Abstract: All Danish farms with automatic milking systems (AMS) are enrolled in a self-monitoring programme and participate in the official milk yield recording. Individual cow cell count data were analysed from 1 year before the introduction of AMS to 1 year after. Data from 69 farms were included. Three new variables were defined based on the monthly cow cell count. NewSCC was defined as the percentage of cows at each record that had a sudden, significant rise in cell count. OldSCC was the percentage of cows with an increased cell count. CullSCC was the percentage of cows culled due to high SCC. There was a sudden and significant increase in NewSCC at the start of automatic milking and the frequency was higher throughout the first year with AMS than the previous year with conventional milking. There was no difference in OldSCC and CullSCC between the years. We conclude that farms with AMS had more new infections during the first year of automatic milking than in the previous year with conventional milking. The increase appeared suddenly and was synchronised with the onset of automatic milking. The number of cows with elevated SCC decreased slowly after 3 months. We do not have a conclusive reason for the increase but suggest that more attention should be paid to the introductory period.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 43
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot