Milking procedures and milk ejection in Italian Brown cows

The aim of the study was to describe, on the basis of field data, the traits of milk flow curves of Italian Brown cows and to investigate some sources of variation. A total of 1,450 milk flow curves of the whole udder were collected in 81 Italian Brown dairy herds in Lombardy, Italy, using electronic mobile milk flow meters. Parity order and days in milk affected most milk flow traits. Milk flow curves showed some defects dependent on milking management practices: very long machine-on time, long duration of overmilking phase, high percentage of stripping and moderate percentage of bimodality.