Milking robot

What is a milking robot?

A milking robot, also called an automatic milking system or AMS, milks cows without a milker in the parlour. The cow walks into the milking box herself, usually drawn by concentrate. The robot recognises her by her transponder, cleans the teats, attaches the cluster with an arm and removes each quarter separately once it is milked out. Well-known manufacturers are Lely, DeLaval and GEA.

Depending on the system and yield, one box serves about 50 to 70 cows. Cows visit two to three times a day on average, with fresh and high-yielding cows coming more often than cows at the end of lactation.

What data does the robot give you?

Every milking produces measurements, usually per quarter:

• milk yield and milking time
• electrical conductivity of the milk
• milk colour or blood in the milk
• on some systems fat, protein, cell count or ketones
• body weight from a weigh floor
• visit frequency and concentrate taken up

Many farms combine the robot with collars or ear sensors. These measure activity, feeding time and rumination and help with heat detection.

Early detection with robot data

The biggest advantage of the data is that they show changes before the cow is visibly ill. A cow that does not start well after calving eats less, ruminates less, visits the robot less often and does not build up her milk yield. How to read this is shown in Give boluses before or after calving? This is what robot data shows.

For udder health, conductivity is the most important signal. If it rises more than 30 percent above the cow’s own average, a California Mastitis Test (CMT) is worth doing. A field trial on robot farms followed conductivity when a garlic bolus was given.

Concentrate in the robot

The concentrate in the box is both a lure and production feed. You can allocate it per cow by yield and day in milk. Many robots have a second dosing station for liquid feed, which lets fresh cows get targeted energy. If cows take up too little concentrate in the robot, they visit less often, so the ration at the feed fence has to match the robot feed.

What is different on a robot farm?

The work shifts from milking to monitoring. Instead of standing in the parlour twice a day, you go through attention lists, fetch cows that have not been milked for too long and check anything unusual. Good hoof health matters more than with a parlour, because lame cows are less likely to go to the robot voluntarily. With heifers it pays to get them used to the box before calving.

Milking hygiene is still a must. The robot cleans the teats, but it does not replace regular checks of the teat cups, vacuum and teat ends. Change the liners according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Does a milking robot pay off?

That depends on herd size, available labour and the building. The robot mainly saves you fixed milking times and gives more flexibility in your day. On the other hand, purchase and maintenance are expensive, and someone on the farm has to be reachable around the clock in case of a breakdown. Many farms report a little more milk from the higher milking frequency, especially in fresh cows.

Good planning of cow traffic matters. Free cow traffic, guided cow traffic with selection gates and feed-first systems each have pros and cons for feeding behaviour and milking frequency.

Frequently asked questions

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