Opinions are divided about the degree to which an udder should be empty after milking. While many farmers, based on their experience, try to empty the udder as completely as possible, their colleagues as well as some representatives of the milking industry and some milking consultants have a more relaxed attitude. They argue that it is completely normal that milk remains in the udder after milk...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is often the cause of mastitis problems in dairy herds and causes great economic losses. In this study, isolates from a dairy herd with a known S. aureus mastitis problem were examined by means of molecular methods (spa typing, PFGE, and DNA microarray) to investigate their epidemiological relationship and the success of intervention measures. The investigated ...

The milking unit can be detached at a milk flow rate of 400 g/min without having a negative effect on milk yield. Machine-on time is shortened and teat condition improved, and udder health does not seem to be affected. The threshold may be set even higher for cows milked more than twice daily. It is recommended that specific setting of switch points and delay times are evaluated for each farm. ...

Automatic, or robotic, milking systems have the potential to significantly change the way milk is produced on U.S. dairy farms. However, there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with adoption of this new technology. A real options approach is used to analyze the decision to replace an operational milking system with an automatic milking system. The most important source of uncertainty i...

A network simulation model of herringbone and parallel milking parlors was built. Parlor performance was predicted based on the number of cows milked per hour and the amount of milk harvested per shift. Modeled parlors operated using a task-oriented milking routine. The simulation also modeled milking personnel, milking system vacuum pressure and pulsation ratio, and milk yield per cow per milk...

The objective of this study was to investigate if a reduced milking frequency altered the effect of dietary energy restriction on the hepatic transcriptome of grazing dairy cows during early lactation. Multiparous Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian × Jersey cows (n = 120) were milked twice daily (2×) from calving until 34 ± 6 days in milk (mean ± SD). Cows were then allocated to one of fou...

“Gradual dryoff” is the practice of skipping some milkings before cessation of milking a cow at the end of lactation. I was taught in agricultural and vet school classes that this was to be avoided; abrupt dryoff no skipped milkings is physiologically superior for the cow. Nevertheless, like most dairy veterinarians, I experienced clients using gradual dryoff sometimes. When I was a resident at...

Twenty Holstein cows were split into two equal groups to test the effect of daily move to a previously ungrazed strip after morning milking (MA) or afternoon milking (AA) on herbage intake, grazing behaviour, rumen characteristics and milk production using a randomized block design with three periods of 14 days each. Milking took place at 06.00 and 16.00 h. The chemical composition of grass was...

Mastitis is a mammary infection caused by the passage of pathogens into the mammary gland. Deteriorations in teat health are shown to be related to this type of infection [1]. Rough or cracked teats allow mastitis pathogens to colonize the udder. Roughness and cracking of the teat is related to hyperkeratosis, the condition of teat end callosity. Rough or cracked teats allow mastitis pathogens ...