Behaviour of dairy cows under free or forced cow traffic in a simulated automatic milking system environment

Lauwere, C.C. Ketelaar-de; Hendriks, Margriet M. W. B.; Metz, J.H.M.; Schouten, W.G.P.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(97)00076-2

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The HC-primiparous might have become accustomed to visit the robot more frequently by the more attractive amount of concentrate provided. The rapid adaptation of heifers to pasture-based AMS is in line with other studies, which observed increase of heifers' robot visitations (Ketelaar de Lauwere et al, 1998) and lower waiting time of primiparous in the robot facilities .…”

Section: Impact On Voluntary Cow Trafficsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

Lessire

Froidmont

Shortall

et al. 2017

Animal

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Increased economic, societal and environmental challenges facing agriculture are leading to a greater focus on effective way to combine grazing and automatic milking systems (AMS). One of the fundamental aspects of robotic milking is cows' traffic to the AMS. Numerous studies have identified feed provided, either as fresh grass or concentrate supplement, as the main incentive for cows to return to the robot. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of concentrate allocation on voluntary cow traffic from pasture to the robot during the grazing period, to highlight the interactions between grazed pasture and concentrate allocation in terms of substitution rate and the subsequent effect on average milk yield and composition. Thus, 29 grazing cows, milked by a mobile robot, were monitored for the grazing period (4 months). They were assigned to two groups: a low concentrate (LC) group (15 cows) and a high concentrate (HC) group (14 cows) receiving 2 and 4 kg concentrate/cow per day, respectively; two allocations per day of fresh pasture were provided at 0700 and 1600 h. The cows had to go through the AMS to receive the fresh pasture allocation. The effect of concentrate level on robot visitation was calculated by summing milkings, refusals and failed milkings/cow per day. The impact on average daily milk yield and composition was also determined. The interaction between lactation number and month was used as an indicator of pasture availability. Concentrate allocation increased significantly robot visitations in HC (3.60 ± 0.07 visitations/cow per day in HC and 3.10 ± 0.07 visitations/cow per day in LC; P < 0.001) while milkings/cow per day were similar in both groups (LC: 2.37 ± 0.02/day and HC: 2.39 ± 0.02/day; Ns). The average daily milk yield over the grazing period was enhanced in HC (22.39 ± 0.22 kg/cow per day in HC and 21.33 ± 0.22 kg/cow per day in LC; P < 0.001). However the gain in milk due to higher concentrate supply was limited with regards to the amount of provided concentrates. Milking frequency in HC primiparous compared with LC was increased. In the context of this study, considering high concentrate levels as an incentive for robot visitation might be questioned, as it had no impact on milking frequency and limited impact on average milk yield and composition. By contrast, increased concentrate supply could be targeted specifically to primiparous cows.

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Section: Impact On Voluntary Cow Trafficsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

Lessire

Froidmont

Shortall

et al. 2017

Animal

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“…Grove et al (2003) reported that 1st parity cows in 8 commercial AMS dairy herds showed longer voluntary milking intervals than second and higher parity cows. According to Ketelaar de Lauwere et al (1998) cows need approximately 10 days to adapt to a fully automatic milking routine and voluntary visits. Ketelaar de Lauwere et al (1998) found in a simulated automatic milking environment that despite intensive training sessions including 4 successive days of several manual assisted enterings to a simulated AMU, some cows did consequently not voluntarily attend the dAMUT in a following period of free cow traffic where concentrates were fed in the dAMUT.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of one way gates in the cowshed may be applied to guide the cows through the AMU(s) on their way from one part of the cowshed to another, i.e. from resting area to manger or pastures (Ketelaar de Lauwere et al, 1998;Thune et al, 2002;Hogeveen et al, 1998). Furthermore, by means of the computer system connected to the robot the farmer can identify cows, which have exceeded defined maximum milking intervals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between fetching for milking and dairy cows' behaviour at milking, and avoidance of human approach — An on-farm study in herds with automatic milking systems

et al. 2006

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“…Therefore several approaches to attract an AMS visit have been intensively studied (Winter and Hillerton, 1995;Ketelaar-de Lauwere et al, 1998;Hermans et al, 2003;Harms and Wendl, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

Physiological and behavioural effects of changeover from conventional to automatic milking in dairy cows with and without previous experience

Weiß¹,

Moestl²,

Bruckmaier³

2005

Vet. Med.

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ABSTRACT:The effects of the changeover from conventional parlour to an automatic milking system (AMS) on behaviour and physiological parameters in dairy cows with and without previous experience in AMS milking were investigated. Heart rate increase was higher in unexperienced cows (UC) than in experienced cows (EC) during the first AMS visit (31 ± 2 and 12 ± 2 beats per min, respectively, P < 0.05). EC entered the automatic milking stall voluntarily without any intervention by the staff. In contrast, in UC the rate of voluntary visits was 4, 26, 40, 49, 63, 72, 76, 89, 91 and 94% during the first 10 d of AMS milking, respectively. Faecal cortisol metabolites were not affected by the changeover. In UC milk ejection was disturbed during the first visits, i. e. mean milk yield at the first milking in the AMS was significantly lower as compared to that in the parlour (67 ± 7%, P < 0.05), whereas milk ejection in EC was not disturbed. The total milk yield of the first 15 milkings differed significantly in UC (87.3 ± 2.4%) and EC (108.8 ± 3.3%) as compared to previous parlour yields (P < 0.05). In conclusion, cows with previous experience to AMS milking did not need a new adaptation period in the AMS after a transient period of parlour milking. In contrast, UC do need an intensive adaptation to the AMS in order to minimise production loss. Data clearly demonstrate that an adequate adaptation is crucial for successful milk production in AMS.

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Behaviour of dairy cows under free or forced cow traffic in a simulated automatic milking system environment

Cited by 42 publications

References 7 publications

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system

The association between fetching for milking and dairy cows' behaviour at milking, and avoidance of human approach — An on-farm study in herds with automatic milking systems

Physiological and behavioural effects of changeover from conventional to automatic milking in dairy cows with and without previous experience

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