Review: Milking machine settings, teat condition and milking efficiency in dairy cows

Abstract

Because of technical limitations, an impact of machine milking on the teat tissue cannot be avoided. The continuance of this impact during and after milking depends on a variety of factors related to the physiological regulation of milk ejection, as well as the different production systems and milking machine settings. Milking machine settings aim to achieve a high milking performance, that is, short machine-on time at a maximum of milk harvest. However, a high milking performance level is often related to an impact on the teat tissue caused by vacuum or liner compression that can lead to pathological dimensions of congestion of the tissue or hyperkeratosis as a long-term effect. Toward the end of milking a decrease of milk flow rate causes a raise of mouthpiece and teat end vacuum levels and hence an increase of the impact on the teat tissue and the risk of tissue damage. The mechanical stress by the milking machine activates a cascade of cellular mechanisms that lead to an excessive keratin growth and thickening of the keratin layer. Consequently, a complete closure of the teat canal is disabled and the risk of bacterial invasion and intramammary infection increases. Another consequence of high vacuum impact is fluid accumulation and congestion in the tissue of teat tip and teat basis because of an obstruction in venous return. The present review paper provides an overview of the available scientific information to describe the interaction between different levels and types of system vacuum, mouthpiece chamber vacuum, teat end (claw) vacuum, liner pressure, and the risk of short-term and long-term impacts on the teat tissue.

Identifying changes in the milking rubber of milking machines during testing and under industrial conditions

“…A change in the material's elasticity reduces the massaging effect when compressing milking rubber. The pressure of milking rubber on the udder teat is the main stimulation factor of milk yield, it is even more important than the frequency and duration of pulsations [7]. Non-elastic milking rubber has a much smaller massaging effect.…”

Effect of various milking equipment on milk ejection in high-yielding cows

“…According to the data (Dmytriv et al, 2018), up to 5% of milk yield is lost using worn-out milking equipment. According to (Odorcic et al, 2019;Paliy et al, 2018;Zbinden et al, 2017), the operations performed during machine milking are subdued to the physiology of milk production and do not depend on the type and design of the milking machine or the method of organization milking. The order of these operations in each milking process should be the same, both in sequence and duration.…”

International workshop on the biology of lactation in farm animals

“…Two review papers in the issue deal with milk removal in dairy cows (Odorcic et al, 2019), and in small dairy ruminants (Dzidic et al, 2019). A fast but gentle removal of milk by machine milking is aimed at in science and is increasingly implemented in milking routines on practical farm.…”

“…This is a different approach compared to the past (partially still used) when the philosophy was a time-consuming complete emptying of the udder by the milking machine, often even followed by hand-stripping. This has been shown to cause a considerable mechanical load on the teat tissue, and leaving small amounts of milk in the udder seems to be advantageous compared to teat tissue damage and hyperkeratosis (Odorcic et al, 2019).…”