Robotic milking

[s line]

When we have got heifers coming up close to calving we put the robot into training mode via milk settings on t4c.This way they get use to the noise and have a tiny bit of cake.When they calve they are good as gold!!!

 

[Chips]

I am so happy. I was scared to start pulling things but when you said it was hard to slide and to put it out of operation and with the picture in my mind I slid the shiny thing and the strings when slack and the brush arm fell. I am hoping with the arm in the milking position the brush and cup cover without air won't be a problem of getting in the way. I am also excited about changing the ropes they were such a pain before but without the extra air pressure it should help a lot. I am in awe how you have the manual trick down to an art and thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. I was one of those people who seriously went mad and had a breakdown in the robot room after spending an hour and two robots on one heifer just to get enough milk for a calf. The main frustration is she wasn't that bad just moved a little and would get it on two or three teats and then the arm would swing way out and pull them all off. I have also noticed that once the noise of the arm stops the heifer usually calms right down so getting milked without that noise for the first couple of days when they are nervous is going to be a life saver. It will also be a money saver since I was a few seconds away from taking a sledge hammer to the whole machine Thanks again I am so excited to milk new heifers now.

Don't worry about the brush arm , when the arm is under the cow it's horizontal thus won't swing under cow ,it only does it in park position due to the angle of the arm . Wild heifers nearly always calm down once cups are attached , it's the buzzing and motion of the arm that winds them up ,so if you have a wild one ,manually attach it, then they get used to it and like the feed so next time it's far more likely they will stand still and give the arm a chance . I always give the robot first chance and go to manual attach after it returns to the arrows the second or third time ,I think this is important so as not to end up manually attaching unnecessarily .
Holstiens usually aren't too bad but from looking at your avatar I guess you may have some more lively models ! For the first time a couple of weeks ago I put a soon to calve heifer on training period and put her through the robot , it's only one heifer so far but it couldn't have worked better , I only put her in for three days prior to calving but she sussed out it fed her without the interference of milking and so once calved she walked straight in , the robot attached on first attempt not missing one teat due to her being so still ,next morning I finished my work and suddenly remembered the new heifer so without checking the late list I went and fetched her to the robot which refused her , checked on T4C and she had gone on her own at midnight ,haven't touched her since

 

[Cowgrrrl]

When we have got heifers coming up close to calving we put the robot into training mode via milk settings on t4c.This way they get use to the noise and have a tiny bit of cake.When they calve they are good as gold!!!

We did a retrofit and were able to use our old parlour area as a close up pen now with access to one robot so we do have heifers trained about 3 weeks before and that has made a huge difference. Some we let run with the main herd and put them in the close up area a few days before calving. Before training there were some it was 3 weeks before they would use the robot on their own but with the training mode some milk themselves the second time and endure the brushes alone and are never fetched. Most are good but there is just those few where you don't have time that day and they are just a little more skittish than average that manual milk will smooth out the whole process perfectly.

Just read about my "lively models" yes it is the Brown Swiss I am having some troubles with right now. I had 3 calve in 2 days one is perfect had the same scenario didn't notice her on the late list and she has been milking herself but the other 2 are a bit of a problem. We have holsteins too about 2/3 of the herd is holstein and 1/3 brown swiss.

 

[Lewis]

How many days/weeks should we carry on forcing cows through the robots? Got two Fullwood Merlin's in and started Monday midday! Some cows are happy to enter yet some need a little gentle nudge to get them in. But majority are very happy when there in. (When the brush doesn't catch there leg!!) Thoughts?!?

 

[stuart]

How many days/weeks should we carry on forcing cows through the robots? Got two Fullwood Merlin's in and started Monday midday! Some cows are happy to enter yet some need a little gentle nudge to get them in. But majority are very happy when there in. (When the brush doesn't catch there leg!!) Thoughts?!?

until you go one morning and they have been through by themselves the ones that go in well should start to go through within a week

 

[robot Jerseys]

Does any body know of any merlins comming out this year were looking for a second machine. Thanks

 

[stuart]

Does any body know of any merlins comming out this year were looking for a second machine. Thanks

if what i was told the other day is correct there could be 3 comming up for sale in whixall never been installed

 

[Blue.]

Does any body know of any merlins comming out this year were looking for a second machine. Thanks

Did you see the ones on eBay? I think there were 5 in total.

 

[Blue.]

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/stneotsusedmachinery/m.html?item=291067312047&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AVRI&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

 

[robot Jerseys]

I have spotted them and spoken to lely about them, bit older than what im looking for but they have had them for 2 years already so sombody could be in for a deal there.

 

[mawleymoos]

How many days/weeks should we carry on forcing cows through the robots? Got two Fullwood Merlin's in and started Monday midday! Some cows are happy to enter yet some need a little gentle nudge to get them in. But majority are very happy when there in. (When the brush doesn't catch there leg!!) Thoughts?!?

