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Robotic Milking Resources from John Gerbitz

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IT MATTERS MORE IN ROBOTS

What matters more in robots? In some respects, almost everything. Some robot farmers complain that they cannot maintain the consistent...

WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK IN ROBOTIC MILKING?

There are 3 primary physical limitations on production in robotic milking systems. The first is milking capacity, or the number of...

EVALUATING HERD PERFORMANCE BY PARITY AND STAGE OF LACTATION

Robot herds are unique in that there are management changes built into the system for different stages of lactation. In most parlor herds, once cows leave the fresh pen, they stay in the same pen, get milked the same number of times, and eat the same ration throughout the lactation. Robotic milking systems can be set to adjust the milking frequency and pellet feeding according to milk production and stage of lactation. It makes sense to group data by lactation number and stag

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ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – HOMESTEAD DAIRY

With 36 robots, Homestead Dairy of Plymouth, Indiana is one of the larger robotic dairies in the United States. It is owned by Brian Houin and his extended family. Many large robotic dairies have several barns with 6 to 8 robots per barn. At Homestead, all of the robots are under one roof – an 8 ½ acre roof.

4 days ago2 min read

Does this cow need to be fetched to the robot?

WHICH COWS ARE YOU FETCHING TO THE ROBOTS?

Fetching too many cows makes robots less available for cows to milk voluntarily, and can lead to a fetching habit. The fetching routine should include fresh heifers, fresh cows, recently moved cows, cows that need motivation, and overdue cows. If your barn is flowing well, you might not have any cows in one or more of those groups.

Feb 193 min read

The feed in the robot has to complement the partial mixed ration

HOW TO CHOOSE A ROBOT FEED

A bin full of the wrong robot feed is like that. Once the feed is in the bin you either feed it out or find a way to divert it for another use. The larger the load, the bigger the problem. I have had calls from customers who filled a bin with a “better buy” which slowed cow traffic in a matter of days. How do you choose the right robot feed, and what can you do to minimize the impact of the transition.

Feb 123 min read

Robotic heifer milking frequency through 90 days in milk.

TRACK YOUR HEIFER TRAINING

Average daily milkings for fresh heifers can be deceiving. Even if they average 3 milkings, half of them are milking less than 3 times a day – maybe a lot less.

Feb 53 min read