Langhill Dairy Flashcards
When cows first show signs of calving what happens to the cow?
It gets moved into a calving pen if the presentation of feet normal.
What is the normal presentation of a calve?
First the forefeet and the nose of the calf will be seen first
How much monitoring and assistance is expected for calving?
The cow will be checked on regularly to monitor the progress but will be ideally left unassisted.
Once the calf is born, what is important to check right away?
The airways (nose and mouth) of the calf are cleared of membranes.
After parturition, the cow will lick the calf, what does this do?
stimulates and dries the calf
What is colostrum?
The first let down of milk that happens after birth and contains passive immunity via antibodies.
Why is colostrum important?
It gives passive immunity from the mother to a calf that is born with no natural immunity.
What is the time cut off to getting colostrum into a calf after birth?
Should be given after birth within 6 hours at the latest
What does Langhill do in order to ensure adequate colostrum intake?
Soon after birth they will bottle fed or stomach tube colostrum into a calf
What are signs of calving difficulties?
prolonged labor with no progress or malpresentation of the calf
What happens if calving difficulties are detected?
Skilled farm staff with experience will help the mother.
What is a calving jack?
Is a useful piece of equipment that can help pull a calf out.
What is important to note about a calving jack?
it must be used carefully and by a trained operator because misuse can cause injury to the cow and the calf
When do cesarian sections happen?
When the calf is unable to be born normally or with assistance.
What is Meconium?
is a dark colored, sticky feces that a calf has in its intestines before it is born
What can happen if the birth is prolonged regarding meconium?
Meconium staining - when the meconium is passed before its born causing the calf to be born stained
What is the year in a life of a dairy cow at Langhill farm?
calving - (calving rearing -) milking - re breeding - dry period - turnout - housing - calving
What is the milking parlor at Langhill?
a pipeline 28:28 Herringbone parlor
What is most common type of parlor in the UK?
Herringbone parlor
Describe a herringbone parlor.
Cows are milked in batches and stand at an angle facing away from a central pit. This gives milker an easy access to the udders at a good working level. It is designed to be operated by one person so there are automated features.
Where do cows wait before milking?
the collecting yard
How many cows are on each side of the parlor?
14 on each side
How does the parlor identify cows that enter?
The cows wear electronic transponders on their neck collars that are scanned when they pass through a blue archway.
Where are the cow
s individual milking numbers displayed?
On the individual digital screens of each milking unit
What happens after all 14 cows enter a side?
Pre-determined ration of dairy concentrate is dispensed into the feed trough
What is the purpose of a Vacuum pump?
to continually draw air out of the system to create and maintain a vacuum that is need to operate milking and pulsation
What is the purpose of a Vacuum Regulator/ Controller?
this automatic valve strives to maintain a steady vacuum level despite varying levels of air leakage into the system
What is the purpose of the Vacuum Gauge?
This gauge is used to indicate the level of the working vacuum in the system and must be sited in the parlor and be easily visible to the milker
What is the purpose of the milk meter?
This measures the individual cow yields which are displayed on the keypads and at the end of milk flow will be transferred to the cow’s record on the farm computer
What is a cluster?
it consists of a claw piece, shells and liners, and short pulse tubes and long milk tube and long pulse tube.
What is an automatic cluster remover (ACR)?
component that removes the cluster from the cow at the end of milk flow
How does an ACR know when to drop?
when the milk meter detects a milk flow below 0.2 kg/ min it initiates cluster removal
How does an ACR drop?
when initiated, it allows air into the cluster and so the pressure is released and the ACR string is drawn up into the cylinder which prevents the cluster from dropping onto the floor and hangs it up behind the cow
What are Teat sprayers?
spray teats after milking to prevent infection and keep them supple
What are dump buckets used for?
Used to dispose of milk from newly caved cows (colostrum), cows with mastitis or cows with antibiotic treatment. Prevents it from going in the bulk tank
How are cows who need to be connected to dump buckets labeled?
They have red tape on their legs and a red warning light is on the individual digital keypad. The clusters won’t start suction until its been acknowledged that the milk is withheld by pressing a button.
Why is it important to keep track of what milk goes into the dump buckets?
There are severe financial penalties for allowing antibiotic milk into the bulk tank. Milk values also goes down as somatic cell count increases.
What does the milk pump do?
it pumps the milk from the receiver vessel in the parlor through a milk filter and on to the bulk tank to be cooled
What is the receiver vessel?
this collects milk from the milking pipeline and feeds it to the milk pump
What does the interceptor vessel do?
It intercepts stray liquid (water or milk) to protect the vacuum pump from flooding and sits on top of the receiver vessel.
What is the pulsation rate?
number of times per minute that the pulsator alternates between the milking and massage phase
What is the ideal pulsation rate?
….
What is the pulsation ratio?
is the ratio of the proportion of the time that the teat cup liner is in the open position and vacuum applied to the teat end and collapsed
What does the open position allow for pulsating?
allows milk to flow out the teat
What does the collapsed position allow for pulsating?
allow blood to flow round the teat to maintain teat health
What does pulsation ratio affect?
milk flow and milking time and maintaining good teat health and condition
What does pulsation ratio of 60:40 mean?
open and milk draw with vacuum for 60% of the pulse and close with no milk draw for 40% of pulse
What does the pulsation rate of 50 mean?
the teat cup liners would pulse 50 times per minute
What are the steps of the milking routine?
