Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ...

The « Casse System » is a side by side parlor developed from the herringbone parlor which
was in its early stage of development in the latter part of the 1950’s. In a « Casse » parlor, ewes
enter and walk to a manger where a concentrate is distributed either manually or automatically;
they are locked by their necks in special yokes. They go to any headlock they want; the other
ewes can move on the platform behind those that are already locked in and eating concentrates.
When the platform is full, the milker moves the ewes back to the edge of the pit, manually with a
crank or automatically with a pneumatic device. The throughput is generally 120 ewes/hour with
one milker in a typical « Casse System » (24 ewes – 12 milking units).
New Casse milking parlors
Nowadays, modern and highly efficient milking parlors can be found in bigger flocks. The
new « Casse System » has fixed stalls instead of movable stanchions. A gate moves on the
platform when ewes are entering; it stops at the first place, an automatic feeder distributes concentrates
and the gate opens. The first ewe enters the first place which is equipped with an
automatic headlock. When it is locked, the gate moves back to the next place, the second ewe
enters the second headlock and so on... The gate carries a special curtain bent or coming from the
other side of the fixed stalls refraining ewes from going to an unoccupied headlock. This new
system allows for the possibility of distributing the exact amount of concentrate to each ewe
according to her level of production. The movable gate is equipped with a transponder reading
the electronic ear tag of the ewe and giving information to the feeder (through an interface
system with a computer) about the amount of feed to pour in the individual trough. This system
called ADC (automatic distribution of concentrate) will solve the logistic problem of properly
feeding a large number of ewes which are in different stages of lactation and different levels of
production. As a general practice so far, feed has been distributed in an amount sufficient to
cover the nutritional needs of the highest milking ewes leading to a waste of energy and proteins.
Most of these parlors, now very popular, have 2x24 places with 24 units and a high line
pipeline. Two milkers are working in these parlors except when automatic teat cup removal is set
up; in such case only one milker is working. Usually a dog helps ewes entering the platform, and
changing batches in the shed is made by another person or by the milker himself.
Other popular milking parlors are rotary parlors. They generally have 30 units or more (from
30 up to 48 places, sometimes 60) and are only used in big flocks of more than 500 to 600 ewes
with two milkers. Most of them are now equipped with ACR (automatic cup removal).
Other types of parlors
The parlors described so far rely on the feeding of animals in the parlor, the feed offered
being the reward for the ewes to come in. They all work well but they have the common disadvantage
of being expensive and complicated. In order to reduce initial cost of the installation,
some North American producers have replaced the self locking stanchion system by the “crowding
system” developed in New Zealand for dairy cows. A certain number of ewes (12,18, 24)
come in the parlor and are squeezed side by side on the platform being stopped from going
forward by a simple bar. The concentrate is generally distributed by hand. The feeding of concentrate
can also be done outside the parlor after milking. The milking parlor becomes an obligatory
passage for the ewes to get to the feed, and therefore they come in willingly.