Contemporary Technical Solutions for Milking Stalls and Dairy Barns
with AMS
ELENA PAUNOVA-HUBENOVA, DIMITAR KARASTOYANOV,
ELISAVETA TRICHKOVA-KASHAMOVA
Institute of Information and Communication Technologies
Bulgarian Academy of Science
Sofia 1113, Acad. G. Bontchev str., bl. 2
BULGARIA
Abstract: - In recent years, there has been an increase in dairy consumption in many countries. For this reason,
the number of dairy farms and herds' sizes is also increasing. To reduce the work of operators, many innovative
solutions are developed in animal husbandry. The present paper describes and analyzes different technologies
applied in cow farms, focusing on robotic and automated milking systems (AMS). The cost of purchasing an
AMS is high, and the robot should be used at its highest possible capacity. This paper provides guidelines for
increasing the capacity of AMS by reviewing and analyzing information from various articles on this topic.
Also, here are presented different types of parlor configurations, dairy farm management, and the most
frequently used elements of barns and milking stalls.
Key-Words: - AMS, AMS capacity, milking parlor, milking stall, dairy barn design, management of dairy farms
Received: September 25, 2021. Revised: June 27, 2022. Accepted: July 8, 2022. Published: July 29, 2022.
1 Introduction
Nowadays, automatic milking of cows is applied on
an increasing number of dairy farms. The main
reason for this is the indisputable economic
efficiency of the application of automated milking
systems (AMS), which can be expressed in the
following aspects:
• Significant reduction in the number of
operators working in the cow farms;
• Increasing the number of milked animals for
a given time;
• They give a possibility to increase the
milking frequency, which leads to an increase in
milk yield in one day [1].
The cost of purchasing an AMS is high, and for
this reason, the robot should be used at its highest
possible capacity. The capacity of an AMS is the
amount of collected milk in one day. One of the
main ways is increasing the cows’ milking
frequency which is usually from two to four times a
day [2]. The AMS capacity depends on many
different factors like the number of cows in the herd,
feeding method, AMS performance, and cow flow
[3, 4]. According to the international requirements,
the milking should be initiated by the cow, which
goes to AMS voluntarily at any time of the day. For
that purpose, the cows are encouraged to enter the
milking stall by providing water, preferred or
concentrated food, or a possibility to take a rest [5].
Usually, cows with high yields are milked more
frequently. Another aspect affecting the used AMS
capacity is the time for discharging the milk tank,
which depends on the time for washing the milk line
and the availability of the second tank in the system
[6, 7].
In addition to the milking frequency, an essential
factor for animals’ lactation is the observance of an
appropriate daily routine. It includes the following
activities feeding, milking, drinking water, lying
down for a rest, and sleeping. For each of these
activities, a specially adapted space should be used.
The cow traffic between the rooms can be managed
as free or selectively guided with fetching cows if
necessary [8].
Machine milking has been known and applied
for several decades in countries with livestock
breeding traditions like Bulgaria. The author of [9]
describes in detail the elements and gives directions
for the operation of the machine, which made it
possible to milk the cows even on the pasture.
The present paper aims to point out the
contemporary technical solutions applied on dairy
farms. Next section analyses the most commonly
used management solutions in dairy barns applying
AMS concerning the milking frequency, feeding,
and cleaning. It also explains the types of animals’
traffic between the different areas in a barn. The last
subsection describes the milking parlors located on
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.100
Elena Paunova-Ηubenova,
Dimitar Karastoyanov,
Elisaveta Trichkova-Κashamova
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
1049
Volume 18, 2022
a rotating platform. The third section presents the
elements of dairy barns that apply an AMS. Section
4 presents the different elements of a milking stall.
The paper ends with a concluding part and a
summary of the presented technological solutions.
2 Design and Managing Dairy Barns
Nowadays, cow farms organize their activities in
different ways, using a variety of technical
innovations and methods of their application. This
section analyses the main types of dairy barns with
AMS according to their design and management
regarding cow traffic, milking frequency, and
feeding.
The dairy farms may have one or more AMS
boxes (stalls), depending on the herd size. In big
dairy farms, many cows can be milked
simultaneously. They apply various configurations
of the milking parlors: parallel (Fig. 1), auto-tandem
milking parlors (side-opening, see Fig. 2),
herringbone (cows stand at 45° angle to the edge,
see Fig. 3), and rotatable platform (carousel, see Fig.
4) [10]. The last configuration is explained in details
in subsection 2.4.
Another significant activity in dairy barns is stall
cleaning. It usually lasts about 20 min and is
performed twice a day. The other areas like resting,
waiting, exit areas, and cross-over gates are also
cleaned with the same frequency. Automatic manure
scrapers clean the barns’ floors hourly to take out
the animals’ dung [12].