- Let cows in
- Feed Cows
- Foremilk
- Teat Cleaning
- Attach Cluster
- Cluster Removal
- Post Milking Teat Disinfection
- Keep standing
What is the first step to the milking routine?
Letting the cows in - enter wit their collars, the entry and exit gates can be controlled anywhere in the parlor
What is the foremilk stripping?
it involves the inspection of a few strips of milk from each teat prior to attaching the cluster (not routine at langhill except for suspect cows)
What advantages of foremilk stripping there?
- early detection and treatment of mastitis
- removes debris from teat canal
- stimulates milk let down
What is teat cleaning?
to ensure the udders are clean prior to milking machine being attached
What does Langhill use to clean teats?
use a hand held automatic teat cleaning brush and then dried with a paper towel
What should be the ideal condition of the udders when entering the parlor?
They should be fairly clean and dry when they arrive due to successful housing system
How do you activated the vacuum in the cluster?
press the milking button on the keypad
Before attaching the cluster what should you make sure to pull?
pull the cluster removal string out fully before positioning the cluster below the udder
How should you hold the cluster? Why?
should hold the cluster horizontal with teatcups hanging down to create kinks because
1. prevents leakage
2. makes putting each teatcup on easier
3. minimize vacuum fluctuations
Where should the teat cup be held to be applied?
hold them at the very top of the liner and index finger is free to guide the teat into the teatcup
Why is it important to guide the the teat into the teatcup?
in order to prevent teat folding over which would prevent milk out
What is important to consider when applying clusters?
to keep it clean and prevent contamination
What is the order to teatcup attachement for teats?
front teats then back teats (relative to cow?)
After teacup attachment, where does the cluster hang?
it hangs freely under to allow proper milking
How are the clusters removed in Langhill?
with ACRs (no ACRs can’t just be operated by one person)
What can happen if clusters are left on for too long?
overmilking causes teat end damage which makes cows more susceptible to mastitis
How long do teat canals remain open for after milking?
about 30 minutes
Why is post milk teat disinfection important?
to prevent bacterial invasion to the teat canal while its open and also keeps the teat skin supple
What is the disinfectant for post-milk teats?
an iodine based solution in a teat spray with an emollient for skin
What is very important to remember when post milk teat disinfecting?
that the teats should be covered on all surfaces with spray
What should happen to a cluster after milking if that cow has mastitis or high SCC to prevent spreading the infection?
It should be soaked in disinfectant for a minimum of 2 minutes before being applied to the next cow
What ideal milking order would allow for the decrease spread of mastitis in a herd?
The healthy udders and most susceptible to mastitis cows should go first and then the mastitis and high SCC teats should be milked last (this isn’t possible at Langhill)
What are the milk processing steps after milking?
pre cooling – refrigeration – milk collection
What temperature do you cool the milk to?
4C immediately after milking
Why must the milk be cooled?
to prevent bacterial growth
What happens during the precooling stage?
a plate cooler is used as a heat exchange system. The warmth from the milk is transferred to the cool water as they pass through a series of plates
What happens at the refrigeration step?
enters a refrigerated bulk tank that takes it down to 4C
Who picks up the milk from Langhill and how frequently?
Graham’s picks it up daily and sometimes alternate day collection if not a big milk out put
What does the tank driver do when coming to pick up the milk?
takes the temperature of a milk and a representative sample of each consignment for transferring it
What is the milk sampling process at Langhill? Why do they do it?
There is one random sample taken per week that is analyzed and get sent the emails quickly. Allows them to identify problems at early stage.
What cleaning/ disinfection protocols exist during milking?
- the floor and equipment must be kept as clean as possible
- hose down between batches of cows (if do during encourages them to defecate or urinate more and could get dirty water on teats
- Use a scraper when cows are in the parlor
- dirty clusters hosed down before applying to next cow
At the end of milking what is the cleaning procedure?
- exterior surfaces must be cleaned thoroughly
- floor hosed clean
- collecting yard scarped and hosed 1x/day
- circulation cleaning
What is circulation cleaning after milking?
setting the parlor to clean mode and attaching the cleaned clusters to the Jetters to allow the washing system to sterilize the internal surfaces
What cleaning system types are discussed? What does Langhill use?
- an automated system (Langhill)
- basic systems with 2 troughs of water
Steps: first rinse out milk residue and then a host circulation wash for 10 minutes, then a final rinse - acid boiling wash - single pass system involving boiling water and added acid
When should the teatcup liners be replaced?
after 2,500 milking’s or every 6 months (which ever shorter)
What can perished or damaged liners do?
- cause serious damage to teats
- not be effectively sterilized
When are long milk tubes replaced?
annually
How often must the vacuum pump oil levels be checked?
weekly (and the vacuum control cleaned regularly)
How often should the milking plant be serviced and tested by a qualified dairy engineer?
every 6 months
What is a static test?
checks vacuum levels, regulator function, pulsation system and general plant maintence outwith milking time
What is the level of SCC that means an infected cow?
100,000/mL or above
What can cause teat end damage?
- inappropriate pulsation ratio
- high vacuum level
- overmilking
What are the outputs of langhill farm?
- milk
- cull dairy cows
- beef cross calves
- dairy heifer
What percent of Butterfat % for a HF?
3.5-4.5%
What percent protein for HF?
3.0-3.5%
What are the three reasons for milk let down?
1.stimulates milk let down
2. early detection of clinical mastitis
3. clears out milk which decrease bactoscan
What causes overmilking?
cluster being left on after milk flow has stopped
