Automation for teat care has arrived
An intelligent new Auto Mix + Spray unit from GEA’s FIL division is said to set a gold standard in teat spraying, providing farmers with an accurately mixed solution applied ‘fresh’ at every milking.
Much of the poor practice centred on incorrect dilution rates and storage of mixed product.
Both problems are now addressed by a new device seen at the ASB Innovation Centre at Central Districts Field Days -- the Saflex MixMaker sold exclusively by Ecolab.
Spokesman Mark Bell-Booth says the device “requires only four minutes to get properly diluted teat spray onto the cow, direct from the drum, fully mixed and diluted to the correct concentration”.
An easy-to-use control panel allows the ratio of teatspray and emollient to be adjusted on the job between 5% and 30%, to allow for changes in environmental conditions. The changes can be made immediately before or during milking.
Field testing in Canterbury, on herds from 300 to 1400 cows, indicated that hot, drying winds can completely change the condition of a teat between morning and afternoon milking, and necessitate changes to the teat spray ratios.
Managers at the trial sites said they found it much easier to tweak the MixMaker to adjust the percentage of emollient in the spray mix to counter possible teat damage during milking; changes to the texture of the product were seen just minutes later.
The system can be retro-fitted to the inlet tube of an existing vacuum or electric teat spray system, or added to an automatic or walk-over system.
