Maternal behaviour of 17 multiparous cows and the growth of their calves were observed in Japanese Black cattle. Total durations of maternal grooming and nursing behaviour and the percentage of cow-calf distance within 5 m as maternal behaviour were investigated using focal animal sampling for 6 h from 30 min before sunrise at 2 nd day and 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th weeks after parturition. Temperament, dominance value and parity were evaluated as the dam's character. In addition, the daily weight gain (DG) and the duration of scours were investigated in each calf during the first month after a birth as the indices of growth. As the genetic factor of sires may influence the DGs of their calves, DGs of sires in the individual performance test and the progeny test were also investigated. Individual differences were observed in the total duration of maternal grooming (P<0.0001) and the percentage of cow-calf distance within 5 m (P<0.005), but not the total duration of nursing behaviour. There were no correlations among the total durations of maternal grooming and nursing behaviour and the percentage of cow-calf distance within 5 m, that suggests that 3 aspects of maternal behaviour are independent each other. The total duration of maternal grooming correlated with the calf's DG (r=0.64, P<0.005) and the day of scours (r=-0.67, P<0.05). The percentage of cow-calf distance within 5 m correlated with dominance value (r=0.54, P<0.005) and parity of a dam (r=0.74, P<0.005). DGs of sires in the individual performance test and the progeny test did not correlate with DGs of their calves.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a high performance automatic milking system. Typically the milking robot's main component uses a linear computer control system. The automatic attachment of teat cups depends on a master computer, however, the computer is limited in its ability to calculate teat position, so it is unable to solve some of the milking performance problems. Therefore by using a dispersion computer control system will increase : milking performance and problem of teat cup attachment will be solved. We have studied one possible aspect for future uses of a high performance automatic milking systems. To achieve our goal of a reliable high performance milking robot we set three targets (fast; reliable; inexpensive) that the technology had to meet. We tried to make the robotic arm and cluster arms light weight allowing them to move with the cows when scanning for the teats. The cows movement is between 10 to 20 Hz and the milking robot achieved 25 Hz. The joints, the teat cup arm, and the sensor protector are all flexible which enables them to withstand kicks by the cow. The costs of the robot system were reduced by allowing ambidextrous installation and using despersion control system instead of a linear one. All high performance automatic milking systems using dispersion control is fast, reliable, and cost effective.

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