As you probably already know, the milk let-down process is not as “instant” as turning lights on and off. And, nor does it just happen on its own. Cows need milkers to remain quiet and calm, help stimulate their udder, and allow them adequate time to lower their milk.
Sure, some cows walk into the parlor already dripping milk. And others seem to take forever regardless of how well you stimulate them. And although every dairy has cows at both extremes, the majority of cows need ninety seconds to two minutes to let their milk down.
So… why does it take approximately two minutes for most cows to give us their milk?
At the moment you first touch a cow’s teats during the milking routine, a signal is sent from the udder, across her spine, and then all the way up to the brain, communicating that it’s time for milking. The brain then sends a hormone called oxytocin down to the heart. From there, it gets pumped the rest of the way to the udder, where it squeezes the milk down into the teats… a process that typically takes between ninety seconds and two minutes to complete.
And how does that help parlor throughput? The better that milkers do stripping and wiping each cow, the better stimulated cows will be. And when she’s well-stimulated, her brain sends more oxytocin down to her udder and she milks out quickly and completely.
Here’s the good news… when milkers do a better job stimulating cows, cows milk out faster. And the faster that cows give their milk, the sooner they can leave the parlor.