Dairy Stockmanship

Good dairy stockmanship not only improves animal health and production, it helps ensure a safe and efficient work environment for the whole team.

Stockmanship covers interactions between cows and people, see below for the different areas within Stockmanship.

Moving cattle

Guidance to help increase work efficiency and reduce stress, lameness and injuries.
Multiple mobs

Tips to manage multiple mobs in a way that will minimise their impact on the milking routine.
Training heifers

Heifers are valuable stock and their introduction to the milking herd requires time and patience.

Dairy environments

Creating a good dairy environment is key to an efficient milking. This includes dairy design and milker behaviour.
Milk let-down

The milk let down reflex stimulates milk flow from the alveoli in the udder into the teat canal.
Teat washing

Teat preparation before milking can involve the cleaning and/or massaging of teats before the cups are attached.
Cluster attachment

Attaching clusters is a major part of the milking routine and if not done correctly can cause teat damage, cup slipping, and lead to mastitis.
Cluster removal

All milkers should know how to remove clusters correctly - clusters which are left on too long result in over-milking, liner creep and teat end damage.
Teat spraying

Teat spraying is critical for maintaining teat skin health and controlling mastitis during lactation.
Managing animal health

Ensuring animal health issues are dealt with effectively is very important, particularly as herd sizes become larger.
Drenching in the milking routine

If done correctly the drenching process can be fitted into the normal milking routine with ease and without any substantial increase in milking times.
Tail management

You can achieve a safe and comfortable working environment for people, with minimal impact on your time or milking routine, by trimming tails.