Milking procedures, milk flow curves and somatic cell count in dairy cows

Abstract

Recent availability of electronic mobile milk flow meters allows to study in details milk flow patterns during milking. A normal milk flow profile is characterized by an incline phase, with increasing milk flow, a plateau phase, with steady milk flow, and a decline phase. In these phases milk flow is influenced by many factors: genetic characteristics of the cows, regulation of milking machine and milking routine.

Keywords

• milk flow, somatic cell count, milk ejection, dairy cow