October 17th 2012 ~ Venue to be confirmed.
Kick off at 9.30 and full time whistle at 4.30.
Notes, lunch, teas and coffees provided.
To book places please e mail christine.fry@sheptonvet.com and she will sort out bookings and payments.
1. Why choose a robot ~ what are we trying to achieve, advantages and disadvantages and potential pitfalls.
2. Robot capacity ~ how many cows will a robot milk. What happens if you exceed this
3. Cow flow ~ what gets a cow into the robot, free access, feed first etc
4. Milking routine ~ how does the robot work. What are it’s limitations. What common problems are encountered, how do you assess it’s performance
5. Mastitis detection and warning messages ~ a veritable minefield
6. Management considerations.
Cow adaptation, replacements and heifers
i. Environment
ii. Robotic machine performance
iii. Frequency of milking
7. Mastitis and milk quality targets, and what data should you monitor
8. Common problems encountered with robots