Milk yield and daily visit frequencies of German Fleckvieh and German Holstein cows in a robot milking system

In a farm specific breed trial of German Fleckvieh (n = 92) and German Hols tein (n = 93) cows comparing simultaneously different milking systems (conv entional ''Tandem" with "Robot" milking system), only German Fleckvieh cow' s showed the expected increase in their milk yield by 13% due to the higher milking frequency in the milking robot (Astronaut, Lely). Since both breed s were kept in mixed groups, the socially lower ranked German Holsteins cou ld not achieve their full potential milk performance, because the higher ra nked Fleckvieh cows partially blocked the entrance to the milking robot fur the German Holsteins. Caused by a lower milk now rate, Fleckvieh staved an average 30 seconds longer in the milking robot than did German Holsteins. Despite the lower social ranking within mixed herds, German Holsteins achie ved totally a higher milk yield in both milking systems than Fleckvieh cows . However, cows of the two breeds should be kept in separate herds in order to enable especially German Holsteins to realize their full performance po tential.