Tip of the Month – December 2023

How quickly do your heifers get over three milkings?

It is very important, and also significant, that your heifers quickly reach more than 3 milkings per day after calving.

You can see this under “Animal” and then click on the Lactation Overview under Herd Charts. For this overview on the right, only check the two checkboxes for the milkings, see picture.

If all goes well, older cows that are already familiar with the robot will have over three milkings per day within a week.

Heifers still have to learn it and so it can take longer.
The sooner they are above 3 milkings, the better.
That depends, among other things, on this:

• How healthy and vital are they after calving?
• How soon after calving do you bring them to the robot?
• How much time do you put into learning
• What is the occupancy rate at the robot(s)?
• How much space is there around the entrance of the robot, can they access it if older cows are also walking around in the (waiting) area in front of the robot?