When talking about robots you may start thinking of the Jetsons, Star Wars, or the vacuum that keeps the floor in your house clean. Robots have been used in so many different formats to make our lives easier, and help us to have time to focus on other things. Farms have been no different in their pursuit to automate some aspects to make it easier to care for their cows. In fact, there are some farms which now utilize robots to milk their cows!
1. A cow walks into a stall with the robotic milker anytime it wants (on average the cow chooses to get milked 3-4 times a day).
2. The robot recognizes which cow she is by scanning the band either around her neck, or on her feet. Once the robot knows which cow she is the robot knows exactly what to do.
3. She is given a little bit of food to supplement the feed that is available to her in the feed mangers.
4. The robot then cleans each teat and connects the milker to begin the milking process.
5. Once the milking process is complete the robot will disconnect the milker and let the cow out of the stall to join the rest of the herd.
Aren’t robots fantastic?! A robotic milking parlor doesn’t work for all farms, but it is a great solution for some dairies. It is a great way for farmers to spend less time milking cows, and more time focusing on other areas of their farm.
