Measurement of cow comfort during milking on different cluster removal settings through the use of leg-mounted accelerometers

Abstract

Graphical Abstract Summary This crossover experiment assessed differences in stepping/kicking during milking, measured by rear legmounted 3-dimensional accelerometers, between 2 automatic cluster remover (ACR) milk flow-rate switchpoint settings (0.2 and 0.8 kg/minute) using 37 cows over a 4-week period. Significantly more rear leg stepping occurred during daily milking (combined step count of 11.7 for a.m. and p.m. milkings) where the ACR activated at 0.2 kg/minute compared with 0.8 kg/minute (10.1 steps). Significantly greater rear leg movement was recorded during p.m. milkings when removing clusters at 0.2 kg/minute. No significant difference was found between ACR switch-points for rear leg movement during a.m. milking, corresponding to similar postmilking teat condition scores. There was a much shorter interval before p.m. milking, resulting in lower udder fill and reduced milk flow-rates at p.m. milking. Removing the cluster earlier (0.8 kg/minute) can improve cow comfort by reducing kicking and stepping activity during milking while reducing milking time and without affecting milk yield.