Milking Routine

Milking routine is something that is tried and true on most farms, of course this can change some with the times especially with robotic milking (stay tuned for a producer meeting related to robotic milking procedures and troubleshooting). There may be small things that are making a larger impact on your milk quality as cows produce more milk and the system become more stressed.

We are happy to work with your milk equipment dealer to help trouble shoot your equipment by performing a fall off test and measure claw vacuum to name a few. Sometimes if the system passes when not in use it may also be important to check it at milking time.

On the cow side, we are happy to provide some monitoring, training and feedback on the routine and cleanliness. We can help measure the timing of preparation, cleaning and milking attachment to help create optimal milk letdown, improving milk quantity and quality. This may be hard to assess when you are actually milking and easier to tell when observing.

Dip coverage or method of cleaning can be evaluated to assess how well the method chosen is performing to keep the teat end protected during a high-risk time (milking). We are looking to have complete coverage (>75%) of over 90% of teats.  When we look at how clean the teats are after wiping we strive to have less than 10% of teats that have any dirt left on the teat. This is also an opportunity to check the condition of the teat end to check for damage to the end of the teat and overall teat condition. We are looking for less than 20% of cows to have any issues with their teat.

We would also assess “equipment” such as towels, gloves, dip cups and strip cups.

I also want to assure producers this offer of milking time assessment is not meant to be a criticism but meant to be able to better be part of the team and help improve milk quality which can be a frustrating endeavour where small things can make a big difference.

If you are interested in knowing more please discuss with your herd health veterinarian and we can discuss needs and what works best for your farm.