Milking cows has nearly always been done by hand in Kenya Machines exist that can carry out this task faster, more efficiently and saving the farmer time and losses incurred during manual milking. This article discusses the advantages of automatic milking
Milk machines have been in existence since the late 1990s.For the years they have been on the market, the milk production landscape has changed and leaned on advanced forms of milk production. Automatic milking has not been around for long, but it has been embraced, especially in the Nordic countries of Denmark and Norway, where it’s the norm. However, big strides have been made towards raising awareness of the existence of milking machines to Kenyans living in the rural areas. In this article we go through some of the advantages of automatic milking.
Hygiene
A milking machine is made in such a way that no human hands are used in the collection process. In this way, milk is not contaminated by germs usually present in human hands. Clean milk prevents illnesses that are caused by contaminated milk.
Efficiency
Milking machines are usually 3 times faster than human hands in milking. For the farmer, more milk is produced faster saving time and increasing the quantity of milk produced. Some machines can milk up to 10 heads per hour, a pace that manual milking cannot compete with. Furthermore, they produce less stress on the cow’s udders and as a consequence can extract more milk from the same cow than manual milking.
Modification to fit scale
Milking machines are made according to the scale of livestock kept. There are small scale non-commercial machines that can milk 3-5 heads per hour, while there are also large scale machines that can extract thousands of liters from large heads of cows. On the other hand, single human hands cannot handle thousands of liters, and one would need a group in order to milk large herds. Although these machines differ in cost, you can easily get information about cow milking machine price in Kenya by walking into any agricultural shop near you.
Reliability
The intensity of labor used during manual milking is just a fraction of the labor and energy milking machines used Furthermore, machines cannot be fatigued and therefore can work in a large scale cow set-up. This is unlike human hands which get tired quickly during milking. Having a milking machine for your farm would lead to an increase in milk yields since workers can perform other activities on the farm to maximize milk production.
Wastage
Accidents happen regularly during manual milking which lead to wastage of milk. A cow can spill milk collected in a bucket if one is not careful. Milking machines have suction devices attached directly to the cow’s teats and udder, thereby eliminating the chance of milk spillage. The farmer can therefore collect more milk and raise their milk sales.
Conclusion
Milking machines are an investment with good returns for any farmer who keeps cows for commercial purposes. From their efficiency in the collection of milk to their hygienic and storage capabilities; Milking machines have a defined edge over manual milking systems. It is not a matter of if they will be embraced in Kenya, butt a matter of when.
