Rotary Parlor Research Articles

Effect of dairy cow personality traits and concentrate allowance on their response to training and adaptation to an automated milking system

The objectives of this study were to determine: 1) if dairy cow personality traits and concentrate allowance are associated with the behavior and performance of cows during training to use an automated milking system (AMS); and 2) if these factors were associated with the behavior and performance of cows after AMS training. Twenty-nine mid- to late-lactation Holstein cows (218 ± 49 DIM), who were milking on a rotary parlor and had never previously been milked in an AMS, were enrolled in this study. Cows were assigned to 1 of 2 dietary treatments, consisting of a basal partial mixed ration (PMR) common to both treatment groups, with a concentrate allowance (on dry matter basis) of: 1) 2.0 kg/d in the AMS (L-Tx); or 2) 6.0 kg/d in the AMS (H-Tx). Cows were trained to use the free-traffic AMS, with supervised milkings, over 72 h and were milked in this system for 63 d after training was complete. Variables relating to feeding behavior, milking activity, and production were measured from the start of AMS training until the end of the study. Between 42 and 63 d after AMS introduction, each cow was assessed for personality traits using a combined arena test consisting of exposure to a novel environment, novel object, and novel human. Principal components analysis of behaviors observed during the personality assessment revealed 2 factors (interpreted as boldness and activeness traits) that together explained 85% of the variance; each cow received a score for each trait. Associations between dietary treatment and personality traits with feeding behavior, milking activity, and production were analyzed using mixed-effect linear and logistic regression models. Cows with greater scores for the active trait produced less milk during the 3 d of AMS training compared with cows with lower scores. Within the H-Tx, more active cows had a 3.92 times greater risk of kicking off teat cups during AMS training than less active cows. However, during the 8 wk after training, more active cows had a 1.37 times lesser risk of teat cup kickoffs than those that were less active. Cows on the H-Tx produced 4.4 kg/d more energy-corrected milk compared with cows on the L-Tx in the 8 wk after training. During the 8 wk after AMS training the cows on the H-Tx consumed an average of 21.4 kg/d of PMR and were delivered 4.6 kg/d of AMS concentrate, while the L-Tx cows consumed 23.4 kg/d PMR and were delivered 2.0 kg/d of AMS concentrate. The results indicate that both dairy cow personality traits and AMS concentrate allocation influence their response to AMS training and subsequent feeding and milking behavior and production.

Identifying strategies to enhance the milking and operator efficiency of herringbone and rotary parlor systems in Ireland

