Training Heifers Prepares Them for Robotic Milking
Ask any pro-athlete what the secret to their success is and they’ll tell you the same thing: Practice makes perfect. In order to be the best, they have to train like the best. And while it might sound a little far-fetched, dairy heifers destined for robotic operations need the same type of training in order to make it to the top.
Introducing heifers into a robotic milking facility, also known as an automatic milking system (AMS), can be considerably stressful for both animals and farm employees. This is primary because inexperienced heifers initially do not want to enter the unfamiliar machine. To better prepare heifers for this experience, researchers from Germany investigated whether training heifers on an AMS simulation, or “phantom training,” would help ease their anxiety during the first several milkings.
During the study, 77 Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups: the control group or the phantom training group. Four weeks before calving, the phantom training group was given free access to the phantom, which was similar to the actual milking robot, so that they could explore it and be positively conditioned by feeding concentrate in the phantom. In comparison, the heifers in the control group had no contact with the phantom trainer or the robot before the first milking in the AMS.
Once the animals had calved, milking frequency per animal per day was recorded, and the proportion of animals that had to be fetched for milking was determined. Additionally, animal stress levels where documented by assessing fecal cortisol concentrations and rumination time. Lastly, lactation performance characteristics, such as milk yield, milk flow and milk composition, were recorded.
At the end of the study, the heifers trained on the phantom showed a significantly higher number of milking visits, leading to the conclusion that they were familiar with the AMS and therefore entered the milking robot more often. In addition, the proportion of trained heifers that had to be driven into the AMS was significantly lower than in the control group, indicating that they accepted the AMS readily and were in a better position to implement regular and voluntary milking visits, according to the American Dairy Science Association.
“Overall, training on the phantom provided the animals with the necessary amount of experience to perform well with the actual milking robot and to achieve a higher number of voluntary milking visits,” said Almuth Einspanier, the lead scientist of the study. “Therefore, training on an AMS phantom is a good alternative to a training program directly at the AMS, with some important advantages, and can be an important contribution to improving animal welfare in dairy farming.”
* The phantom of a milking robot was built similarly to the Lely Astronaut A4
