Browsing by Subject "nännikumi"

High quality milk is an important thing for dairy industry and the most important determinator for milk price paid to the producer. The quality of milk is measured with somatic cell and bacteria count. Milks somatic cell count doesn’t change after milking that emphasizes the importance of udder health and successful milking. The total annual cost of the mastitis in an 100 head of cattle was estimated to be 21 000 – 25 000 euros in Finland (calculated with price level in 2010). Liner is the only part of the milking machine that contacts cow’s teat and the only way of bacteria into udder is through teat canal. Many bacterial infections occur in teat injuries and due to the teat-end roughness that makes teat canal closure slower, which makes bacteria access easier into udder. The aim of this thesis was to study the effects of CloverTM -liner on milking. Results were compared to the traditional HarmonyTM -liner. Cross section of a CloverTM -liner looks like clover whereas the shape of traditional liner cross section is round. Udder health and milking characteristics were measured attributes for comparison of the two liner models in this thesis. Udder health was evaluated by measuring somatic cell count, teat-end health and short-term changes in teat condition after milking. Milking characteristics were evaluated by measuring milk yield, milking duration and milk flow. The measurements were taken in two farms in summer 2015. The results of this study were estimated with line and bar charts as well as statistical significances were estimated with appropriate models. The differences between groups were small in teat-end health and there was a lot of deviation in the results so there were no statistically significant differences between groups. Total number of teats with short-term changes in teat condition after milking was so small that statistical testing was not appropriate. There were no differences in milk yield, milk flow, milking duration or somatic cell count between groups. The only statistically significant difference was peak flow that was lower for ClowerTM -liner.