WHY DO COWS COME TO THE ROBOT?

The answer to this question is the foundation of everything else we do to manage a robot barn. Why does a cow get out of her stall and move around the barn, and when she gets out of her stall, why does she go to the robot? I have heard a lot of different theories. Many believe that cow come to the robot because they like being milked or because they want to relieve the pressure on their udders. Others insist that cows come to be milked because they want to eat. Who is right?

There is research on the topic. In 1998, researchers in the UK published a paper called “Relative motivations of dairy cows to be milked or fed in a Y-maze and an automatic milking system.” It’s not a bad read but a summary will do for most of us. Researchers used different feed and milking schemes to study what motivated cows to move through a maze and into an automatic milking system. “In conclusion, motivation to be milked appeared weak, variable and not strongly related to stage of lactation, and is, therefore, unlikely to be a significantly important incentive for attracting cows to an AMS. Motivation to access a concentrate food reward was more robust and could be used reliably to attract cows into the AMS, provided the animals were not able to satisfy their motivation elsewhere.”*

Some will argue that the research is over 25 years old and it is only one study. Let’s look at it another way. How would you prefer to motivate cows to be milked? If pressure on the udder does motivate cows to be milked, how much pressure does it take? Cows are milked more frequently to reduce pressure because pressure reduces production. If pressure is a factor in motivating cows to be milked, wouldn’t it be better to motivate cows to be milked before pressure is high enough to move them? Isn’t that what the increased production potential from robotic milking is all about? We end up in the same place. Even if pressure is a motivation for milking, it is not the best motivation – which brings us back to feed – both PMR and robot pellets.

I can work with your nutritionist to find the right balance of pellets and PMR to motivate cows to be milked in your barn. Email me at john@cow-corner.co or contact me here.

*Relative motivations of dairy cows to be milked or fed in a Y-maze and an automatic milking system; N.B. Prescott, T.T. Mottram, A.J.F. Webster; Silsoe Research Institute, Bedfordshire, UK; School of Veterinary Science, Bristol University, Langford, Bristol, UK; Accepted 11 August 1997