MIXING ROBOTIC MILKING AND PARLOR MILKING

One of my high school teachers pointed out redundancy with the adage, “That’s like wearing a belt and suspenders.” Another teacher preferred, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Using robots with your parlor gives you more than one way to milk a cow. Not to “Beat a dead horse,” – redundancy can be a good thing. There are some good reasons to keep the parlor going after the robots come online. *

Robots offer a modular opportunity for expansion. If the existing parlor isn’t obsolete, robots allow expansion in stages. Let’s look at a 700-cow expansion as an example. A new parlor, or parlor expansion to milk 700 more cows is a single project. All of the capital, construction, and cows to fill it, come in a relatively short time period. By contrast, 12 robots to milk 700 cows could be added in 2 or 3 steps, spreading out the capital investment, and allowing internal growth to fill the barn. There are advantages and disadvantages to either approach.

If you choose robots for your expansion, how will the parlor and robots work together? Most farms that use both separate the herd into robot cows and parlor cows. Robot cows are milked in the robots for their entire lactation unless there is a good reason to milk them in the parlor. Conversely, parlor cows don’t move to the robots without a good reason. There are some good reasons to move cows.

Where to transition?

If robots and parlors are used together, transition cows are usually milked in the parlor.

Farms that milk all the cows in robots can be, and are, very successful transitioning fresh cows in the robots. Farms that combine parlors and robots usually manage fresh cows in the parlor for 5 to 20 days because it allows them to have one fresh pen instead of two. They make more efficient use of labor and facilities by keeping all of the fresh cows in one place. All of the fresh cows fit into one set of management protocols.

What lactation groups?

For those with parlors, there are two schools of thought for sending first lactation heifers to the robots. Those that send heifers to the robots feel that more frequent milking is important for heifers because heifers have less udder capacity than cows. Milking first lactation cows in the robots allows another lactation to recover the labor investment of training a robot cow. Those that keep the heifers in the parlor for the entire first lactation argue that heifers kick more so they are more likely to damage the robots than mature cows. They also point out that transition to the milking herd is enough adjustment for a heifer, and adapting to the robots 2 to 3 weeks later is a stress that heifers don’t need.

What about problem cows?

If a parlor is available, treated cows are often moved back to the parlor for milk withholding. This facilitates handling all of the hospital cows in one place – just like it does for transition cows. It also eliminates the wash time that follows when a treated cow is milked in the robots. Cows that don’t adapt to robots, or have udder traits that don’t work well in robots can stay on the farm as parlor cows.

Parlors and robots can complement each other. Robots facilitate expansion in phases when the parlor reaches capacity. Parlors offer management options for groups of cows that are less efficient in the robots. Cow Corner can help you plan your project and make the best use of your facilities.

*Disclaimer: Cow Corner does not endorse wearing belts with suspenders, skinning cats, or beating dead horses.