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Short communication: The effect of premilking with a teat cup-like device, in a novel robotic rotary, on attachment accuracy and milk removal.

This study investigated the effects of premilking teat preparation on attachment accuracy and milk removal characteristics for individual cows in a novel 16-bail prototype robotic rotary (RR; automatic milking rotary system; DeLaval AMR, Tumba, Sweden). The first commercial versions of the RR systems will have the option of purchasing and installing a teat preparation module (TPM) for premilking stimulation and cleaning of teats. It is expected that attachment of teat cups would be faster and more successful with the use of a TPM, and that the efficiency of milk removal, in terms of average and peak milk flow rates, would increase. We observed a significant effect of treatment (no wash vs. wash) and individual quarters on attachment success: cows exposed to the wash treatment had up to 1.5 times higher odds of being successfully attached. The attachment was not only more successful but was also found to be 4.3 s faster after cows were exposed to the wash treatment. Average milk flow rate was not affected by the wash treatment. Nevertheless, a significant interaction was found between wash treatment and milking interval affecting the peak milk flow (kg/min) of individual cows. This interaction showed that cows with a milking interval ≤8 h subjected to the wash treatment had significantly higher peak flow rates (300 g/min increase) compared with cows in the same milking interval category with no wash treatment. The relationship between premilking stimulation and attachment success shown in this study will increase awareness (of both farmers and developers of the technology) of the importance of teat cleaning within the RR. The effects of the improved system performance should be taken into account (alongside the capital investment cost) when deciding to install a RR equipped (or not) with a TPM.