Milking
Milk comes from a cow, as you know. But did you also know that a dairy cow is milked at least twice a day? Traditionally, this was done by hand, but now there are milking machines and even milking robots! Let Anna and Dean tell you more.
Milking with robots
In a regular cow shed, the dairy cows go to get milked at fixed times. The farmer puts suction cups on the cow’s udders, which extract the milk. The milk goes straight to a chilled container, where the trucks from the milk factory will collect the milk. Cool, huh?
But there are also milking robots, which make everything fully automatic. The cow then walks back to the field or home to her large, luxurious shed. If they feel that their udder is full of milk, they go to the milking robot themselves. This recognises the cow using a sensor and knows exactly if it is time to milk her. The robot connects the suction cups to the udder itself to release the milk, giving the cow some delicious feed at the same time. Once milking is finished, the suction cups are steam cleaned and disinfected.
Watch this video by Syracuse.com to find out
Even more milk
Cows like to be milked. By using a milking robot, the farmer gets up to 10% more milk from the cow! Most cows learn very quickly where they can find the milking robot. And they like going into the robot because it gives them food. Some cows are slower to find their way to the robot themselves, so the farmer helps them find their way. A cow can always find the milking robot within a 400 metre radius. Clever!
Test your knowledge
Sometimes, when you’re giving a presentation, you might need to ask the audience questions. Why not test your own knowledge here? You could use them in your presentation
