Cow Whisperer.

In many places I am called the Cow Whisperer. Although it is an honor in itself, it’s also non-sense of course. What is true though, is that I can usually get the cow to go where I want her to go.

I am not familiar with using a stick or screaming.
What does help is: Try to think like the cow. Because the cow in the new situation has to get out of her comfort zone to go somewhere she doesn’t actually want to go. Like the first time she has to go to a milking robot. This also goes for moving to a new stall, new group, straw/ calving box, claw care box, etc.

This is why the cow looks around for possibilities to escape back to her safe environment. This is also deeply rooted in her instinct.

Hitting a cow (hand or stick or shocks) causes the cow to think about where it was hit (on her back or ass),  instead of paying attention to where she needs to go.

Fences, preferably ones that move, make very clear to understand for the cow: It is impossible to go to the left and also impossible to the right!
By standing behind the cow and holding her tail firmly, she’ll know she can’t go back either.

Then I usually wait until the cow does see where she can, and has to, go. At that moment this is followed by a friendly but urgent push which is often sufficient. Working like this looks like it takes a bit more time, but it takes away a lot of stress from the cow and from you, the farmer.
And after all doesn’t take more time (or power) at all.

The cow also will have better memories of her first visit and you’ll understand what that’s worth! The farmer will observe his/her cows experiencing the new situation in a peaceful manner which is healthier for the cow, but also for the farmer!

So also here: “If the cow could make her own choice, (between stick or fences) she knew what to do!”

Cow brush.

A cow brush is nice for a cow but where does it hang? Does it still function properly? It is easily accessible for any cow without any constrictions? Think about the dominant cow that take ownership of all the available space. In Denmark there is a law requiring 1 brush per 50 cows!

Are you going to let the cows graze? Then please read the tip from May of last year. Are the flies starting to lay eggs again? Have you taken proper measures? (Tip of the Month April 2015)

Milking after incomplete milking.

When a cow isn’t milked properly by a milking robot, giving 50% less than expected, she’ll have the “Milkpermission” to be milked sooner. The standard setting is set to 0 hours/minutes meaning that the cow can get milked immediately after the initial milking.

In practice, it often results in more incomplete milkings. That is why we advise to milk after an incomplete session no sooner than 2-4 hours, depending on the company’s average production per day. For example: if you milk, on average, 30 liters per day you could set the setting to 2 hours. However, if you milk less (20 liters), then set it to 4 hours.

There’s more: In the list under “Milking Info”: “Milking Performance” it is possible to sort cows on the amount of incomplete milkings (second to last column). Then the cows at the top of the list have the most incomplete millkings. It is advised to increase this possibility by a couple of hours or even turn it off for this cow!
Especially in the case that the cow has more than 3 milkings a day, and too many incomplete.
This can be adjusted on her Cowcard by “AMS Settings” in Milk Permission => Milking Conditions.

Or does she have only three good milking teats?
Or is a different setting better?

The 2 minute check follow up

The first three columns of the 2-minute-check in the status screen show which cow:
1. is too late; 2. has not given enough milk; 3. has done an incomplete milking.

Most are obvious and are used by ample amount of farmers.

The cow monitor shows other information such as which cow:
1. has higher or new conductivity; 2. have a high or new(!) MDi alert

Also these statistics give are generally welcomed by farmers en used to follow a cows health.

The third colom in the cow monitor that is used for the 2-Minute-Check shows:
3. which cow has varying visiting behavior.
That can be seen in the Average Milking Interval

If you sort the cows by using this colom then the cows that visit most often can be found at the top or bottom. If the indicator beside it is green it means that the cow has visited the VMS the last 10 times with no more than 12 hours in between.

What should be noted is cows that have an good average milking interval (e.g. 8 – 9 hours) yet have a red indicator. This means that she now was  later  than 12 hours since the last milking. Why?

Have these cows been milking for less than 50 days   =>  Rumen Acedosis?
Have these cows been milking between 50-100 days  =>  Heat?
Have these cows been milking more than 100 days     => Claw / hoof / leg problems?

It could be anything, but it is defintley strange behavior!

Also in this column is often as the first indicator a cow found with a new deviation.

2 Minutes-Check Follow-Up.

With the 2 minute follow up check you quickly see which cows are late but also which cows have an unexpected deviation. It is useful to make two columns on a notepad. One for cows that need to be brought to the VMS and another for cows with the unexpected deviation. Also, add which deviation they have. (For example 75% of expected milking yield or 1x increased conductivity).

Does the cow have a different, less,  milk yield on all 4 teats? She is pretty sure sick!

Check these notes again half a day later. What does the cow have now?

If the latest data is correct again: throw the note away. When in doubt, you immediately are certain whether the deviation is an incident or if something is really going on!