Parlour Extension Pictures

[Will Blackburn]

We've started milking on 34 units after extending our 20:40 Fullwood milking parlour. We only milked on one side for 4 days, for each side, credit to the dairy engineers and my lads for making it happen.

 

[Milkcow365]

We've started milking on 34 units after extending our 20:40 Fullwood milking parlour. We only milked on one side for 4 days, for each side, credit to the dairy engineers and my lads for making it happen.

Making it a 34/68? How many cows an hour can that milk

 

[Will Blackburn]

Should be 200+, seems to go well so far. Need to get dip and flush for the extra 14 and auto id for the full length.

 

[In the pit]

Two issues with that parlour ,,staggered rump rail with straight feeders ,best for cow flow and secondly pit floor needs to slope the opposite way ,centre to pit edges
Otherwise a lovely parlour

 

[Milkcow365]

Should be 200+, seems to go well so far. Need to get dip and flush for the extra 14 and auto id for the full length.

Id of thought 300

 

[Will Blackburn]

Id of thought 300

 

[Will Blackburn]

Two issues with that parlour ,,staggered rump rail with straight feeders ,best for cow flow and secondly pit floor needs to slope the opposite way ,centre to pit edges
Otherwise a lovely parlour

I would expect no feeders is better? Yes the pit floor is not ideal, but it would have meant deeper wall footing excavation, when we were just above the ground water level.

 

[In the pit]

We’ve got straight feeders and rump rail here and cows just love to move about

 

[Blue.]

Straight front rail (no feeders) and cranked rump rail here they never move,but loading the parlour you have to count 3 cows per bay.

 

[Will Blackburn]

I’m not a fan of a cranked rump rail as I like large and small cows to balance each other so they don’t have too much room to move. We adjust the indexed breast beam to suit. Presently it’s wound fully out from the wall as the cows are generally getting smaller and not on too much maize.

 

[Beef farmer]

Should be 200+, seems to go well so far. Need to get dip and flush for the extra 14 and auto id for the full length.

2 people in the pit?

 

[Will Blackburn]

2 people in the pit?

We went to 2 previously when the numbers went to 350, not very efficient, the aim is to match the labour input. 14 points because that butts up to a slurry channel. Anymore points would have to go on the front end.

 

[Milkcow365]

We went to 2 previously when the numbers went to 350, not very efficient, the aim is to match the labour input. 14 points because that butts up to a slurry channel. Anymore points would have to go on the front end.

Interested to see how this goes, we have 25 up the middle and I always feel another 5 wouldn’t go amiss

 

[Beef farmer]

We went to 2 previously when the numbers went to 350, not very efficient, the aim is to match the labour input. 14 points because that butts up to a slurry channel. Anymore points would have to go on the front end.

Still on 350 cows? Or plans to up again?

 

[Will Blackburn]

Still on 350 cows? Or plans to up again?

Possibly, for the time being my lovely landlord wants to break the FBT, which would logically mean 50 cows less. Hopefully sensible negotiations will prevail.

 

[Chimera]

Two issues with that parlour ,,staggered rump rail with straight feeders ,best for cow flow and secondly pit floor needs to slope the opposite way ,centre to pit edges
Otherwise a lovely parlour

You just can't help yourself can you?

 

[Will Blackburn]

You just can't help yourself can you?

If I had just doubled it up I might have been a bit prickly towards constructive discussion, after 18 years with the present configuration I’m confident I can get along with it.

 

[In the pit]

You just can't help yourself can you?

You milk in that with the floor at that angle and your asking for ankles ,knees and back problems .been there done that and got the T-shirt .dont want anyone else to get the same problems .same issues occur with having the pit to deep or too shallow

 

[Will Blackburn]

You milk in that with the floor at that angle and your asking for ankles ,knees and back problems .been there done that and got the T-shirt .dont want anyone else to get the same problems .same issues occur with having the pit to deep or too shallow

Now we’ve got a deep end and a shallower end. We’ve made the extension shallower as I can’t milk both ends at once and the original was 100mm deeper than standard for my benefit. So now it’s better for shorter work experience and vet students.

 

[In the pit]

I think shallower is better than deeper . Daughter milked for a few years in a parlour were the pit was way too deep and managed to tear both the muscles at the bottom of her back so bad she had to stop milking and go into a different career .her back healed but the scar tissue means she’ll always have back issues and she’s only 27.
I worked in a parlour for 6 years were the clusters weighed over 3.5 kgs ,,so that’s 20 units ,,so 70kgs per line and 17 lines per milking ==1190 kgs twice a day .so that means I was lifting nearly 2.5 tonnes in weight every day.boss then upgraded the parlour and had an super light claw ,and there was no difference to how the the cows milked out at all .so the question asked was why was I hurting my back ,shoulders lifting that weight for no reason at all
If labour is going to be an issues in the years going forward we need to make sure the job is as easy as it can be