International trends of increasing dairy herd sizes coupled with scarcity of labor has necessitated the enhancement of labor efficiency for dairy production systems. This study quantified the effects of infrastructure, automation, and management practices on the milking and operator efficiency of herringbone and rotary parlors used on pasture-based farms in Ireland. Data from 592 milkings across 26 farms (16 herringbones and 10 rotaries) was used. The metrics of cows milked per hour (cows/h), cows milked per operator per hour (cows/h per operator) and liters of milk harvested per hour (L/h) described milking efficiency. The metrics of total process time per cow (TPT, s/cow), milk process time per cow (MPT, s/cow), work routine time (WRT, s/cow), cluster time (CT, s/cluster), and attachment time per cow (ATC, s/cow) described operator efficiency. Automations investigated were backing gates, cluster flush, plant wash, cluster removers (ACRs), feeders, entry gates, rapid-exit, and teat spray. Additional operator presence at milking was also investigated. Herringbone and rotary parlors were assigned to quartiles from their cows/h per operator values to examine infrastructure, automations, and management practices variations. Fourth quartile herringbones based on cows/h per operator values (Q4) averaged 93 cows/h per operator using average system sizes of 24 clusters with 5 parlor automations. Q4 rotaries averaged 164 cows/h per operator using average system sizes of 47 clusters and an average CT of 13 s/cluster. Cows/h per operator values for Q4 herringbone and rotary parlors were 82% and 54% higher, respectively, than values observed on Q1 parlors, indicating the considerable potential to improve efficiency. To determine if infrastructure, automations, or additional operators at milking significantly affected operator efficiencies, general linear mixed models were developed. For parlor infrastructure, additional clusters had greater significance on operator efficiencies (MPT) for herringbones (-1.3 s/cow) as opposed to rotaries (-0.2 s/cow). Hence, increases in system size was likely to result in improved efficiencies for herringbones but less so for rotaries. For automations, ACRs significantly reduced herringbone TPT, CT, and WRT values by 13.3 s/cow, 18.9 s/cluster, and 32.6 s/cow, respectively, whereas rapid-exit significantly lowered CT by 18.6 s/cluster. We found no significant effect on rotary TPT, MPT, CT, or WRT values from the use of automatic teat sprayers. An additional operator at milking was found to significantly reduce herringbone TPT but not MPT or CT. For rotaries, a second operator had no significant effect on TPT, MPT, CT, or WRT values. We documented strong negative correlations between operator efficiencies (TPT, MPT) and milking efficiency (cows/h) for both herringbone (-0.91, -0.84) and rotaries (-0.98, -0.89). Strong negative correlations between the herringbone automation count and TPT (-0.80), MPT (-0.72), and CT (-0.75) suggested highly automated parlors were likely to achieve greater operator efficiencies than less automated parlors. The strong negative correlation (-0.81) between rotary milking efficiency (cows/h) and CT suggested lower CT values (i.e., rotation speed) resulted in increased milking efficiency. In conclusion, our study quantified the effects of parlor infrastructure, automation, and management practices on the milking and operator efficiency of herringbone and rotary parlors.

Effect of oxytocin use during colostrum harvest and the association of cow characteristics with colostrum yield and immunoglobulin G concentration in Holstein dairy cows

Our objectives were to determine the effect of oxytocin use during colostrum harvest on colostrum yield and IgG concentration in Holstein dairy cows on a commercial dairy in New York and to describe associations of cow characteristics with these outcomes. Animals were enrolled between July and October 2023 using a randomized block design, with day of enrollment as the unit of randomization. A median (range) of 10 (3-19) cows were enrolled per day. Treatments were (1) 40 IU oxytocin (OXY40), (2) 20 IU oxytocin (OXY20), and (3) an untreated control group (CNTR). Oxytocin was administered i.m. ∼45 s before unit attachment in a rotary parlor. Colostrum weight was measured using the colostrum bucket-embedded scale or a platform scale when the yield was less than the smallest bucket scale. The concentration of IgG ([IgG]) in colostrum was determined using radial immunodiffusion and used to calculate total IgG, and DM (%) was determined by oven drying. Individual cow characteristics such as parity, calf sex, weight, dystocia score, stillbirth, and milk production in wk 4 of lactation; additionally, for multiparous cows, dry period length and previous lactation dry-off linear SCS were collected. Data were analyzed separately for primiparous and multiparous cows using backward stepwise elimination. To produce final mixed effects ANOVA models, primiparous cows (n = 201) were randomized to 35.8% (n = 72) OXY40, 32.8% (n = 66) OXY20, and 31.3% (n = 63) CNTR. Multiparous groups (n = 435) were randomized to 34.7% (n = 151) OXY40, 29.7% (n = 129) OXY20, and 35.6% (n = 155) CNTR. The median (range) colostrum yield was 6.0 (0-20.6) kg and [IgG] was 98.5 (0.1-293.6) g/L in the study population. In primiparous cows, OXY40 had a higher colostrum yield (LSM [95% CI]) of 5.4 (4.9-5.9) kg compared with both OXY20 (4.1 [3.5-4.7] kg) and CNTR (3.8 [3.3-4.3] kg). In multiparous cows, OXY40, OXY20, and CNTR did not differ in colostrum yield (5.9 [5.3-6.5], 5.7 [5.1-6.3], and 5.4 [4.8-6.0] kg, respectively), but colostrum yield was greater in parity 2 compared with all other parities, cows giving birth to male calves, cows with the highest milk production at wk 4 of lactation, and cows with a dry period of >65 d. Oxytocin use did not affect [IgG] in either primiparous or multiparous cows, but [IgG] was highest in cows in parity ≥4 and lowest in cows dry >65 d. In summary, oxytocin use at 40 IU i.m. was associated with a higher colostrum yield in primiparous cows only and no change in [IgG]. Oxytocin use likely addressed disturbed milk ejection and therefore increased colostrum yield in heifers milked for the first time in a rotary parlor. This study confirms cow characteristics associated with colostrum production within a single herd.

