Cattle Care strongly believes that a product demo is a more effective way to illustrate our product's capabilities than simply describing them in detail. That's why we provide our customers with a free product demo. After analyzing extensive video footage from multiple milking parlors using our system in 2022, we're thrilled to share some enlightening statistics with you!
We've found that the most common problem is the use of a single towel for multiple cows. We've discussed this issue in a previous post.Manual detaches (early take-offs) are the second most frequent issue.
In the parallel system, an average of 8-9 devices are removed three times per hour, leading to roughly 35 under-milked cows per hour. Over a 24-hour operational period, accounting for a 2-hour technical break, approximately 700 cows end up being under-milked to varying degrees.
With rotary systems, the issue of manual detachment is less common - happening about four times every three hours, with four to five cows being removed each time. This results in about 127 cows remaining under-milked over a 24-hour operational period (including a 2-hour technical break).
The ideal rate for manual detaches is less than 3% of cows remaining under-milked, with an acceptable range of 3-5%. It's important to recognize that the equipment and settings of the vacuum level can influence this issue. (Industry standards can be found here: https://www.afimilk.com/10-insights-to-boost-your-milking-parlors-performance/).
Early take-offs can distress dairy cows, causing discomfort and even mastitis in some cases. However, overmilking can also negatively impact the cows' health. Consequently, manual detaches serve as an excellent indicator of vacuum-level problems. A sudden increase in the frequency of this issue is typically the first sign that the vacuum needs to be checked. Stay tuned for our upcoming posts to find all issues from the top 10 milkers' mistakes in milking parlors!
