Article Report 13: Failed milking

Report 13 – Failed Milkings shows cows whose last (actual) milking failed, so cows with a subsequent successful milking will disappear from the list. Using the report correctly will help reduce the number of failed milkings. 

How can you apply Report 13? 

Click Reports > Milking > Report 13 – Failed milkings

Report 13 should be checked twice a day, so you will know at an early stage if something is happening. The tab visit results show why this cow is on the report.  

TIP! Always check what the reason for a failed milking is to avoid a failure the next time.  

What can you do to reduce failed milkings? 

Cow related: 

- Fly control/ventilation to prevent disturbance 

- Reset teat coordinates in Horizon 

- Provide assistance for cows with udder swelling 

- Udder conformation is suitable for automatic milking system 

- Improve barn/cubicle hygiene to prevent dirty udders 

Robot and Horizon  

- Calibrated robot components (laser, arm, camera, weighing floor) 

- Clean cleaning laser, 3D camera, weighing platform 

- Milk access table 

- Service schedule is up to date 

- Software is up to date 

It is important to reduce the number of failed milkings because: 

Robot capacity: 

- every failed milking can take up to eight minutes

- A failed cow needs to return to the robot an extra time to be milked successfully 

Reduces consumables costs 

- Less washing time, which reduces water & chemical waste consumption 

- Lowers electricity consumption 

- Reduces misalignment of the robot arm and/or jetters 

- Milk cups stay cleaner for longer 

- Decreases robot shutdown after three consecutive failed milkings 

Cow benefits 

- High failures per cow can create negative associations with the robot. Low failures will reduce the negative association. 

- Decreasing risk of udder health problems, e.g. mastitis 

- Cows with an incomplete milking have a more frequent milking, this also means more frequent opening of the teat canal, which increases the risk of bacteria entering the udder and causing mastitis 

Farmer benefits 

- Reduces labor time 

- Less time fetching cows 

- Less time supervising failed cows 

- Fewer robots needed to be restarted