Patterns of milking unit kick-off as a proxy for habituation to milking in primiparous cows

The onset of lactation and the subsequent habituation to the milking routine is a stressful period, particularly for primiparous (PRI) cows. The objective of this study was to describe the dynamics of milking unit kick-off (KO) behavior in PRI cows during the first 3 mo of lactation, considering multiparous (MUL) cows as a reference for comparison. In addition, the potential associations between KO and milk yield and mastitis presentation were investigated. A total of 869 cows (PRI = 199; MUL = 670) on a dairy farm in northern CO were included in the analysis. Cows calving between August and November 2020 were enrolled from 3 DIM until 90 DIM. Participants were milked 3×/day in a 60-unit rotary parlor and data from each milking session were downloaded from parlor management software. Milking unit kick-off was used as a proxy for habituation to the milking procedure. Kick-off events were reported by the milking system and defined as an abrupt interruption in the milk flow during the milking process. Cow KO events were recorded for each milking session. Subsequently, occurrence of KO was analyzed by grouping the 3 consecutive milking sessions in each day and categorized as yes or no, indicating whether or not an individual kicked at least once in a given day. Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA and logistic regression, including parity category, calving season, occurrence of dystocia, and their potential interactions in the models. Least squares means for daily proportions of KO were calculated considering the number of cows with KO events per day in the PRI and MUL categories. Subsequently, odds ratios for the occurrence of KO in PRI versus MUL were calculated at multiple periods of time. When KO was analyzed by DIM, proportions of KO were greater in PRI than in MUL during the whole monitoring period. In PRI, proportions of KO increased from 0.10/d to 0.20/d between 3 DIM and 15 DIM, to start decreasing around 30 DIM and remaining above MUL up to 90 DIM. On the contrary, in MUL cows, proportions of KO remained close to 0.05/d during the 90-d period. Overall, the odds of KO were greater for PRI versus MUL cows (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.07 [1.58–2.73]). No differences in milk yield were established among KO categories, while the percentage of cows affected with mastitis was greater in cows grouped in the quartile with more frequent KO events. We concluded that the relationship between days in milk and the proportion of PRI cows displaying KO was not linear, but rather KO increased during the first 2 wk postpartum before decreasing after the first month of lactation. First-parity cows had greater levels of KO than MUL cows, which is most likely associated with the process of habituation to milking during their first lactation.

502 Late-Breaking: Tongue Rolling Behavior in a Large U.S. Dairy Herd

Abstract Stereotypic behavior is repetitive, invariant behavior with no obvious goal or function and may indicate negative welfare. Non-nutritive oral behaviors are the most common form of stereotypic behavior in captive ungulates and these include tongue rolling where the cow’s tongue is extended, moving inside and outside of the mouth while the cow is not eating. We assessed the prevalence of tongue rolling in a large commercial dairy herd located in the United States by video recording cattle (n = 10,000) during three consecutive milkings on two rotary milking parlors. Associations between tongue rolling behavior, breed, age, days in milk, pregnancy status and milk production were assessed. In total, 29% percent (2,931) of cows were observed tongue rolling on the rotary parlor during at least one milking; 6% (613) were observed tongue rolling during two milkings; and 1.6% (164) were observed tongue rolling during all three sampling periods. Breed was the only variable associated with tongue rolling in the rotary parlor with nearly twice the proportion of Jersey (33%) vs Jersey X Holstein (17%) exhibiting tongue rolling behavior (P < 0.0001). The higher incidence of tongue rolling among Jersey vs Jersey X Holstein cattle within a shared environment suggests a strong genetic component that warrants further investigation. Validated sampling strategies for assessing tongue rolling in dairy cattle are needed.

