Milking routine: prep timing and milk quality
A steady 90-second prep routine before the cluster goes on gives full milk letdown and helps keep herd somatic cell counts below 150,000 cells per millilitre. Pre-dip the teats, strip the foremilk and dry each cow with her own single-use towel, then record each milking’s yield and your milk sales in HerdMobile.
Compiled from open-access scientific sources.
What prep routine gives full letdown and fast milk flow?
Full letdown comes when the cluster goes on 60 to 90 seconds after you first touch the teats. Handling and cleaning the teats sends a signal to the brain, which releases oxytocin into the blood; the hormone makes the muscle cells around the milk-making tissue contract and push milk down into the udder. Cover the whole teat with an approved pre-dip and leave it for 30 seconds to kill bacteria picked up from bedding and yard. Strip three to four squirts from each quarter onto a dark strip cup to check for clots or watery milk. Dry each teat, especially the tip, with a clean towel used on one cow only. Put the unit on within 90 to 120 seconds of first contact: milk flows fast from the start, you avoid the stop-start flow of a two-step letdown, and the cow is milked out in under five minutes.
How do low cell counts and parlour hygiene protect your milk premium?
A bulk tank somatic cell count below 150,000 cells per millilitre is a sign of healthy udders, and it is usually what earns the top quality bonus from the dairy. After the cluster comes off, the teat canal stays open for about 30 minutes, so the post-dip goes on straight away; a thick barrier dip with one percent iodine and ten percent skin conditioners seals the teat end and keeps the skin in good shape. Clean the clusters, milk lines and bulk tank in four stages: a warm pre-rinse at 40 °C, an alkaline chlorinated detergent wash at 70 °C, a regular acid rinse to dissolve milkstone, and a final sanitising rinse. A clean parlour keeps udders healthy and cows milking well right through the lactation.
How does HerdMobile help with your milk records?
HerdMobile keeps your milk records on your phone, in the parlour or beside the bulk tank. Record each cow’s milk production and every milk sale to the dairy, and add a dated photo note when a cow shows clots or a rising cell count. Treatment records and reminders keep follow-up checks on time. The daily ration, worked out from your own feeds, shows the feed cost per head per day in your own currency, so you can set it beside the milk cheque. It all works without an internet connection.
Questions from the farm
How long should teat prep take before the cluster goes on?
Allow 60 to 90 seconds from first touching the teats to putting the cluster on. That is when oxytocin in the blood peaks and milk lets down fully.
What somatic cell count earns a milk quality bonus?
Keep the bulk tank somatic cell count below 150,000 cells per millilitre all year round to secure premium milk prices.
How does HerdMobile help with milk and health records?
HerdMobile records each cow’s milk production and your milk sales on your phone, even without signal, alongside her health and calving history.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
