Automatic milking systems (AMS) provide the opportunity for less manual labour and an increased Milking frequency. But in order to reach an optimal Milking frequency a well-functioning cow traffic is crucial. There are many factors affecting cow traffic but one factor that has not been studied thoroughly yet is the effect of different light intensities during the night, 22.00 h to 05.00 h. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the effect of different light intensities during the night on number of selection gate passages (GP), Milking frequency and milk yield. The study was conducted as a Latin square were three light intensities were applied: LOW (11 ± 3 lux), INT (33 ± 1 lux) and HIGH (74 ± 6 lux), in three different herds.

An automatic milking (AM) system should be combined with some form of controlled cow traffic to minimize the time spend on fetching cows to milking and to increase the Milking frequency. By restricting the hours spent on pasture per day you optimise the AM system use during pasture period. A reason for this is becuase cows do not return to the stable for milking during night which cause that the milking unit stands empty those hours. In organic production it is required that the cows should be able to graze a certain amount of daily dry matter (DM) intake on the pasture. In the county of Dalarna where the farm is located the yield of the pasture is about 3000 kg DM per grazing season and hectar.This means that the pasture area should be 14,25 hectare to 57 milking cows.

Today, there are more than 12 000-14 000 farms worldwide using an automatic milking system (AMS). Studies have shown that transition to AMS affects the udder health of cows adversely, recognized primarily as elevated somatic cell counts. There are several reasons for this, for example the greater variation in Milking frequency seen in AMS. On one hand, short milking intervals may lead to bad teat condition of the cows due to the stress the milking procedure exposes the teats to. Too long milking intervals, on the other hand, seem to predispose for milk leakage, which is, in turn, a risk factor for the development of mastitis.

The milk production has developed rapidly the last years. The milk production per cow is increasing and the production units are larger with an increasing number of animals and a decreasing number of workers. Many milk producers invest in automatic milking systems (AM) to meet this change. In these systems the cows can voluntary decide Milking frequency and usually the Milking frequency are higher than two times per day. But how does the Milking frequency effect the composition of the milk? The aim of the present study was to study the effect of Milking frequency on the milk composition and the milk fat quality.

In modern dairy production the Milking frequency is increased in some herds due to introducing of automatic milking systems or the farmers decision to milk high producing dairy cows more than two times a day. With more frequent milkings the milk yield increases while the content of fat and protein decreases. However, how the composition of protein is influenced is not fully evaluated. The purpose of this study was therefore to see if a higher Milking frequency had any impact on the milk production and especially on the protein composition. This study was conducted as a half udder experiment.

Developments in milk production are heading towards fewer but larger herds where the milking process is often fully automated. Automatic milking systems were launched in the 1990?s and in the year 2010 the Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR) was introduced. As a rule there are no supervision personnel present during the milking event in systems with automatic milking. This means that there is a risk that cows can be incompletely milked in one or more udder quarters, for example if the robots fail in attaching the milking cups or if the cow kicks off the milking unit.

Approximately 20% of the milk within the udder of a cow is stored in the cistern and immediately available for milk removal, while activation of the milk ejection reflex is required for removing the remaining milk stored in the alveolar compartment. The aim of this literature review is to describe, evaluate and consider implications of the three different suckling activities that the calf displays during a suckling bout. In terms of milking, these phases are represented by pre-stimulation, stimulation during milking and post-stimulation. Pre-stimulation is commonly performed in order to induce the milk ejection reflex, whereby the hormone oxytocin is released and the alveoli in the secretory tissue are contracted. Time requirements regarding pre-stimulation must be considered in relation to lactation stage and milking interval.

Today automatic milking systems (AMS) are growing in popularity. In these systems the cows are loose and have to get to the robot and the feed on their own. The cows ranking in this system affect their welfare. In this study data from seven years in an AMS was used and analysed. The aim was to investigate how ranking could affect the behaviour of the cows at milking and at feeding.

Habituation to an automatic milking system (AMS) for cows in their first lactation differs from habituation to other milking systems. In AMS the cows are supposed to visit the milking station (MS) voluntarily. The milking takes place individually during the whole day, except when the milking system is cleaned. Milking is carried out without any human survey. The aim of the study was to describe the cow?s introduction in AMS in their first lactation.

Robotic milking in Automatic Milking systems (AMS) is proposed to reduce manual labour and at the same time increase milk yield by increasing Milking frequency. In order to increase Milking frequency, it is essential to have well-functioning cow traffic. Investing in an AMS is a great capital investment for the farmer, thus it is of major importance to ensure maximal AMS capacity. This study investigated the effect of the traffic systems Feed First? and Free cow traffic with and without waiting area (WA) on cow performance and AMS capacity.

Milk ejection in dairy cows can be inhibited if oxytocin is not released from the pituitary gland. The problem with inhibition of the milk let down is not new, but has recently regained interest. It is observed during different types of emotional stress, for example when cows are moved to an unfamiliar environment, during oestrus, changing from suckling to machine milking or when being milked for the first time. The aim of the study was to examine the extent of cows with disturbed milk ejection in Sweden. A survey was sent out to 1000 dairy farmers in order to collect data about herd size, housing systems and routines at calving and milking.

Livestock of pastoralists provide meat, milk, blood, dung and are useful for transportation purposes. In semi-arid and arid areas with very low precipitation the herder must often walk far distances to feed the livestock. This affects the animals? production, especially of milk. Previous studies have investigated how to improve milk production in terms of milking strategies in cattle.

The purpose with this study was to investigate how the behaviour and physiological parameters differ between high ranked and low ranked cows, and between cows in an automatic milking system verses conventional milking parlour. The study was carried out at the Kungsängen research Centre, Department of animal nutrition an management, Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences, Uppsala. Twelve cows, the six highest and the six lowest in social rank were selected from the automatic milking system for the experiment. Ten cows, the five highest and five lowest in social rank were selected from the conventional system. Blood samples were taken during milking and resting.

Milk fat is an important feature in many different milk products and other foodstuffs and it is often crucial for the dairy plants that the milk fat is stable for different manufacturing processes. Lipolysis is the enzymatic degradation of fat and is the one of the causes for an elevated amount of free fatty acids (FFA) in milk. Further, the change in fatty acid (FA) composition in milk can affect the stability of the product and also the manufacturing process. Both internal and external factors, at farm level or at the dairy plants can affect both FA composition and content of FFA. Milking frequency (MF=number of milkings per cow and day) and the composition of feed are two examples of factors generally performed at farm level. The objective of the present study was to evaluate how FA composition of milk and amount of FFA are influenced by two different ingredients supplemented to concentrate.

In Automatic Milking Systems (AMS), cows are kept in a free stall barn equipped with one or several milking units (MU). The cows? activities in the system are called cow traffic. There are three types of cow traffic systems: guided, partly-guided and free. Free systems have no gates, allowing the cows access to the feeding and resting areas at any time.