Recovery time of teat tissue after milking was determined by ultrasonographic scanning. Teat-canal length, teat-end width, teat-wall thickness, and teat-cistern width of 18 cows varying in parity and lactation stage were measured in duplicate before and directly after milking and every hour for 8 h. The ratio between teat-wall thickness and teat-cistern width was calculated. The effects of time after milking and teat position on the teat parameters were estimated using REML models. The mean differences of ultrasound measurements of teat-end width and teat-canal length between duplicate measurements were 3.6 and 8.2%, and between d 4.4 and 7.8%, respectively. Teat-wall thickness and teat-cistern width were more variable (15.3 and 22% between duplicates, and 13.6 and 19.9% between days, respectively). Teat recovery after milking took a considerable amount of time: teat-wall thickness, 6 h; teat-end width, >8 h; teat-canal length, >8 h; teat-cistern width for rear teats, 3 h, and front teat 8 h, and the ratio of teat-wall thickness and teat-cistern width, 6 h. Ultrasonographic scanning of teat parameters was a useful tool to study teat changes caused by milking. Teat recovery took more time than expected, which makes caution necessary when increasing the milking frequency.
Changes in milk quality after the introduction of automatic milking systems on 28 Dutch dairy farms were examined and observations were compared with milk quality characteristics on two groups of farms milking either two (49 farms) or three times (28 farms) per day in a conventional milking parlor. Milk quality data were collected from January 1996 until March 1998. The farms with an automatic milking system are pioneers and cannot be considered representative of Dutch dairy farms. After the introduction of the automatic milking system, a statistically significant increase in total bacterial plate count and in free fatty acids was observed. Total bacterial plate count, free fatty acids, and freezing point were higher on farms using the automatic milking system than in the other two groups of farms. Somatic cell counts did not change after the introduction of the automatic milking system, but were already rather high in herds using the automatic milking system compared with the other groups of farms. The introduction of automatic milking systems used in the study resulted in a decrease in milk quality compared with conventional systems.
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