Gentle “break-in” of the heifers reduces mastitis

When talking about difficult cow behaviour at milking, many farmers immediately think of the first calving heifers. These animals can present real challenges as they become accustomed to the dairy and the milking routine.  Taking extra care to keep heifers calm is an important step to minimise mastitis and protect the future producers of the herd.

There are different methods used to acclimatise the heifers to the people, the milking shed, and the milking routine.

Some farmers aim to calve the heifers a week or ten days before the rest of the herd so that they can spend additional time familiarising them with the milking shed and milking routine. Obviously, for this to be an option, the decision must be made prior to mating the heifers, so that an appropriate mating start date can be set.

Other people like to calve their heifers with the main herd so that the older mature cows that are accustomed to the milking routine “lead the way” for heifers. In herringbone sheds, the older (and larger) cows are often used to help steady the heifers in place on the platform.

Another technique used by some farmers is to run the heifers through the dairy and feed them some grain a few times prior to calving.  An interesting variation on this is just to run the heifers through the shed with the gates open, so they gain the experience of moving into and out of the shed.

All of these methods are valid strategies for introducing new cows to the shed and each offers an alternative for people to consider if they are having problems training their heifers with their current method.

Generally, it takes about two weeks for most heifers to establish a quiet, reliable response to milking.

What’s the pay-off for farmers?

Recent Australian research has confirmed that quiet handling improves both cow behaviour and production.  So a patient and gentle “break-in” of the heifers will not only help to maximise production, but it will also minimise the risk of injury to milkers and animals.

In terms of milk quality, one of the main benefits of improving heifer behaviour is through better milk let-down prior to cups-on. This results in shorter milking times, lower strip yields and better teat health - all of which significantly reduce the risk of mastitis infections.

Milk yield is higher, milking time per cow is shorter, stripping yields are reduced, and cows dung and urinate less frequently when the milking environment for cows is pleasant, repeatable and predictable. Australian research has shown that cows enter the milking shed 40% more quickly and there is 80% less dunging in the dairy when cows are milked with ‘pleasant handling’ compared with ‘aversive handling’.

Image and caption:

"In terms of milk quality, one of the main benefits of improving heifer behaviour is through better milk let-down prior to cups-on"

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