What makes a great robot cow? One dairyman told me he knows within 3 milkings whether a cow has the motivation to get to the robot frequently. He felt that behavior traits were just as important as udder conformation, teat size and milking speed. Another dairyman follows his cow families closely enough to observe differences in cow behavior in his robotic milking system. He identified the cow families in his herd that learn his robotic system quickly. I commented that this would be a great tool to have on a commercial scale. There is progress in that direction.
There is ongoing research to understand why some cows get it and others don’t. My recent conversations prompted me to dig out a research article I had bookmarked titled, “Effects of dairy cows’ personality traits on their adaptation to an automated milking system following parturition.” * The research evaluated cows’ reactions to a new environment, a new object, and a new person to determine how bold, active, and explorative the cows were. The active personality had the highest correlation to adapting to robotic milking.
Cows in the study with active personality traits spent more time moving around the new environment. They walked more than other cows and they tried harder to escape than other cows. They spent less time investigating a new person or a new object that was placed in the research area. Cows were evaluated 24-27 days before calving and again 24-27 days after calving. Active was the personality trait that stayed the most consistent before and after calving. I remember handling animals that would be classified as active in my tie stall barn days and in my AI technician days. I may have had a more descriptive term for them.
In the study, cows with the active personality type milked more frequently and required less fetching than other cows in the study. They found their way to the robot more often in the first seven days after calving so they also had more rejections or refusals in that time period. The active cows had more total kick offs but they also had more total milkings, so the percentage of kick offs was actually lower. Milk production comparisons were less consistent than milking visit and kickoff comparisons.
We are beginning to see some opportunities to select bulls or genomic test to get cows that have the right attitude for milking robots. The research described in this project does define and describe the traits that help cows adapt to robotic milking. Defining and describing lead to measuring and measuring is the first step for genetic progress. In the meantime, we can continue to emphasize the cow families that excel. Cow Corner can help to identify the families that have the best milking performance in your barn.
*Effects of dairy cows’ personality traits on their adaptation to an automated milking system following parturition; J. E. Brasier, A. J. Schwanke, and T. J. DeVries; Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
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