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Did the milking machines clean the teats before beginning the milking, too?

• prawn 6y ago
  Yes, the teats are cleaned, cups cleaned, all automatically. Cow is fed during and has optional feed afterwards. Instead of there being a fixed milking time, the cows just come in whenever they feel like it - encouraged by the feeling of relief. They’d auto-detect mastitis etc. Obviously people have views on dairy but the tech was very cool to see up close. The dairy family could look up on their phone, any particular cow and get info on milk volume and timings.
  • floren 6y ago
    That's very cool. I have mixed feelings on replacing humans in yet another role, but if it can do a better job than humans (automatically dump & flag mastitis cases, clean more thoroughly, etc.) it's a win.
    • prawn 6y ago
      Typically a system like this is replacing a rotary dairy which can be operated by 1-2 people, plus health/AI contractors as needed. In the case of these robotic milking machines, one of the owners (the mother of the family) said that it had rejuvenated their interest in the dairy industry. I guess it would remove the early morning starts and sitting around watching cows for signs of heat which would get old fast.