Effects of flow-controlled vacuum on milking performance and teat condition in a rotary milking parlor

The objective of this study was to compare a vacuum control system that increases milking system vacuum during the peak flow period of milking to conventional constant vacuum control technology regarding its effect on milk flowrate and milking duration. Further objectives were to study the effects of flow-controlled vacuum on milking parlor performance. An observational study was conducted on a commercial dairy farm milking from 848 to 896 cows per day over the study period using a 60-stall rotary milking parlor. The flow-controlled vacuum control system was applied for 3 wk. Milking performance and teat condition were compared with 3-wk periods prior and subsequent to the test period using conventional vacuum control. Statistical analysis was performed assuming a cross-sectional study design during each period. Flow-controlled vacuum increased peak milk flowrate by 12% and increased average milk flowrate by 4%. The decrease in individual cow milking duration was proportional to milk yield per milking. Postmilking teat condition was good during the entire study period. The occurrence of rough teat ends was slightly reduced during the flow-controlled vacuum period with no meaningful difference in the occurrence of teats with blue color, palpable rings, or petechia. The combination of reduced vacuum during the low flow period of milking and the decrease in milking duration are likely factors that are protective of teat tissues. Bioeconomic modeling of the use of flow-controlled vacuum on the performance of rotary milking parlors, using the data that were collected during the study, showed that the reduction in milking duration of individual cows allows a higher rotary parlor speed. Modeled parlor throughput increased by 5.0% to 419 cows/h, 6.8% to 407 cows/h, and 4.2% to 326 cows/h when 80%, 95%, and 99% of the cows were finished milking at the end of the rotation for a 60-stall parlor. Model results showed that increased parlor throughput resulted in increased labor efficiency, reduced labor costs for milking, and a positive benefit-cost ratio on the investment for all but the smallest herd and parlor sizes considered.

Full-shift and task-specific upper extremity muscle activity among US large-herd dairy parlour workers

US large-herd dairy parlour workers experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to estimate and compare full-shift and task-specific muscle activity of the upper extremity among parlour workers. Surface electromyography data were recorded continuously throughout a full work shift for each participant (n = 60). For a subset of participants (n = 33), muscular effort was estimated for milking task cycles. Lower muscle activity levels and higher per cent muscular rest was observed among rotary parlour participants as compared to herringbone and parallel parlour participants for anterior deltoid, forearm flexor and forearm extensor muscles. These findings suggest rotary parlours may offer workstation designs or work organisational dynamics which may be more beneficial to the health and performance of the worker, as compared to parallel or herringbone parlours.Practitioner Summary: Study findings suggest milking parlour configurations present different biomechanical demands on workers which may influence worker health and performance. Our findings will enable more informed decisions regarding both engineering (e.g. parlour configuration or milking equipment) and administrative (e.g. work organisation) control strategies for large-herd milking parlours.

Evaluation of different lactation curve models fitted for milk viscosity recorded by an automated on-line California Mastitis Test.

