The 12 Golden Rules for milking

The 12 Golden rules for milking in detail

You find the DeLaval 12 Golden Rules in many farms, as posters on the walls, and in printed forms in many locations. There is a lot of information that is not captured in the pictograms or in the brief texts. I will go into more detail on each of these golden Rules and hope that with a more deep understanding they are easier to understand and implement correctly

Before Milking, preparation is key, and we should not let cows wait before milking. Prepare all tools and the machine before bringing the cows. Ensure optimal working conditions for the people, wear an apron or coverall and always wear disposable gloves as in the pictures

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for milking #1

Monitor udder health and make sure you know the udder health status of each cow. We know the clinically infected cows, but it is also important to know how many of sub clinical infections there are in the herd.

Put the problematic cows in a separate group so you can milk them at the end of each session reducing the risk to contaminate healthy cows. These are mainly the cows with repeated mastitis.

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for milking #2

Follow the correct order of milking the cows

- Start with the healthy cows, these are the first lactation cows and early lactation cows

At the start the milking area, the machine and people are cleaner and we reduce the risk of spreading mastitis within the farm

- Then milk the lower yielding and mid- and late lactation cows

- At the end milk the high SCC and cows with mastitis history

After milking be sure to clean & disinfect the area, the machine, and all tools, so that the next session can start 100% hygienic

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #3

Pre-Dip the teats. You can also use a foam or pre-spray. All alternatives can give good results as long as the results are monitored. Teat dip (or foam) done manually can get contaminated, teat spray often does not cover all sides of the teats.

Pre dipping helps to reduce the bacteria count on the teats

Pre dipping helps loosening the dirt, making cleaning easier

Wait the recommended time before doing the next step (most common is 30 seconds)

Use only products that are approved for use as pre-dip solution and at the correct dilution rate

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #4

Always foremilk the cow (also called pre-milking or stripping)

-Fore milking removes the first milk, which contains more bacteria

-Fore milking helps to detect clinical mastitis cases, but only if there is sufficient light and the operator inspects the milk of each teat.

-The fore milking (followed by the teat cleaning) gives the cow the stimulation to let down the milk, so she will milk fast and complete

- The duration of the stimulation has to be around 10 seconds. The stimulation should be as continuous as possible, 4 seconds of pre-milking, followed by 6 seconds of teat cleaning 60 seconds later is not the same as 10 seconds of pre-milking & teat cleaning combined

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #5

Wipe the teats clean and dry

-      Use one towel for each cow

-      Use a different corner of the towel for each teat

-      Wipe each teat and wipe each teat end

-      Use more towels if the cow is not yet clean

Each towel has 4 corners and 2 sides, use them well. The target is to have clean and dry teats

Check the results by doing teat end hygiene scoring. The target is to have over 90% scoring 1 and 2

The wiping, if combined with the pre-milking assists in the cow letting down the milk

If milking without pre-milking the wiping provides the stimulation needed for the cow to let down the milk 

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #6

Attach the milking unit in time + Adjust the milking unit to the optimal position

Attach the milking machine about 1 minute (60-120 seconds) after the teats were pre-milked and cleaned. You should be able to see the teats starting to “balloon” (swell up with the pressure of the milk ejection of the cow)

If the milking unit is not in the optimal position, use tube support of unit alignment support so that the milking unit hangs squarely under the cow.

Only in the optimal position will all teats milk at the same speed and finish milking together as good as possible. See below graphs showing the difference in milk flow for good and twisted milking unit positioning.

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #7

Do not over-milk the cows

Keeping the milking unit on the cows at a low milk flow rate seriously increases the number of open teats and the level of hyper keratosis, increasing the chances of new mastitis infections

Remove the milking unit when the milk flow is reduced 

-      Do not try to take out the last drop

-      Do not push down on the milking unit to squeeze out more milk

With automatic take off system: Adjust the take-off limit based on milk flow rate and strip yield analysis.

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #8

Remove the milking unit gently

Removing the milking unit suddenly can be painful for the cow and the sudden air entering might push air & milk back into the udder (reverse impacts)

Automated systems have a programmable “take off delay” which is normally set at 3-4 seconds. This means the machine is taken off 3-4 seconds after the vacuum has been shut off.

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking # 9

Post dip the teats after milking

Dipping teats after milking has several reasons (not just killing bacteria)

-      Post dip has to support optimal teat skin, as Bacteria do not attach and grow on healthy skin

-      Post dip reduces the bacteria that came on the teat during milking

But: post dip will only protect the teats so much and so long

After milking the cows have to walk at their own speed and in clean alleys.

-      Teat dip does not protect against new mastitis cases if cows go plashing through puddles and manure directly after milking

Ensure there is fresh feed and water available after milking

-      Keeping the cows standing up (voluntarily) gives the teat end more time to close before the cow lists down on the bed

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #10

Clean the machine and clean the milking area directly

Once all cows are milked. clean the milking units externally first and then do the internal washing program (CIP)

Do it directly after milking is completed. Milk will dry up inside the equipment and the longer you wait the harder it is to achieve good CIP results.

Clean the milking units, the milking parlour area, the waiting area, the return lane and the milk room.

Cleaning with just water might be OK after a milking session, but a more intensive cleaning using detergent will be needed regularly in parlour working long hours

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #11

Cool the milk quickly

Milk must be cooled below 4 degrees Celsius within 2 hours after the cows are milked.

If milk is not cooled in the farm but delivered to a collection center: There is 1 hour to milk cows and 1 hour to deliver & cool milk in the milk collection or chilling center.

Follow the 12 Golden Rules for Milking #12

The milking machine must be tested at least yearly and wearing parts must be replaced in time. All moving parts and all rubber parts deteriorate over time and servicing is critical

Especially the rubber liners must be replaced in time. Milking with liners longer than 2500 milkings will result in hyperkeratosis and higher Somatic Cell Counts

For larger farms I strongly recommend doing Wet Testing (also called DeLaval Dynamic Analysis or DDA service) to check the vacuum stability and the teat end vacuum level during milking of different cows.

This helps with setting the optimal vacuum level and optimal take off limit for the farm.

Milking is a complex process but can be optimized and managed if we manage each of the aspects related to the cows, the people and the milking machine. Monitoring all the data and the resulting milk quality helps preventing problems.