How much concentrate fed per milking robot visit.

How much concentrate may a cow receive per visit to the VMS?

That depends on what more is being fed. For example, when the cow steps out of the VMS, does she then immediately get a ration with lots of concentrate-like by-products?
If this is a high basic ration we have to look out for rumen acidification. A gift of 2 kg or better less, per visit should be the maximum.
However, if you only feed roughage with a lot of flavor (good intake) at the feeding fence what has also good structure value, then the cows can get 3 kg or even more per VMS visit.

You can change this setting under “Unit”.

If you set a higher concentrate feed rate than 2½ kg per visit, remember that there should always be good and sufficient feed in front of the feeding fence. A cow shouldn’t eat 3 kg of concentrate on an empty stomach ….

With larger rations of concentrated food per visit, we should also pay extra attention to whether or not the cow gets enough time to eat it during her visit. So, the dosing speed per VMS and per cow also plays an important role. (See Tip of the Month – May 2014)

With a 6 minute visit to the VMS, a dosing speed of 400 grams per minute is at most 2.4kg. In practice not many cows can eat more than 2 kg per visit.

When inseminating?

Early insemination has pros and cons: Fresh, fit, cows are at an advantage with a milking robot, these cows are milked oftener, and therefore give more milk. On the other hand, every calving also gives health risks for the cow. So if your company has a lactation graph with a long peak, or over many days, then a short calving interval is less interesting than when your cows are peaking after 40 days (for example) and then quickly decrease in production.

Look at your business cows lactation curve on how many days your cows have the highest production and how long their peak production lasts.

Look at the Herd graph (the one with all those dots).

After 50 DIL the cows are marked red, is there a good excuse not to inseminate this cow?

Is grazing cows while having milking robots an disadvantage?

Maybe, after all, always cows have to be milked all day long.
But as the great soccer player Johan Cruyff once said: “Every disadvantage has its advantage” which is also clear with milking and grazing with milking robots, especially when it’s as hot as it is.

In nature, the cow ate before and during sunrise, filling up its rumen and then, sheltered on a safe place, e.g. under the shade of the trees ruminating the harvested grass.
At sundown, the cow did the same and then ruminated while being sheltered, to escape the wild animals. In the evening the grass is the tastiest and the cow eats the most, in the morning the grass with dew is slightly less tasty and sweet.
With this behavior, she produced enough milk for her calf and enough energy to maintain herself.
But nowadays the cow has to give 4 to 5 times as much milk as before.

The advantage: this natural behavior can be perfectly imitated with robotic milking!
At non-robotic farms, the most productive grazing times are often the milking times…..

Adjust the times at the selection gate to a time before sunrise. So in the spring, that would be around 6 am. During the longest day and/or during warm weather adjust the time so that the first cows can go outside again at 4 am! If it is getting warm again, instead of 1 pm, start feeding the cows in the barn earlier: for example, 10 am/11 am since that is now the sheltered, cool and safe place.
The barn must, of course, have fresh air.
And then you can perform the cow-control job.

The same goes for the evening, send the cows outside after the heat, usually after 4 pm but in the high-summer head towards sending them outside at 5-6 pm, and once it gets dark place new feed at the trough or adjust the existing feed (with some noise 😉 ).

Always adjust feed quantities and protein supplementation with the amount of grass they can eat.

With the heat and drought this year, the grass intake will not be much but the number of hours pleasant outside is more important.

This way, you still get a lot of feed in the cow while having the minimal effect of the warmth so that the production and stamina stay consistent

The 100th tip of the month!

This month is dedicated to the 100th tip of the month on this website. The writer hopes you enjoy reading them and that you’ll profit from these tips. Do you have any tips yourselves? If you learnt anything from practice that you’d like to share, it is greatly appreciated!

Work less on the computer and go see more!

Many dairy-farmers sometimes sigh during my visit: “There’s a lot of things that are possible.
I should actually be working on the computer more, but I just don’t feel like doing that.”

My idea: Don’t work more but more efficient and structured on the computer!

So: Do the 2-Minute-Check before you go cleaning the boxes, or before making your evening round (See tips from January, February and March 2018). This is the easiest way to combine the eyes of the farmer with the information you get from the computer.
Also, check the ‘Feed control list’ that is tailored personal to your dairy in relation to the amount of sorts of food in the AMS and if you do or don’t have an extra feed station for concentrate in the barn.

Check this list , your personalized Feed control list, to manage the proper feeding and right concentrate fed to the right cow and if consumed.

Fourth important list is the “Milk Performance” list, to check for efficient milkings.

If you have “all time of the world go check all the given Lists.
But if you don’t: Check these four very important lists: Status list, Cow monitor, Feed checking list and the Milking Performance List.
But these four you need to check very regularly and keep a close eye on them.

Status list and Cow monitor you check a couple of times a day.
For the last two lists, make a habit to check them at a certain point in the week (Monday morning after your coffee, for example).

Now you have minimum computer work for the maximum information of your cows!

Do you want to keep more control while spending less time on the computer?

Send me a message and let me come by so we can discuss how to do that.
One udder inflammation less (or less bad), using concentrated food more accurately and you know you’ll have earned back the visit in no time!

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!”