Laboratory somatic cell count (LSCC) records are usually recorded monthly and provide an important information source for breeding and herd management. Daily milk viscosity detection in composite milking (expressed as drain time) with an automated on-line California Mastitis Test (CMT) could serve immediately as an early predictor of udder diseases and might be used as a selection criterion to improve udder health. The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between the well-established LSCS and the new trait,'drain time', and to estimate their correlations to important production traits. Data were recorded on the dairy research farm Karkendamm in Germany. Viscosity sensors were installed on every fourth milking stall in the rotary parlour to measure daily drain time records. Weekly LSCC and milk composition data were available. Two data sets were created containing records of 187,692 milkings from 320 cows (D1) and 25,887 drain time records from 311 cows (D2). Different fixed effect models, describing the log-transformed drain time (logDT), were fitted to achieve applicable models for further analysis. Lactation curves were modelled with standard parametric functions (Ali and Schaeffer, Legendre polynomials of second and third degree) of days in milk (DIM). Random regression models were further applied to estimate the correlations between cow effects between logDT and LSCS with further important production traits. LogDT and LSCS were strongest correlated in mid-lactation (r = 0.78). Correlations between logDT and production traits were low to medium. Highest correlations were reached in late lactation between logDT and milk yield (r = -0.31), between logDT and protein content (r = 0.30) and in early as well as in late lactation between logDT and lactose content (r = -0.28). The results of the present study show that the drain time could be used as a new trait for daily mastitis control.

Hokkaido’s frontiers: Blurred embodiments, shared affects and the evolution of dairy farming’s animal-human-machine

Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido is popularly viewed as a frontier space. This stems from a pre-modern conceptualization of the island as barbaric, its contemporary image as pastoral, and the downplaying of its colonization in between. In Hokkaido, dairying is an occupation that is profoundly influenced by negotiations with modernity, regional identity and the “West”. Thus, the image of the dairy industry is usually promoted through two tropes; dairy as foreign and dairy as a modern health benefit coalescing with conceptualizations of idealized foreign physical and political bodies. These perceptions link the contemporary industry to idyllic Euro-American pastoral images and imaginations. However, as in much of the northern world, Hokkaido dairy farming has rapidly industrialized. Until the 1980s Hokkaido dairy farms rarely exceeded 50 head. The norm was that members of a single farm family would intimately know their livestock through the embodied sharing of space and interaction; especially in relation to the twice daily process of milking. But, over the last generation a shift to rotary parlor milking systems has occurred. This high-tech and high-cost equipment enables the “automated” and simultaneous milking of up to 60 cattle at any given moment presided over by only four human staff whose work involves attaching suction devices and observing readouts. Such unskilled dairy workers are often not from farm families. Increasingly they are transient urban youth remaining on the job for less than a year, or international migrants with little interest in farming. This paper is based on 19 months of ethnographic and archival fieldwork and examines how the boundaries between animal, human, and technology have shifted and may further shift in Hokkaido.

Becoming bovine: Mechanics and metamorphosis in Hokkaido's animal-human-machine

The fieldwork for my doctoral degree was carried out over nineteen months, a year of which was spent working on an industrial dairy farm in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost Island. As in much of the industrialised world, dairy farming in Japan is rapidly changing. Many farmers are forced by neo-liberal agricultural policies to shift from small family operated farms to high-tech, high-speed, and high overhead industrial operations. This paper focuses on the history of dairy farming in the Tokachi region; more specifically one farm and the shift over a generation to a rotary parlour milking system. It addresses the linkages this mode of production has cultivated amongst humans, dairy cows and industrialized space.The parlour system at Great Hopes Farm allows five workers (aided by three more stall staff) to milk over 1000 cows, fifty at a time, three times a day. The impetus behind moving to parlour technology is that it increases productivity through mechanically enhanced observation and control. However this recent mechanical separation of human and cow during the milking process has led to affectively shared interspecies and inter-human alienation. The technology of the parlour system sets daily rhythms for bovine and human alike, and separates both from a process formerly dependent upon, specialized knowledge, affective empathy, and embodied knowledge. Human and bovine experience the systemic violence of the machine and what remains is a complex bio-politics of interspecies affect and the separation of “bare” and “political” life.