Importance

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Abstract

A method for milking animals, such as cows, wherein the cows enter a milking compartment where teat cups of a milking apparatus are automatically attached to their teats. In the milk conduit system leading from the teat cups, sensors are placed to measure a variety of parameters and provide data to a computer for processing and presenting the data which the computer receives from the sensors. This data includes information from a flow sensitive sensor, a temperature sensitive sensor, and a sensor sensitive to electric conductivity of the milk. Information is also provided from the milking compartment to the computer on how much food is consumed by each animal, and how many times each animal enters the milking compartment. The computer compares the data received from the various sensors with similar data from immediately preceding selected periods of time, whereby a progressive average of the relevant data is available and compared for each animal. The data received for ill or animals in estrus differ from those of healthy and non-estrus animals, whereby the sensors are detecting and the computer is processing and determining from the data provided from the sensors on a continuing basis which animals are and are not healthy or in estrus.

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First Claim