HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Interpretive Summary Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gygax, L. Articles by Nosal, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gygax, L. Articles by Nosal, D.

Short Communication: Contribution of Vibration and Noise During Milking to the Somatic Cell Count of Milk

L. Gygax^*,1 and D. Nosal

^* Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, and
Construction & Animals, Agroscope FAT Tänikon, Ettenhausen 8356, Switzerland

¹ Corresponding author: lorenz.gygax{at}fat.admin.ch

We investigated the hypothesis that somatic cell counts (SCC) in milk are influenced by the vibration and noise experienced by dairy cows during milking. We therefore measured vibration and noise on 50 Swiss dairy farms (with herringbone, autotandem, side-by-side, or carousel parlors), where we also collected bulk tank SCC. Somatic cell counts increased with an increasing intensity of vibration but not with acoustic noise. Cows milked in autotandem and side-by-side parlors had lower SCC than those in the other 2 types of milking parlors. On 12 farms where the milking system was modified to reduce vibration and noise, SCC also dropped. In addition, the relative improvement in SCC seemed to be correlated with the relative improvement in the reduction of vibration but not with the improvement in acoustic noise. A reduction in vibration (structure-borne sonic waves) seemed to improve udder health, which may have been mediated by the increased well-being and reduced stress of cows during milking.

Key Words: dairy cow • somatic cell count • vibration • noise