Milking is the means by which our business is sustained, therefore, we must have clear goals and steps in this process. The focus of milking is on both the cow and the milk she produces. The cow should enter the milking facility with a calm, relaxed demeanor. Her milk needs to be removed rapidly in a pain free manner that prevents infection and injury to her mammary gland. We also need to harvest milk that is of high quality. Success is achieved by following the important steps that need to occur in parlor procedures. 

Handling starts in the pen when we bring cows in to be milked. It is convincing the cow she is going to a comfortable space where her body recognizes it is safe to feed her calf. We are not feeding the calf in the parlor, but that is her perception of the process. Excited cows, rapid movement, yelling, aggressive crowd gates, and obnoxious parlor loading all slow or stop oxytocin release. Cows that have relaxing experiences around the time of milking produce 10-20% more milk. If you see animals leaking milk after leaving the parlor, many times it is related to stressful handling. 

Observe the cow and the udder as she enters her milking stall. This is an opportunity to visualize more than udder issues. Two or more times a day we have a personal encounter with a cow in the parlor. My philosophy is that we should examine every cow as an individual every day, regardless of dairy size. Milking is the most consistent observation time for every cow. 

Pre-stripping has a primary goal of stimulating oxytocin release. This is a vigorous, but not painful, manipulation of the teat. Picture a calf drinking from the cow. The pulling of the teat is beyond what we would do to just remove milk. This manipulation is needed to fully engage oxytocin release. Pre-stripping also removes the highest concentration of bacteria and somatic cells from the teat. Our goal is to create high quality milk and it is achieved in part by removing low quality milk. This is also an opportunity to find mastitis cows by feeling for udder abnormalities and observing abnormal milk. Failure to carefully examine udders and milk during the pre-stripping step results in milkers not finding all abnormal milk, so high SCC milk is added to the bulk tank, reducing quality. Milkers should always be wearing gloves when stripping to minimize movement of milk from one cow to the next. Wash gloved hands between cows or pre-strip with the pre-milking disinfectant already applied to the teat. Poor compliance can spread contagious mastitis. 

Pre-sanitation disinfectant reduces environmental bacteria on the teat end and teat surface that will meet the liner. This is not udder stimulation. Pre sanitation will also soften any environmental contamination. Dipping is more consistent than spraying. A standard 30 second contact time is recommended but may vary by product. Sanitizing followed by pre stripping is effective in coating the teat, but may color the milk stripping’s, limiting mastitis detection. 

Wiping is important to remove both environmental contamination and sanitizing solution. For each teat, twist as you wipe twice and then towel over the teat end. If the teat is still dirty, repeat the process with a clean part of the towel or a new towel. Use a new towel for each cow – do not spread mastitis with a contaminated towel. The combined time of stripping and wiping should be 20 seconds of strong contact with the teat to provide stimulation for milk let-down. 

Attachment should occur 60-90 seconds after the first stimulation and not longer than two minutes. The timing is important to coincide with maximum milk let-down. Attach too early and there will be low milk flow due to insufficient time for the milk let-down response after stimulation. This puts excessive vacuum on the teat and there will be opportunities for air leaks and teat damage to occur. Attach too late and we miss the fast release of milk caused by the stimulation. 

Alignment of the milking unit creates even distribution of pulsation and minimizes air leaks. The air leak “squawks” can cause mastitis by carrying bacteria from one teat cup across the machine to impact the other teat ends. Poor alignment can create improper milking, teat damage and mastitis. Throughout milking, adjust machines to hang evenly and promptly fix machines that are making noise. 

Takeoff occurs at the end of milk flow with vacuum off. Over milking can damage the teat, while leaving up to 400 mL in an udder will not cause reduced milk production or mastitis issues. Removal of a machine while the vacuum is still engaged (also known as machine stripping) dramatically increases vacuum on the teat end which leads to teat end damage and increased mastitis. 

Post milking teat sanitation with an effective disinfectant is designed to kill bacteria that may have been transferred by the machine while covering the teat with softeners and other protective mechanisms. This is key in reducing contagious mastitis issues. Failure to coat any part of the teat that has milk residue on it, by dip or spray, increases the cow’s mastitis risk. 

Cleaning as a procedure is often overlooked. Machines should be cleaned of manure residue between cows. Hands wearing gloves need to be clean of milk and manure between cows. Clean towels need to be used on every cow and cleaned properly (wash – sanitize – dry). 

Optimizing milk harvest has four key components: Cow handling; pre milking touching and timing; unit attachment; and unit alignment. Cow health and milk quality depend on harvesting a clean product and preventing issues in the future. The outlined steps are keys in understanding how to consistently achieve your parlor goals. 

The Genetic Connection 

Best management practices and genetic resistance to mastitis are critical elements in maximizing animal welfare, milk quality and farm profitability. By selecting for reduced Somatic Cell Score (SCS) and increased resistance to mastitis (Zoetis and CDCB Mastitis), dairy producers can genetically improve their herds to maximize the returns from implementing proper handling and milking protocols. 

Resources 

NMC Recommended Mastitis Control Program – International version 

MEASURING STRIP YIELD M.A. Davis and D.J. Reinemann NMC Proceedings