Milking machine equipment is designed to harvest milk efficiently and maintain healthy teats. Machines that are not functioning correctly can contribute to new mastitis infections by damaging teat ends, forcing bacteria-laden droplets into the teat canal, and reducing full udder milk-out.

Problems are often due to inadequate maintenance of mechanical components and rubberware.

Guideline 6 provides practical information on:

• Daily, weekly and monthly checks of machine function
• Vacuum levels and milking times
• When to change liners
• When to call the milking machine tester

Technote 6 provides technical information for farmers and advisers on:

• The process of removing milk by machine
• Milking-time tests of machine function
• Measuring completeness of milk out
• Principles of liner selection