Training Heifers to Robots: Does it Pay Off?

Getting a heifer through her first milking can be a challenge. Whether that be in a tiestall, a parlor, or an automated milking system, it is a new, scary environment for that animal. Not only is this animal being milked for the first time, but this is also probably the first time she will be handled daily. Often, heifers are on pasture or housed in barns where their only experience with humans may be feeding, vaccination, and breeding. Depending on the farm's management and size, this heifer will likely also join a group of new and older animals.

It has been observed that training heifers to the parlor before calving reduces stress-related behaviors, such as kicking and stepping, when the milking unit is first put on (Kutzer et al., 2015). Another study found that heifers trained to a milking parlor before calving experience less stress during milking, but this response depended on the heifer's temperament. Flightier heifers had a lower response to training than calmer heifers. Researchers concluded that these animals, which show greater fear of humans, may need further training (Sutherland and Huddart, 2012).

Since research has shown the positive effects of training heifers to a parlor before calving, researchers wanted to investigate whether this would also be effective in robots. A recent study by Trevor DeVries' lab at the University of Guelph looked at training heifers to robots before freshening. Half of the heifers were trained 3 times daily starting 10 to 14 days before their expected calving date, and the other half were not trained. These training sessions lasted 5 to 20 minutes. Heifers were moved to a robot pen between 3 and 7 DIM, after they were milked with a portable milking unit in their calving pen. The animals that received training before milking entered the robot more easily, let down their milk more effectively, had more voluntary visits, and were fetched less often than untrained cows (Brasier et al., 2025).

While this study showed promising results, training animals 3 times per day for two weeks before their calving date is unrealistic for most farms; this would require a large amount of labor. If farms want to start using this strategy, start by training once per day, a few days before expected calving. Also, if farms are short on robot time and don't want to use their robots to train heifers, another option is a "phantom robot." This structure is designed to look and feel like a robot, but without all the mechanics, so it is much cheaper. A study by Kuhlberg et al. (2021) showed that heifers can be successfully trained to phantom robots, increasing milking frequency during the first few days in milk.

Training heifers to robots can pay off. Cows that let their milk down better are less likely to develop mastitis and less likely to get teat-end damage. Decreasing the number of fetches decreases labor for the farm.

Other strategies to help heifers through their transition period

After calving, one of the most significant stressors a heifer deals with is moving into a new group with older, more dominant cows. Ideally, heifers should be kept in their own group after calving, rather than mixing them with older cows. This helps reduce competition for them. If that's not an option, wait as long as possible before moving them in with older cows (Proudfoot and Huzzey, 2022). When moving heifers into a new group after calving, move them together as a pair. Heifers moved with another heifer that they know have lower stress hormone levels than those who move by themselves (Mazer et al., 2020).

Reducing as many stressors as possible during the fresh period will help heifers have an easier transition period. The fresh period sets an animal up for the rest of their lactation; therefore, it is important to increase milk as much as possible during that time.

References

Brasier, J. E., D. B. Haley, R. Bergeron, and T. J. DeVries. 2015. Effect of training dairy heifers to an automated milking system before parturition on their adaptation and performance. J. Dairy Sci. 108:11418-11431.

Kutzer, T., M. Steilen, L. Gygax und B. Wechsler. 2015. Habituation of dairy heifers to milking routine – Effects on human avoidance distance, behavior, and cardiac activity during milking. J. Dairy Sci. 98: 5241-5251.

Mazer, K. A., P. L. Knickerbocker, K. L. Kuting, and J. M. Huzzey. 2020. Changes in behavior and fecal cortisol metabolites when dairy cattle are regrouped in pairs versus individually after calving. J. Dairy Sci. 103:4681-4690.

Proudfoot, K. L. and J. M. Huzzey. 2022. A first time for everything: The influence of parity on the behavior of transition dairy cows. JDS Comm. 3:467-471.

Sutherland, M.A., and F. J. Huddart. 2012. The effect of training first-lactation heifers to the milking parlor on behavioral reactivity to humans, physiological and behavioral responses to milking, and productivity. J. Dairy Sci. 95:6983-6993.

von Kuhlberg, M. K., M. Wensch-Dorendorf, J. Gottschalk, T. Wagner, N. Herrmann und A. Einspanier. 2021. The effects of a training program using a phantom to accustom heifers to the automatic milking system. J. Dairy Sci. 104:928-936.