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Ian Cure explains: ‘There’s great appeal in
changing from a manual milking system to
an automated one. It saves time. And if
approached correctly can also save labour
and reduce mastitis infections. Planning for the
switch, and discussing options with the farm
vet is essential. Robotic systems require a
different approach to controlling mastitis,
and lameness. And there are also techniques
to maximising the milk production from
robot systems.’
Robots reduce
mastitis cases
At The Robot Event, advice on mastitis control
was given by vets James Allcock and Ian
Cure of Lambert Leonard and May Vet Group,
and vet Judith Roberts of Zoetis UK Ltd.
On robotic milking systems, cows are milked
more regularly - an average of around 2.6
times per day. However, there needs to be
a careful balance in frequency of visits to the
robot: too short an interval between milkings
and the teat tissue does not have time to
relax and recover. But if left too long, then
infections can increase.
Not only do robot systems provide a lot
of extra information on individual cows
- weight, individual milk yields - but the
milk itself provides indications of the
onset of mastitis.
Expert advice and practical
tips from the Robot
Event
- a conference for farmers on automated milking systems
With an increasing number of
dairy farmers choosing to install
automatic (robotic) milking systems,
vet Ian Cure of XLVets’ Lambert
Leonard and May Vet Group in
Lancashire organised The Robot
Event - a conference for farmers
considering investing in robots
as well as those with automatic
systems already in place.
●
milk temperature (this rises in around
50% of mastitis cases)
●
activity monitors (on some machines)
●
colour changes from presence of blood
When udder tissue becomes infected, cells
are damaged and sodium leaks into the
milk. This binds to chloride and increases
the salt content, thereby increasing the
conductivity of the milk. This serves as an
early warning for mastitis.
However, conductivity alone is a
non-specific measure - so automatic
milking machines use several additional
parameters before sending out a mastitis
alert.
These include:
Early warning
●
a lower yield in one quarter compared
with the other three
Lely Astronaut
11
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
Judith Roberts
Zoetis UK Ltd
James Allcock
Lamber t, Leonard
& May