Herd management for robot milking

Robot milking requires a different concept of herd management than conventional milking. The labour routine and the cow behavioural routine are modified substantially with robot milking. Thus, almost all of the activities traditionally associated with animal care must be reorganized. Some tasks are eliminated and new activities are necessary. One of the greatest changes is computerized monitoring, analysis, and control of individual animals in a manner that is transparent to the user, and that is substantially advanced beyond conventional milking. The changes in management required for robot milking offer many potential advantages to both the herd manager and the cow. At the same time, there are many new challenges both to the manager and to the cow because of the different role played by each when milking is performed by a robot. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.