Title of the paper: Effect of different time of pre-milking teat preparation on milking characteristics of dairy cows in Cuba For the evaluation of different times of pre-milking teat preparation on milking ability of different races/genotypes some parameters about milking with machines (milking characteristics) have been registered. This study reveals that an insufficient pre-milking teat preparation clearly under 60 s lead to a significant deterioration of the milking characteristics. The average milk flow rate decreased while the main-milking-time and the post-milking-time increased. Generally a pre-milking teat preparation of 60s was sufficient to trigger a fully adequate milk ejection. An increase of this time of pre-milking teat preparation to 300 s or even 400 s lead to negative influence on the milking characteristics.