Effect of cow traffic system on cow performance and AMS capacity
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. The effects were estimated with multivariable linear regression models, accounting for other potentially influencing factors. The farmers? satisfaction with the traffic systems was investigated as well as how often and how many cows that were fetched to the milking unit and how much time the farmers spent on fetching cows to the milking unit. Data was collected from 165 dairy farms in Denmark and the Netherlands for the period 1st July 2011 to 1st July 2012. The data was retrieved from the management systems on each farm as well as from a telephone based quantitative interview with the farmers.
Cows in Feed First traffic produced on average 0.6 kg less milk per day compared to cows in Free cow traffic with WA and 0.7 kg less milk per day compared to cows in Free cow traffic without WA (p