If it’s taking more than 6 minutes to milk a cow, the cows in the herd should be averaging at least 15 litres at each milking.

Any longer and there are likely to be extended periods of little or no milk flow, especially at the beginning and toward the end of milking. These periods of slow flow are very damaging to teats and, over time, long term changes in the teat tissue and damage of the teat end will increase the risk of mastitis.

These sorts of problems caused by over milking are common in herds where one person is milking more than 120 cows, or in rotaries where the cups-off person tends to stay in one position throughout milking.

You can avoid adding insult (longer milking times) to injury (teat damage) by reviewing the milking routine.

Milking staff can achieve a quicker start to milking and a higher peak flow rate by:

• Encouraging cows to enter the shed willingly

• Using a consistent routine in the shed

• Waiting for teats to become plump with milk before putting on teatcups

• Avoiding over milking by removing the cluster as soon as milk flow slows.

See Countdown Downunder Farm Guideline 5 for details.

Calm, comfortable cows will more easily release the milk ejection hormone, and teats plump with milk are a sign of good letdown.

A bonus of good letdown is that not only does it shorten the milking time and reduce the risk of mastitis; it also increases the milk yield of the herd!

Image and caption

2aug03 “Avoid teat damage by removing clusters as soon as milk flow slows”

Countdown Downunder Farm Guideline or Technote
Farm Guideline 5.1, 5.4, and 5.8

Keywords
Over milking, let-down, mastitis

Word length
261