Introduction In Ireland, cows are generally milked with milking machines with 3.2kg clusters, with wide-bore tapered liners (31.6mm – 20.6mm) and 4x0 pulsation (WB). Outside of Ireland, most milking machines have 1.65kg clusters, narrow-bore liners (25.0mm – 20.0mm) and 2x2 pulsation (NB). O’Callaghan (2001) showed that the mouthpiece cavity vacuum was higher with wide-bore tapered liners than ...

The udder is a very big organ weighing, around 50 kg (including milk and blood). However, weights up to 100 kg have been reported. Therefore, the udder has to be very well attached to the skeleton and muscles. The median ligaments are composed of elastic fibrous tissue, while the lateral ligaments are composed of connective tissue with less elasticity. If the ligaments weaken the udder will bec...

Mastitis is a major problem in dairy farms and E. coli mastitis especially is a major disease in cows (1) because of the latter increasing incidence and severe symptoms (16). The concept of E. coli mastitis is that the organisms live in the environment and contaminate the teats probably as a result of fecal contamination (20). Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) isolates are an important group...

Baby-FriendlyTM hospitals give mothers and babies the best start in feeding their babies. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) began in 1991 as a joint program of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. It was created to honor hospitals and birth centers that give the best care to mothers and babies related to infant feeding. To be certified Baby-Friendly, hospitals and birth ce...