Herd Testing

Four times a year we do a herd test on our cows. This data tells us how many litres of milk the cows produce - this is broken down into milk solids (fat and protein).

The test also tells us what the Somatic Cell Count (SCC) is for each cow. If the SCC count is high, then the cow more than likely has mastitis, and needs antibiotic treatment to clear up the infection in the udder.

Today we did the afternoon sampling and we will also collect a sample at tomorrow morning's milking. The first picture shows the special milk meters that are set up on each set of milking cups. The top oblong container drips a set amount of milk into the bottom flask. Farmerboy then goes along and numbers each flask with the cows number. Once the cow has finished milking, I then collect each flask, replace it with a new flask for the next cow, and take the used flask, put a lid on it and put it in the tray that relates to the number of that cow (see photo on right side of collage.)

After tomorrow's milking, the samples will be collected and taken to Christchurch Airport, flown to a lab in Hamilton, and the results of the test are e-mailed to us within 24hours.