COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT MACHINE MILKING CLUSTERS ON DAIRY EWES WITH LARGE-SIZE TEATS

Sixty-five Manchega ewes were milked with three different commercial c lusters with different teatcup and claw characteristics. Clusters with a lip mouthpiece deflection close to 20 mm/kg (vs 8 mm/kg) increased the amount of machine milk (7.6-11.5%) and reduced the hand stripped m ilk (22.7-40.5%) and residual mill; volumes (9.7-14.9%). They also imp roved the milk fat (2.3-2.5%), lactose (1.0-1.4%) and dry matter (1.8% ) composition, thereby potentially simplifying the machine milking rou tine. Milk flow was improved by large claws (91-140 mL vs 48 mL) in a milking parlour where the pipeline was placed above the platforms. Tea tcup falls were related to a liner mouthpiece with a bore greater than 17 mm and to a heavy shell + liner + short milk and pulse tubes (224 g vs 156-168 g). The combined low weight of these permitted a reductio n in vacuum level, thus decreasing the risk of mastitis. The claw's we ight (89-201 g) had no influence on teatcup falls because it hung from a band. The final conclusion was that teat size determined the optima l type of liner. Thus, a mouthpiece bore of 17 mm was better for teats up to 45 mm long or 20 mm wide, while a bore of 19 mm was preferable for bigger teats.