Grouping and Ungrouping.

With some lists it is very useful when you do not see the performance of the individual cows for an overview, but for example only the cows of lactation 1 and subsequent lactations or of certain lactation stages depending on each other. So that you can see how that couple of animals is doing on your farm.

It is very interesting to view the performance of both the animals you want as a group, but also the individual cows, or the entire herd.

You can easily do this by clicking on the right mouse button in the gray area where your choice, for example lactation number, lactation stages, …., is located and clicking on “Group by this column”. (View place and symbol in Dutch)
It becomes even more fun when you click on “Average” or “Sum” below interesting colums, again with the right mouse button. Then you can see how the results are per group.
Or how often a diagnosis occurs or how much of a medicine has been used.
And when you want to put it back to animal level, in the same place where “Group by this column”  was, it now says “Ungroup”

This is very useful for feed lists and production lists, but also for Diagnoses and Treatments.
And once you know this option, you will definitely use it more! Have fun!

Do you (ever) have an increased Germ count / Plate count ?

Then of course immediately contact your VMS technician / cooling tank technician.

But what can you do yourself in the meantime:

1. Check whether sufficient cleaning agent is used.
2. Is the (end) temperature of the cleaning high enough?
3. Is the milk filter replaced often enough?
4. Do you clean the rod around which the filter is placed properly?
5. Is the thread of the filter seal clean?
6. What is the water hardness (limescale), is it cleaned often enough with acid?
7. Do you always clean after each cow separation?
So even if it is not penicillin milk and / or a heifer with colostrum!
Does not always have to be a main cleaning.
8. If the robot is not too heavily occupied and no VMS visits for 30-45 minutes? => Cleaning!
Does not always have to be a main cleaning.
Summer day this is even more important!
9.  When the cows are in the pasture and there is no milking for a while? => Main cleaning!
10. Are the teat liners replaced regularly and are the milk hoses still good?
11. Is the pre-treatment cup and valve clean and working fine?
12. Is the robot room and everything that touches cups “workable clean”?

Fluctuations in daily production, incomplete milkings, kicking off, etc.

When you look at the Attention board at Daily production overview, there is a symbol of a graph at the top right. If you click on it, a graph will appear where you can see over a longer period what the average daily production has been in the period you specified.

It is interesting to look at this over a period of a year or even longer.

The average number of milkings per day can be seen and also whether more or fewer incomplete milkings or kicking offs occurred in a certain period or on certain days.

Sometimes you see slow changes, sometimes peaks or troughs.

Can you remember why things went less well or better than average in certain periods / days? For example, a major ration change, hoof-trimming day, many new heifers calved, a long standstill due to a malfunction or service, ….. .

And, even better, can some negative changes be prevented in the future?

Do you have a concentrate feed box?

Sometimes you need a concentrate feed box to be able to give the desired extra amount of concentrate feed that cannot be taken up in the milking robot to high-producing cows.

Do you have insight into whether these cows are actually coming there and whether the programmed amounts are being taken up sufficiently?
There are nice lists to show this, especially when it is programmed as an extra type of feed.

And when was the concentrate feed box last calibrated?

When and how to collect cows?

You don’t want to teach the cows to wait for someone to pick them up. So when do they stay away too long? After how many hours do you pick them up?
It is very important to look at lactation days and expected milk yield.
And based on her experience with the milking robots, does she know the game and will eventually get there on her own, not too late.
Cows with many lactation days may come less often than fresh cows.
At least if the cell count / conductivity is low it is not a big problem.
If the new-milk cows don’t come often enough, something is simply wrong.

It is not good if fresh cows stay away for more than 10 hours!

And pay attention again to the new heifers, the animals with the least robot experience, which must be taught intensive robot visits as soon as possible after calving.
They must also visit the VMS within 10 hours

By picking up cows at irregular times, you teach them not to wait for the farmer to pick them up.

And the collection round always start from the robot’s exit or where the cows return to the stable after a robot visit.
Then they are much calmer and otherwise you will first scare cows away and have them come back later.
Take the manure scraper in your hand to use along the boxes and as an extended arm and you have done 2 rounds in one go.