The milking machine is the most important piece of equipment on your dairy farm, as it is what gets the milk from the cow to the bulk tank.
It is the only piece of equipment that comes into direct contact with the cows’ udders every day.
With the rush of second-cut silage in the last number of weeks and the panic to secure as much fodder as possible for the coming winter, farmers can easily neglect the milking parlour.
As we come into the latter end of the cows’ lactation, it is important to not let somatic cell count (SCC) slip up, as it will affect the cows being dried off, as they may have to receive an antibiotic as a result.
Your milking machine has a big say on the quality of milk that a cow produces, as a poorly maintained machine can damage blood vessels and cause a spike in SCC, thermoduric and total bacteria count (TBC).
Liners
Changing your liners is the most crucial part of maintaining your milking machine as a deteriorated liner will give rise to thermoduric levels and allow for the rapid spread of diseases from cow to cow.
You should regularly check the inside of the liners as they should be soft and smooth without any cracks or roughness.
Liners are the only part of the milking parlour in direct contact with the cow, which has the potential to affect teat health and milking efficiency.
When your liners are worn, they will reduce milking performance, damage the teat and will give rise to the risk of mastitis and cross-contamination.
After a while, liners will lose their tension which means they will absorb fat, hold bacteria, and deteriorate due to the cleaning products going through them twice-a-day.
Liners should be replaced every 2,000 milkings or every six months, whichever comes first and for herds that have expanded in recent years and still using the same parlour, the frequency of liner changes needs to increase.
Milking machine checks
A milking machine should be serviced twice a year by a registered technician, which equates to approximately every 550 hours of work.
If you have not got your machine serviced in a while, scheduling a technician as soon as possible should be a priority, as you don’t want to wait for issues like an increase in SCC or mastitis to arise.
There are a number of maintenance checks that you can do yourself and a lot of the maintenance is is flexible, requiring checking from time to time, but a farmer needs to know what to look for.
The vacuum gauge should be visible from the pit and the recommended vacuum level for milking machines is in the range of 47-48kpa.
The vacuum regulator should also be maintained by making sure it is thoroughly cleaned or replaced. The regulator air intake and spongy foam filter should be cleaned by washing it in warm water with a mild detergent.
Other parts of the milking machine to make sure are running correctly is the pulsation airline, the vacuum pump and motor and the claw pieces.
Another thing to keep an eye on, is the length of time it takes to milk a row of cows. There will be variation between cows and farms, but on average, from milk let-down to finish, it should usually take five to seven minutes.
Keep track of the number of liner slips that need to be corrected as five or less is acceptable for a 100-cow herd, but a higher number could indicate an issue, which is most commonly go to do with the air admission hole on the claw piece being blocked.
