DeLaval VMS™ Milking Robot

DeLaval VMS – The Choice is Yours!

When you approach us to talk about milking robots the most important thing, we can give you as a potential customer is choice. Choice in what, you ask?
Everything to do with the milking robot. You will see this graphic above from DeLaval with different farmers but the message is, you are in the middle of everything we do and it will all revolve around you, the customer. We do not want to limit customers by only having one way only and that’s how it’s done. You Choose!

From having the choice to see what cow traffic system could be the best fit for your farm. You can choose between Free Access, Feed First and Milk First.
Then on the V300 robot themselves there are of extra equipment options available. We will talk through them and then you can choose what comes as part of your robot package. Instead of spending money on unnecessary items, we tailor making your robot to your needs.
The layout of the shed, we will come with plans but as you can know your farm better, in discussion with us, you can help choose where to install the robots.
Even in grazing systems, we have 2 choices of gate setup to allow you to do this.
That’s why you will find every one of our farms unique as every farmer has chosen their way to set it up (with guidance from us of course).
Choice can be scary if you don’t know what to choose from, but that’s why we’re here to give you the best advice we possibly can throughout the process.

DeLaval V300 – Built to last!

The DeLaval V300 is made to last, that’s why all the metal components of the robot are made out of stainless steel. Even the blue that you see on the top of the robot is powder coated stainless steel, ensuring top class build quality.
Not only is the robot made out of stainless steel, but we also use stainless steel milk lines as standard with each DeLaval robot. With growing concerns around food quality and hygiene, stainless steel milk lines are seen as the gold standard when it comes to ensuring food quality. Not to mention it’s cleanliness and higher quality when compared to plastic milk lines.
The use of stainless steel ensures the robot can last a lifetime; this is testament to the build quality used in the DeLaval V300. With DeLaval, we provide a robot that is built to last, this is why we use nothing but top-quality materials in the production of the DeLaval V300.

How does the DeLaval V300 detect Mastitis?

MDi (Mastitis Detection Index) is incorporated into the DeLaval V300 to help with mastitis detection on farm. The V300 contains MM27 BC milk meters. These milk meters are ICAR approved (meaning they can be used for milk recording on farm) and can test the milk produced from the cow for both blood and conductivity readings.
The V300 has 4 milk meters installed, meaning the farmer can receive milk weights, conductivity readings and blood readings, for the milk produced from each of cows 4 quarters. Conductivity is measured by electronic probes at the bottom of the milk meter, which assess the milks’ ability to transfer electrical current. The thicker the milk, the poorer its ability to transfer electrical current. Blood is measured by white light sensors within the milk meter, enabling it detect discoloration of the milk and present the farmer with a blood value for the milk the cow produces.
The V300 uses the data it gains from each cows milking, to provide each cow with an average value for conductivity on a per quarter basis. This allows the system to alert the farmer when a cow’s conductivity or blood values increase to abnormal levels compared to what usually observed for this animal.
The MDi combines conductivity, milking interval, and blood detection to present the farmer with a score of each cow’s udder health. The DelPro software combines these results into an easily accessible list for the farmer called the Cow Monitor. This helps the farmer to make informed decisions regarding mastitis detection and treatment within their herd.

How does a DeLaval V300 grant cows milking permission?

Different to other systems, a DeLaval V300 can grant cows milking permission based on their time since last milking or there expected milk yield. If a cow is set that she receives milking permission at 8 hours since her last milking or when her expected yield reaches 8 kg, she receives milking permission when either of these events occurs
first.
For example – Cow Z is producing 30kg / day and is on above settings 30kg / 24 hours – she is producing 1.25 kg / hour If Cow Z milks at 8:00, she is producing 1.25 kg of milk / hour, she will reach an expected yield of 8kg in 6.5 hours, meaning she will gain milking permission again at 14:30. If she was not able to gain milking permission based on expected yield, she would not gain milking permission until 16:00
The DeLaval VMS milking permission system ensures that higher yielding cows gain milking
permission more often, allowing them to milk more regularly. While the hours option ensures lower yielding cows can still gain milking permission after a set period of time has passed, ensuring they can achieve multiple milkings per day.
These milking permission settings can be set on a herd basis, or an individual cow basis. The vast majority of the herd can be on automatic milking permissions, while individual cows can have their milking permissions set based on their needs Eg. Late lactation cows with poor BCS may be put on 1x per day milking to try help them gain condition.