Fig. 1: Layout of parallel milking parlor [11]
Fig. 2: Tandem milking parlor [11]
Fig. 3: Herringbone (fishbone) milking parlor [11]
Fig. 4: Rotary milking parlor [11]
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Elena Paunova-Ηubenova,
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2.1 AMS with Free or Directed Cow Traffic
One of the crucial decisions in farm management is
the way the animals move. The cows’ passage
between the rooms and open spaces in a barn can be
free or directed traffic.
Free cow traffic: In some farms, cows walk free
across the spaces, and it is expected that they will
enter voluntarily in the AMS to be milked. In the
AMS farms with free traffic, the cow’s access to the
feed line may be reduced. To encourage animals to
enter the milking stall, a couple of methods are
used, like offering water or preferred food or a
possibility for a rest.
Fetching cows: In the free cow passage, there is
a possibility for fetching cows if the animal does not
enter the milking stall for a certain time (usually
about 12 hours). In this way, all the cows are milked
at least two times daily.
Directed (selectively guided) cow traffic: The
feeding time and frequency may also be reduced,
and thus, milk-first-cow traffic is established. The
cows have to pass through the milking stall to
access the feed line [8, 13]. The traffic is regulated
with smart automatic gates.
2.2 Milking Frequency
Cows that are milked more than twice a day produce
a higher amount of milk. According to [14 and 15],
the third milking in one day increases the amount of
milk obtained by 20% on average. If a cow is
milked four times daily, the milk yield increases by
5 to 10% more. The authors point out that the reason
for the additional amount of milk is better feeding
and farm management.
Cows have two periods: a dry period in which
cows do not produce milk and days in milk (DIM).
On average base, DIM is about 160 to 170 for one
year on farms with good management. Longer or
shorter DIM is an indication of a problem [16].
The milking frequency has a more constant value
in AMS with directed traffic than those in AMS
with free traffic. The reason is that cows pass
through the milking stall regularly. Research
comparing AMS with free and with directed cow
traffic finds out that the milking frequency is higher
in the first one [17].
2.3 Feeding
Another significant condition for the milk yield is
the feeding of the cow. In AMS farms, cows often
are fed with a part of the daily concentrate feed
ration, so they are encouraged to pass regularly
through the milking area to reach the next portion of
the food [17]. The total mix ratio is usually
distributed twice daily. The additional concentrated
food is provided individually in the milking stall
[11].
For the complete feeding of the cows, they must
take a variety of food. On different farms, the food
has a different composition and may include: grass
(grazing from a pasture), legume (soybeans), and
high nutritive value forages. Cows show various
preferences for them, which may vary depending on
the time of the day [18, 19], physical distance, and
season. The farms applying a free cow passage
should consider these preferences, as additional
food encourages animals for voluntary milking [20].
2.4 Rotatable Platform
Some dairy barns apply an innovative approach for
arraigning the milking stalls. A plurality of milking
stalls is situated on a rotatable platform (carousel)
supplied with robots-manipulators. The robots-
manipulators can work simultaneously in the
neighboring milking stalls. They are placed locally
and can move their arms according to the rotation of
the platform. One robot-manipulator can attach to a
single cow with the available number of teat-cups
(at least two). The application of this innovative
technology requires using a certain method of
operating the system, such as the method described
in [21].
3 Most Frequently Used Elements of
Dairy Barns
The dairy barns can be designed in different
manners applying or not a wide set of technical
equipment and management solutions.
Configurations of barns can change the cows' daily
regime, and thus, the milk yield. This section
presents the most frequently used elements in AMS
farms.
A milking stall (AMS) is a specialized box for
milking cows. After a cow enters the AMS, several
activities are carried out: cleaning and massaging
the udder, attaching the teat cups, milking, and
storing the teat cups. Additionally, food or water
may be provided to the animal. The elements of
AMS are shortly described in the next section.
Milking parlor (Milking room) – a room or
construction designed for milking a group of cows.
It may include different amounts of milking stalls
depending on the sizes of the herd and the barn.
Resting area – A space in which cows can lay
down and have a rest between feeding and milking.
Feeding area – A room for providing cows with
food [22].
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Dimitar Karastoyanov,
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Feeding Line – The food is placed in a long
feeder, which is usually separated into sections for a
single cow.
Waiting area – The cows are passed from the
resting area through access gates to the waiting area
that is established in front of the AMS. After that,
they are directed to a milking stall to be milked. The
waiting area is not mandatory for every farm. It is
recommended that the time spent in this area be
minimal, as it is wasted instead of resting, and in
addition, it can cause problems with cows’ feet and
nails. These issues reduce the milk produced and
thus the income of the farm [23, 24].
Exit area – Cows enter the exit area after
milking in the stall, and after that, they are passed to
a separation area through another smart gate.
