Robert E. Graves
Agricultural,
Biological, and
Engineering Extension
Penn State
Housing facilities for automatic milking systems
(AMS) or robotic milking systems (RMS) have similar
requirements as any other system. Cows must be kept
clean, dry and comfortable (CDC). Ventilation, free
stall, and walking surface requirements are all familiar
to us. Cow cleanliness, including feet and lower legs is
essential because at this time robots cannot determine
the cleanliness of the cow. The milking robot will use
the same, consistent cleaning and preparation routine
for all cows. After this procedure the milking units are
attached, clean teats or not. Therefore a housing
system that fosters clean cows is essential.
Robots milk cows all day, so cows will be found in
all parts of the housing system at all times. Therefore,
the manure removal system must be able to operate
while cows are present. Alley scrapers and slotted
floors are most common. Stall maintenance and bed
ding addition are other important chores that must be
done while cows are present. If stall maintenance is in
adequate, dirty cows will result.
CUSTOM DESrQNiSS* BUILDERS#* DAIRYPACIUTIES
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To get photos of our work , review references from our clfents, or discuss your needs,
please call Ken Morgan from KLM at 717-957-9373 or Joe Ryan at 888*427-0639
Housing For Milking Robots
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To encourage regular visits to the robot by the cows,
a short convenient path to the robot is necessary. A
robot location that the cow must pass before getting to
the feed area is normal. In some instances, one-way
gates will force the cow to visit the robot before she can
gain access to the feed area (forced cow flow). Because
cows visit the robot on an individual basis, there may
be less group activity. This may mean that less feed
space is required per cow because they are less likely to
all be eating at one time. It’s too early to tell if this is
true.
The milking side of the robot needs to be in a well
ventilated, non-freezing, fly free area. This area can be
considered an extension of the milk room. Operator
access between the milk room and the robot must be
manure and mud free. A short distance to the milk
room is desirable to minimize milk line length. For
those wanting to use existing facilities the same rules
apply. The cow must be kept clean, dry and comfort
able. The more costly it is to achieve proper housing
conditions the less desirable the existing facilities are.
DWD (dirty, wet and disturbed) cows are not condu
cive to automatic milking systems. Remember, milk
ing robots will milk dirty cows!
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