Milking a caw can be done in more than one way. Gone are the days when you needed to massage cow teats by hand. Today, you can literally milk your cows even when you aren’t at the parlor. Robot milking is now the in thing and farmers are quickly embracing it.
What has remained constant is the need of a milking parlor. These parlors have been in existence for centuries. All that changes are the parlor designs. We have gone an extra mile to help you understand the different types of common milk parlor designs.
Which Are The Common Parlor Designs?
Herringbone
These are designs adopted by small dairy farms. With the cow standing at an inclined angle of 45 degrees, the operator is able to access the udder with ease. This design is quite popular as it allows ease of movement and the use of different types of milking equipment.
Parallel
The parallel design is not only common in parking lots but also in milking parlors. Here, the cows stand side by side while facing the wall. This leaves the operator with the rear end from which they can attach their equipment.
This design accommodates a huge number of animals but results in delays. For the milking process to begin all the animals must be in their respective stalls and no animal can be released until when all animals are milked.
Tandem
Ever had a ride on tandem bikes? Well, that’s the idea adopted in these parlor designs. The cows are aligned heat to tail and may only accommodate a few animals. With this design, the operator has numerous access points thus has an easy time fixing the milking equipment.
Unlike the parallel design, cows do not have to wait for others to be milked to be released.
Rotary
While the above mentioned parlors are fixed at one point, the rotary parlor offers the cows a ride. The parlor has a circular platform that hosts the milking stalls. The parlor rotates slowly allowing the operator to attach the milking equipment.
The size of the parlor determines the number of the rotations the cow will make before it can be fully milked.
Swing
This is a unique parlor design adopted where farmers want to minimize parlor modeling costs. The swing is a modification of the parallel, tandem or herringbone where the parlor accommodates two sets of animals. The milking unit is then swung from one side to the other to facilitate milking on both sides.
Conclusion
Milking parlor designs are quite many. The above mentioned designed are just the common modern design. There are however hundreds of other designs that you will find in different parts of the country.
All these designs may work for you. All you need to do is ensure that you are selecting the right design. This ought to be a design that is comfortable, economical, efficient and durable. We hope that the pointers outlined here will help you make the right decision.