How does the DeLaval V300 prepare teats for milking?

The DeLaval V300 uses the DeLaval PureFlow™ to prepare a cow’s teats before milking. Not only is each teat cleaned thoroughly, the DeLaval Pureflow™ stimulates each teat individually to improve milk letdown and productivity.
The DeLaval PureFlow™ is essentially a 5th cup that cleans each teat with warm water using a vortex action, this vortex action helps to pre-milk the cow, removing the first drags of higher cell count milk and stimulating the cow’s milk let down reflex. This pre-milk is diverted to separate dump line, ensuring maximum food hygiene and milk quality. The teat is then dried as the cup is removed from the cow.
The DeLaval V300 offers 5 different teat cleaning settings, the farmer can change these teat cleaning settings based on the time of year and the condition of their cows’ teats. Teat cleaning settings can also be altered on a per cow basis. The cows which tend to have dirtier teats can be put on a heavier teat cleaning setting, while the rest of the herd can remain on their normal teat cleaning settings.
The DeLaval V300 ensures that each cows teats are thoroughly cleaned and properly stimulated before milking. Thorough teat cleaning helps to improve mastitis prevention and improve milk quality. Proper teat stimulation helps to increase milk let down speed also. Fast milk let down is one of the key points when considering how to get more milk through the robot, this does not happen without proper preparation.

Importance of the DeLaval A-B-C Yard at Grazing

What really sets a DeLaval VMS grazing system apart from the rest is its pre-selection capabilities, ensuring that only cows that are due for milking enter the VMS Waiting Area. The DeLaval SmartSelectionGate (SSG) uses gate decisions to ensure that only cows that are due for milking enter the area before the robots. This prevents congestion around the robots, while also ensuring cows are not spending unproductive time on the concrete next to the robots when they could be outside grazing and producing more milk!
A DeLaval VMS grazing system uses two DeLaval SSG’s to navigate cows to their correct area. The reasoning for two DeLaval SSG’s is so that we can control cow flow to and from the robot. This allows us to use gate decisions to ensure only cows with milking permission enter the robot waiting area, while any cows that are not due for milking can continue onto to the next paddock of grass depending on the time of day.
We can also use our gate decisions to ensure cows that are soon due milking permission will not be sent off to grass before being milked. Our gate decisions enable us to direct cows that are soon due milking permission into the VMS Waiting Area, ensuring they won’t be sent out to grass until they receive milking permission and are milked by the DeLaval V300.
This pre-selection system has endless capabilities. Many farmers are even sending heifers to the next grazing paddock and hour earlier than the rest of the herd to ensure they get the pick of the best grass before the older cows. The DeLaval SSG’s allows the farmer to have complete control over cow movement and optimise cow flow.
The pre-selection capabilities of a DeLaval VMS grazing system helps to ensure a successful grazing system with optimal cow flow. The pre-selection element of the system ensures minimal cow waiting area times, while also ensuring optimal cow production and grass intakes.

The DeLaval VMS™ Milking Robot allows each cow to be milked according to her individual needs

DeLaval VMS™ Milking Robot

The DeLaval milking robot is all about making robotic milking more personal, more accurate, more profitable. With two models in the VMS ™ series, our milking robots able to treat each farm, each farmer, each cow, even each teat individually and to help you to create a better place to be for workers, cows, you and your families. A DeLaval automated milking system with VMS™ at the centre is the result of thousands of hours of development focussed on finding ways to help dairy farmers to deliver more, better quality milk from healthier cows, without making it harder for you to have a healthy lifestyle.

ADVANTAGES

• Testspray 99% hit rate *
• More than 3500kg milk per day *
• 10% higher capacity *
• 99.8% attachment rate *
• Up to 50% faster attachment time *
• 32% improvement in insemination rate**