Importance of the new silicone liner “Stimulor® Stressless” for optimal milking performance and welfare of the lactating animals-technical report

Abstract

The mechanical forces during mechanical milking lead to changes in teat tissue. This effect is related to the degree of adaptation of the milking machines to the physiological requirements of the lactating animals. If the milking machine settings and liners are not suitable for all lactating animals on the farm, the teat condition will deteriorate and some animals may suffer from mastitis. For this reason, the company Siliconform, Germany, sets itself the task of developing better suiting milking machines for lactating animals, as the company has been in milking technology for 50 years and has a great amount of experience with all lactating animals such as cows, sheep, goats, and camels. First, milking machines for cows “MultiLactor” and Camels “StimuLactor” were developed. After the great success of using both milking machines, the focus was on the further development of the teat liners. The name of the new liner is “Stimulor Stressless”. These new liners have unique properties that are excellent for maintaining teat health during machine milking in all lactating animals. One of its distinguishing features is the presence of a wave-shaped design of its mouthpiece, which allows it to adapt well to the different teat sizes in a herd, thus ensuring consistent milking of the entire herd. In this way, the aim of our milking technology was achieved, which is to imitate the rhythmic process of calf suckling during machine milking as much as possible.