Herringbone milking parlour

The most utilised parlour installation is the Herringbone parlour, so named because of the linear layout and angle of the stalls mimicking the shape of the backbone of the herring fish. In herringbone milking sheds, or parlours, cows enter, in single file, and line up almost perpendicular to the central aisle of the milking parlour on both sides of a central pit in which the milker works (you can visualise a fishbone with the ribs representing the cows and the spine being the milker's working area; the cows face outward). After washing the udder and teats the cups of the milking machine are applied to the cows, from the rear of their hind legs, on both sides of the working area. Large herringbone sheds can milk up to 600 cows efficiently with two people. Typical sizes range from a Double 8/8 through 20/20 which means an identical number of stalls on each side of the parlour. There will be one milking control for each stall in a Double parlour and the stall angle ranges from 30 to 90 degrees.