Milking of Brown Swiss and Austrian Simmental cows in a herringbone parlour or an automatic milking unit

Automatic milking systems (AMS) are becoming increasingly common on dairy farms and should be evaluated for their effect on cow welfare. Dairy cows’ stress responses during normal successful milking in a 2×6 herringbone milking parlour (HMP) were compared with their responses during normal successful voluntary milking in an automatic unit (AMU). We observed 42 cows: 12 Simmental and 11 Brown Swiss in the AMU, and 10 Simmental and 9 Brown Swiss in the HMP. Both prior to and during the observations each cow was milked in one system only. Behaviour during milking and durations of different phases of the milking procedure were observed directly two to six times per cow. Heart rate was recorded telemetrically. Samples of composite milk were analysed for cortisol using an enzyme-immunoassay. Milking lasted longer in the HMP than in the AMU (general mixed model: F 1,39=12.06, P=0.0013), after significant effects of milk yield, day of lactation and time of day had been taken into account. Location of the teats by the robot took longer in Simmental than in Brown Swiss cows (Mann–Whitney- U-test: U 11,12=32, P=0.037). Kicking and stepping with the hind legs was less frequent in the AMU than in the HMP ( U 23,19=76.5 for kicks; U 23,19=85 for steps; P