Separation area – In this room, if the cow has
health problems or requires a care procedure, a
sorting gate directs it to a separate area (infirmary),
and if it does not need treatment or care, the gate
gives it access to the feeding area.
Concentrate Self Feeder (non-mandatory
element) – the concentrated feed stations can be
placed in the barn, and cows with high milk yields
are allowed to reach them.
Troughs for drinking water are usually placed in
resting, feeding, waiting, and separation areas. Their
number in the barn depends on the herd size.
Different types of smart gates (one-way gate,
selective gate, and cross-over gates): Cows are
directed through different areas through smart gates,
which can pass or not cows according to their
condition (milking of feeding permission, health,
and care needs).
Other elements of AMS barns are trimming
storage for trimming hoofs, scratching brushes in
the feeding area, and manure scraper for removing
cows’ dung (usually every hour) [10].
4 Elements of a Milking Stall
This section describes the elements of a milking
stall, as some of them are requirements for every
AMS, and others are not mandatory.
Robot arms (manipulators) are the part of
AMS which manipulate the cow’s udder. It contents
several tools to perform the necessary activities for
the milking (teat-cleaning brushes, teat-location
device, and teat cups).
Teat cups – They attach to the cow’s teats to
collect the produced milk. The teat cups must be
well attached to cow’s teats because their
detachment causes milk leakage and thus revenue
reduction. There are two main ways for attaching
the teat cups: manually by an operator and
automatically by a robotic arm directed by a video
camera.
Cleaning system – It cleans the cow's teats and
udder before attaching the teat cups for milking. The
aim is to remove the different types of pollution, so
they will not enter the milk. The cleaning device can
be mounted on a milking robot or at the side of the
milking stall.
Cameras focused on the udder – Depending on
the AMS, they may have one or two purposes: 1.
determining the location of the cow’s teat for
automatic attachment of the teat cups (main
purpose), and 2. Video observations on the milking
process and measuring the time of milking phases
(additional nonobligatory purpose). In the second
case, the cameras record the activities all the time,
and on farms with auto-tandem milking parlors, they
can observe all milking stalls simultaneously. A
software program analyses the video records
according to manually entered data for the milking
phases [17]. However, cameras are not a mandatory
element of the milking parlors. In some AMS, the
teat cups are attached manually by a dairy farm
operator, which is a possible solution on smaller
farms.
Milk tank – A tank for storing and cooling the
collected AMS milk. It can have a different volume
according to the system. When it is full, the milk is
transferred to another storage, and the tank is
cleaned for further usage.
Spare (buffer) milk tank – The AMS is not
working during cleaning and discharging the milk
tank, which decreases its capacity and is
economically unprofitable. For this reason, in some
types of AMS, a spare milk tank with a smaller
volume is available.
Feeder or water trough – The faster milk flow
means a shorter time for milking a cow, and thus, a
possibility for enlarging the AMS capacity. The
stimulation of oxytocin secretion is one of the ways
to increase milk flow. This effect can be achieved
by feeding or watering the cow during milking [25].
Flooring in AMS – According to [17], the type
of flooring in AMS also influences the time that
cows spend in the milking stall. The more
comfortable flooring (such as rubber) decreases the
exit time compared to metal flooring with a profiled
surface.
The pressurized-air jet is applied on some
farms to encourage cows to exit the AMS after
being milked. Another technical solution,
the electric exit drive, is rarely used nowadays as it
is forbidden in countries like Switzerland [17].
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Elena Paunova-Ηubenova,
Dimitar Karastoyanov,
Elisaveta Trichkova-Κashamova
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5 Conclusion
Dairy farms apply different contemporary solutions
aiming to achieve better economic efficiency. The
high price of the technical equipment necessitates its
optimal usage (highest possible capacity). The
different possible configurations of the parlor
necessitate a different set of the above-described
elements. The optimal solution depends on the
following factors: milking frequency, herd size,
feeding regime, and milk transfer from the tank.
The parlor configurations also lead to the
application of different types and configurations of
the milking robots. The daily regime of the cows,
and thus, the milk yield also depends on the
technical solutions used in the dairy barn. Thus,
farm management is a crucial factor for overall
profit.
The features of the selectively guided cow traffic
make it appropriate for herds with a higher number
of animals. It can decrease the farmers’ labor and
therefore lower the expenses. It also leads to
increasing the milking frequency and enlarging the
milk yield.
Acknowledgment:
The research leading to these results has received
funding from the Ministry of education and science
under the National science program INTELLIGENT
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, grant agreement n°Д01-
62/18.03.2021.
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Dimitar Karastoyanov,
Elisaveta Trichkova-Κashamova
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.100
Elena Paunova-Ηubenova,
Dimitar Karastoyanov,
Elisaveta Trichkova-Κashamova
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
1054
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