considerable reduction of cow leg activity during the application of teat cups was observed after previous stimulation. Suitable sensors for recording the behavioural parameters of cows are weighing devices to measure mechanical loads on hind legs and on the manger to measure concentrate consumption. Leg activity also can be monitored by pressure sensitive plates or mats, commonly used by industry. To avoid collisions during automatic milking operations, capacitive and ultrasonic proximity sensors have been used successfully.
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