The milking parlour is a fascinating place and if you get a chance to see it in action you'll probably come away impressed.

The frequency of milking varies from farm to farm and depends on the type of parlour used, the stage of lactation and milk yield. Most farmers milk their cows twice a day, but in a robotic milking system cows sometimes choose to be milked four to five times a day. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are producing more milk, nor is it uncomfortable for them - calves would naturally feed at four to six hourly intervals.