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Effects of feeding concentrate in the milking stall of an automatic milking system on behaviour and milking characteristics of cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

N.B. Prescott
Affiliation:
Silsoe Research Institute, Silsoe, Bedfordshire MK45 4HS, United Kingdom
T.T.F. Mottram
Affiliation:
Silsoe Research Institute, Silsoe, Bedfordshire MK45 4HS, United Kingdom
A.J.F. Webster
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford BS18 7DU, United Kingdom
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Extract

Automatic milking systems have the option to feed cows as they are being milked. This would be beneficial if it were to keep cows quieter during the teat cup attachment and milking process, and improve yield, flow rate and time taken to milk out via its action on oxytocin as shown by Svennersten and Samuelsson, 1994. Potentially feeding may create dust and encourage vermin, defecation and urination. It may also make the cows more restless (Whipp, 1992). The aim of this experiment was to assess the effects of feeding cows in the milking stall of an automatic milking system on their behaviour and milking characteristics.

Type
Dairy
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1996

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References

Svennersten, K., Samulsson, B. 1994. Should cows be given concentrate in conjunction with milking? Dairy Sience Abstracts 56: 352.Google Scholar
Whipp, J.I 1992. Design and perfromance of milking parlours. In Machine milking and lactation (ed. Bramley, A.J., Dodd, F.H., Mein, G.A., Bramley, J.A.), pp. 285310. Insight Books, USA.Google Scholar