Eight deliverable out now

The eight deliverable has been finished. It is the first deliverable of work package eight, ‘Health of Dairy Cows milked by an Automatic Milking System’. The report is entitled ‘Review of potential effects of Automatic Milking Conditions of the teat’.

The report gives an overview of existing literature on possible effects on teat end condition. The literature available is mainly based on conventional milking since automatic milking is a relative new phenomenon. The authors have related the possible hazards and risks of conventional milking to automatic milking. Aspects addressed are: teat preparation, attachment, machine characteristics (vacuum, pulsation, liner, plant), milk flow, machine-on time, detachement and post milking, milking frequency and milking interval. Currently, farm visits are being carried out to study the situation on farms that recently switched to automatic milking.

Message date: October 24, 2002