How long cows should be milked

However, lameness did affect lying time in mattresses barns. Non-lame cows averaged Cows in mattress barns changed positions more often than cows in sand barns. In mattress barns, cows had more lying bouts of shorter duration compared with cows in the sand barns. A greater proportion of lame cows in sand barns had longer lying times than cows in the mattress barns.

Lameness significantly affected the time budgets of cows in the study. Lame cows spent less time eating, less time standing in alleys and laid down less often. Stall base type influenced resting behaviour. Cows on mattresses had a greater number of resting periods of shorter duration compared with cows in sand-bedded barns, and lame cows stood longer in mattress stalls.

When various factors challenge a cow's time budget, the primary outcome is increased lameness. The Wisconsin study suggests a dairy cow's natural behavioural time budget has to be considered in freestall facility design and management.

Source: Gomez A. Time budgets of lactating dairy cattle in commercial freestall herds. J Dairy Sci. This article first appeared in the November Ruminations column of the Milk producer magazine. Last Modified:. Accessing this message means you do not have a JavaScript enabled browser.

If you cannot enable JavaScript in your browser and would like to know the last modified date for this page, please contact the webmaster at - internet. Print Share. Last Modified: Accessing this message means you do not have a JavaScript enabled browser. Print Share Dairy Cows Need to Allocate Time Dairy Cows need to allocate time to do what they do naturally for optimum health, well being and milk production.

Milking When it comes to milking, cows have no control over the time required. They look very suspicious Me: Don't talk with food in your mouth My kid:.

In a couple weeks, will come to an end. We received a letter from the Farm Servi. I can't tell you the last time I did chores on the. The boys went to get seats at church.

We are waiti. I know I haven't been on here much the past couple. Hey everyone! I have been MIA. We have a lot goin. Load More It is generally more efficient to improve the condition of the herd in late lactation rather than in the dry period. Dry period Maintaining or increasing body condition during the dry period is the key to ensuring cows have adequate body reserves for early lactation.

If cows calve with adequate body reserves, they can cycle within two or three months after calving. If cows calve in poor condition, milk production suffers in early lactation because body reserves are not available to contribute energy. In fact, dietary energy can be channelled towards weight gain rather being made available from the desired weight loss.

For this reason, high feeding levels in early lactation cannot make up for poor body condition at calving.

The two major factors determining total lactation yield are peak lactation and the rate of decline from this peak. In temperate dairy systems, total milk yield for day lactation can be estimated by multiplying peak yield by This is based on a rate of decline of 7 to 8 per cent per month from peak yield, that is every month the cow produces, on average, 7 to 8 per cent of peak yield less than in the previous month.

This level of persistency is the target for well managed, pasture-based herds in temperate regions. Actual values can vary from 3 to 4 per cent per month in fully fed, lot fed cows to 12 per cent or more per month in very poorly fed cows, for example during a severe dry season following a good wet season in the tropics.

Generally speaking, the higher the milk yield at peak, the lower its persistency in percentage terms. Underfeeding of cows immediately post-calving reduces peak yield but also has adverse effects on persistency and fertility. Dairy cows have been bred to utilise body reserves for additional milk production, but high rates of live weight loss will delay the onset of oestrus. Underfeeding of high genetic merit cows in early lactation is one of the biggest nutritionally induced problems facing many small holder farmers in the humid tropics, because they often do not have the necessary improvements in feeding systems to utilise high genetic potential.

If imported high genetic quality cows are not well fed, milk production is compromised, but of more importance, they will not cycle until many months post-calving. Table 1 and Figure 2 present data for milk yield over day lactations in cows with various peak milk yields and lactation persistencies. It is estimated that 50 percent of new contagious mastitis infections can be prevented by complete and consistent post-milking teat dipping and allowing the dip to dry.

A good way to keep cows standing for at least 30 minutes after milking to provide fresh feed or push feed up so the cows are motivated to stand and eat after milking. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Home Animals and livestock Dairy Dairy milking cows Timing milking.

Quick facts Timing is one of the most important factors of a successful milking procedure.