Two years of experience with an automatic milking system. 2. Milk yield, milking interval and frequency

Abstract

The introduction of an automatic milking unit (AMU) changes milking procedures and routines: cows can be milked more than twice a day, and continuously over the day. Three milkings result in increased daily milk yield (MY) (Klei et al., 1997); however, the automatic milking system (AMS) is very different from the three milkings system, because there are not fixed intervals between two consecutive milkings and because the daily milking frequency (DMF) varies among cows and among days. A long milking interval (MI) has a detrimental effect on MY. To maintain the maximum of milk secretion, the udder ought to be empty before the reaching of critical value of intra-mammary pressure. Irregular milking causes a reduction in milk yield (Kelly et al., 1998). In AMS, some cows tend to have DMF less than two because of health problems, low MY or individual attitude.......