I would say it is a bit early yet! But it will get easier every day and more exciting as the cows make their own way! We tend to work hard with heifers but late lactation cows, we would let them go a bit longer! The other thing we do is to round up the trainees, maybe at lunch time! (Maybe only 6 hrs from their last milking) and leave them for an hour or two, before pushing them through! This gives them more of a chance to milk over the following 18hrs, as it is quieter during the night! However you will need to make sure and get them the next afternoon, if she does go through! Even after 5 years we are still gathering up the odd cow! But it does get a lot easier

 

[mawleymoos]

Does any body know of any merlins comming out this year were looking for a second machine. Thanks

I guess you use cottons! Have you asked Phil? We recently put a secondhand one in that Fullwood had in the factory! They offered the choice of 3 at the time! Quite reasonable and all with a bit of warranty! The beauty of a Merlin is you only have to buy the robot, if your boiler and vac pump is big enough! What model are you looking for? It was Merlin 2's that they had!

 

[robot Jerseys]

Yep have spoken to Phil and there are still 2 there. currently got a 225 that's kitted up to run the second but would happily put a merlin 2 next to it if the price is right.

 

[Chips]

AAAAHHHHH, lely have gone and spoilt the manual attach , it now switches the pulsation off when you come back to the arrows page for the second time thus you have to press start connection to get pulsation back on meaning the arm has to keep scanning all the way through the manual milking , okay if like the cow I had to do yesterday is already trained and quiet but the constant movement of the arm will just keep wild heifers upset and more likely the cups will get pulled off as the ropes reach the end of their slack . My only hope is that it only did this with a cow who already has coordinates stored and I had to press reconnect teat cups , maybe it still works as per usual with a first time heifer . I was only just thinking the other day that everything seems to be working okay with only a few minor niggles on T4C and that maybe now would be a good time to come off all contracts even servicing with Lely so as we don't get any software updates upsetting things as everytime they bring an update to sort one thing it creates another issue .
It now also after filling the milk buckets sends an almighty blast of air into the buckets splattering milk all over the clean room and anyone standing within 10 ft of the thing , they must just dream up these dam updates and send them out worldwide without any testing first

 

[Blue.]

AAAAHHHHH, lely have gone and spoilt the manual attach , it now switches the pulsation off when you come back to the arrows page for the second time thus you have to press start connection to get pulsation back on meaning the arm has to keep scanning all the way through the manual milking , okay if like the cow I had to do yesterday is already trained and quiet but the constant movement of the arm will just keep wild heifers upset and more likely the cups will get pulled off as the ropes reach the end of their slack . My only hope is that it only did this with a cow who already has coordinates stored and I had to press reconnect teat cups , maybe it still works as per usual with a first time heifer . I was only just thinking the other day that everything seems to be working okay with only a few minor niggles on T4C and that maybe now would be a good time to come off all contracts even servicing with Lely so as we don't get any software updates upsetting things as everytime they bring an update to sort one thing it creates another issue .
It now also after filling the milk buckets sends an almighty blast of air into the buckets splattering milk all over the clean room and anyone standing within 10 ft of the thing , they must just dream up these dam updates and send them out worldwide without any testing first

No chance of rolling back pre update?

 

[AWJ26]

It now also after filling the milk buckets sends an almighty blast of air into the buckets splattering milk all over the clean room and anyone standing within 10 ft of the thing , they must just dream up these dam updates and send them out worldwide without any testing first

The fantastic air bladder milk pump on the A4s squirts it in the buckets with that much force that you can only get 16kg of frothy milk in the bucket before it overflows, and if you want to test the colostrum - forget it for at least 15 mins, as its like a milk shake. I have noticed that there is a few extra blasts of air after separating the milk, since the last update.
On the plus side, attachment seems a bit quicker, the arm seems more decisive now.

 

[Col555]

i'm in the very early days of contemplating a switch to robotic milking. could anyone tell me, (pm me if preferred) a ball park figure for a new robot... the more makes the better, also interested in the lely Taurus, or similar manufacturer refurbished robot prices for comparison.
What other associated costs are involved other than building alterations, upgraded back up generator

I hear people talk of needing compressors & hot water tanks?
servicing & chemicals...what are these costs?

 

[jimmer]

local chap has put in two lelys he paid 140 for the two robots

 

[-cardi-]

How much does it cost to produce a litre of milk through a robot parlour these days?

 

[Cowgrrrl]

Anyone have problems with bacteria count while using robots. I have Lelys and we have had problems from the start. Some problems have been addressed with the water softener wasn't connected at first and now some work has been done around the slope of the lines around the drain at the tank but things still aren't as low as we are used to. Anyone have ideas of where to look that the system is prone to bacteria issues?? Thanks