Despite all the changes, certain fundamental relationships always exist and have to be honored when milking cows in order to achieve the best results. These have to be understood by milkers so that they can do the job properly.

Cow Handling
Cows are creatures of habit and they have been bred to provide large quantities of milk. The harvesting of this milk must be based on maintaining a consistent, orderly and calm environment in the housing and milking areas. Cows need to be eating, chewing their cud or being milked. If they feel frightened or threatened they react accordingly and it takes away from their ability to produce milk.

The use of canes, sticks and other similar objects to beat and prod cows is counterproductive. We all know they are sometimes stubborn and it is difficult to have them go where they are supposed to but beating them only worsens the situation both short term and long term.

Cows that are ill-treated are likely to be more reluctant to enter the milking center etc. because they associate a negative experience with the location where they are to be milked. Eliminate it! If they are not moving properly into the milking facilities study the layout and determine why. If you anticipated getting hit or poked as soon as you entered a certain area you would quickly develop a reluctance to go there. Cows tend to react the same way.

Cow Preparation
As soon as cows enter the milking center, regardless the layout of the facility, a number of events have to occur in a particular order to gain optimum performance. Udder preparation is one of the first events and it relates to not one but three issues, all of which are important. The first issue is that of getting the teat surface clean and ready for unit attachment. The degree of cleaning that has to be done is based on the how dirty the teats are at the beginning. That in turn is related to the cleanliness of the housing area -- dirty cows are a product of their housing conditions.

When the cows enter with dirty teats, it likely is necessary to wipe off the dirt/manure or possibly use water or some type of sanitizing solution to clean off the teats. No fire hoses aimed directly at the side of the cow and udder, just the teats! Why?

The body surface of the cow may have a good deal of dirt and manure attached to hair, skin and it may also be caked on the udder and teats. This material is loaded with bacteria. As has often been stated, bacteria are unable to walk or fly on their own, but, in the presence of water, they can float downstream and end up exactly where they are not wanted, at the teat end. So if the whole cow is soaked in the milking center there is a good chance potentially harmful bacteria will flow down to the teat end before and during milking. These may contribute to a mastitis problem and also to milk quality.

The objective, milk a clean, dry teat!

Secondly, bacteria that may be in the streak canal or teat opening and have multiplied between milkings, may be flushed out by stripping and prevented from progressing further into the gland.

Finally squeezing the teats and passage of milk through the teat canal is a powerful signal to the cow indicating that milking is about to begin and milk letdown should occur. The nerves in the teat end are stimulated and transport signals to a small gland within the brain, the pituitary gland. This gland in turn releases, into the blood supply, a chemical or hormone called oxytocin that is carried to the udder where it causes contraction of muscles in the gland. Oxytocin should not have to come from a pharmaceutical bottle. It is this natural release of oxytocin that initiates letdown!

After the teats have been primed an internal clock in the cow starts. In about a minute the letdown occurs and it is noticeable. Teats swell and become very firm as milk enters and they may start leaking milk.

Teat Sanitation
After the cow has been primed each teat should be dipped immediately with a product labeled for use as a pre-milking teat dip. Typically such products are designed to act quickly on whatever bacteria they contact. They shouldn't contain significant amounts of emollients which are unnecessary in a pre-dip product. Once applied they need to be allowed a period of time to act. Most iodine pre-dips will do an effective job in 30 seconds, although longer is better. No germicide kills instantly, they all need time, some more than others.

After the material has had time to act it needs to be wiped off and the units attached. The milk produced is going to be consumed by you and I and our families. None of us are interested in consuming milk and milk products containing teat dip residues or cow manure that ended up in the system due to failure to properly clean and wipe teats. Finally, attach units.

From the time the teats are first primed until units are attached should be no less than one minute and no more than two. This is not a number plucked out of the air but is dictated by the physiology of the cow. When evaluating a milking routine check this interval to determine if it is this range. If not make the necessary changes.

Timing
In some milking barns there is little udder preparation done. No priming, no pre-dipping. Just wipe teats and hang units. If a unit is applied to a teat and letdown has not yet occurred the unit may not hang properly and may squawk or fall off. Reason, the teat is still not full of milk and distended and the liner cannot grip and hang on. Change the routine, allow letdown to occur and things will improve.

Concern is often expressed that doing all these items will slow down milking. Typically applying the unit to a cow with full letdown allows maximum flow rates to be achieved immediately and milk-out will be rapid. Once letdown is started there is fairly rapid decrease in the level of oxytocin in the system as it is broken down and the cow cannot automatically produce a little more if needed. The complete oxytocin affect lasts less than 10 minutes so it is important to work with the system for maximum performance.

If cows are frightened or beaten during milking all good things come to a screeching halt. Fear in a cow may cause release of adrenaline and this chemical interrupts milk letdown and prepares the cow to flee the source of concern. This is not what is wanted in the milking routine.

Over-milking has several potentially negative consequences. If allowed to go on too long it can lead to teat end irritation. Secondly, it extends machine on-time which slows down the overall throughput of the milking facility. Why invest in tools to improve efficiency and not use them? Finally, in attempting to wring the last drop of milk from the udder, it may result in air entries into the cluster and this has been implicated in new infections. As the air enters it may rapidly move towards the teat end and propel bacteria against it and this is the concern.

Removal of the unit must occur only after the claw vacuum has been broken. If not, the same concern about reverse directed airflow occurs.

Finally, when the unit is removed, coat the teat with a teat dip and be certain the teat dip covers at least three-quarters of the teat length. Teat dip replaces the milk film with a film of teat dip which kills bacteria that may be on the teat skin and teat end. This is the mechanism that allows teat dips to help control mastitis.

If areas of the teat are not contacted by dip then the benefits are not realized. Therefore, attention must focus on providing adequate coverage. This is especially a concern with spray devices used to apply teat dip. They may work fine but users often achieve only partial coverage of each teat due to the manner in which the spray device is used. Dipping tends provide a more failsafe method of application and is preferred over spraying.

Order of Events
On large dairies,1000 cows as an example, these events all have to take place in a rapid fashion hour after hour. The routine has to be simplified and the methodology has to be followed for long shifts. That is where problems may occur.

Too much water may be used, the interval between cow prep and unit attachment may get out of line or the machine on-time becomes extended due to over-riding the takeoff function or a feeling that milking out the last drop is critical.

Training has to stress the need for a consistent milking routine designed to work with the cow, not against her.