A BAD PRACTICE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26980, 15 January 1949, Page 4

A BAD PRACTICE

THE FARM

LEG-ROPING CONDEMNED NOT FOLLOWED ELSEWHERE The practice of leg-roping cows during milking in Australia and New Zealand was a subject of comment by a recent vistior, Dr W. E. Petersen, American dairy scientist, who stated, according to a report in the Melbourne Argus that it was not done in any other part of the world. “Just think of the vulnerable position you put yourself in when putting a leg-rope on,” he remarked. “ The most amazing thing is that the cow does not always take advantage of it. Cows must be happy and quiet when being milked if the job is to be completed properly. But perhaps they can even be conditioned to leg-ropes.” ■ Addressing a large audience of dairymen and students in the Melbourne University public lecture theatres, Dr Petersen, who is professor of dairy husbandry at St Paul’s University, Minnesota, said the main object of those in the industry should be to make the job of milking more speedy, more attractive to labour, and more pleasant to the cow. A good psychological relationship between the milker and the cow, he said, was a major factor in milk production, for cows in their psychological make-up had all the attributes of human behaviour—they ranged from happy individuals to the unhappy, the frustrated, and the insane. Among other points that Dr Petersen made were:— Milking should be done in the shortest possible time, with the least possible effort. Three and a-half minutes a cow was the ideal throughout the United States. Machine teat-caps should be removed immediately the flow of milk ceased, to avoid injury which led to mastitis. Cows which had developed bad milking habits, which included “ a second let-down of milk,” should have their teats stimulated by application of a towel dropped in hot water. All should be trained for a quick let-down from their first milking. Hand-stripping should be avoided after machine milking. Any New Zealand farmer who studies the interests of his herd, and his own financial returns, will agree wholeheartedly with what Dr Petersen had to say. Cows respond to kind treatment as well as any domestic animal, and can easily be trained from their first milking to stand without being leg-roped. Lack, of patience is primarily the reason for the development of this widespread practice of leg-roping in the Dominion. If a change is continually being made with the person in charge of the herd trouble also arises. An animal no sooner becomes accus-; tomed to one milker than a change takes place. Sometimes this is unavoidable where the farmer has to rely upon hired assistance, for it is a notorious fact that workers in the primary field are always moving about from one job to another. The result in many cases is that the cows suffer.