It is important for calf health that milk is delivered at the right speed to optimise digestive health and performance.
As a teat ages, the rubber becomes softer and milk flow increases. As a calf approaches weaning the more developed digestive system can manage this slightly increased flow but for young calves, a faster flow impacts health and can result in cross suckling and nutritional scours.
Seasonal/ batch rearing: we recommend you start the season/ batch with new Milk Bar Teats in your feeders.
This minimises the disruption from a mid season teat change and gives calves the perfect flow from start to finish.
All year round feeding: we recommend you start each new calf with a new Milk Bar Teat and keep this teat with this calf until weaning.
Follow the Teat with One Calf - One Teat for best results!

How long will my teats last?

We have very strict quality control and only accept teats that perform at 10 hours on our testing machine. 10 hours is around 100 feeds.
Any more than that, and it’s to hard for the calves to drink, any less and the teats don’t last, it’s a finely tuned process!
Depending on what system you use on your farm will determine how long your teats will last.
If you feed individually and use the Follow the Teat system then your teats will last from birth till weaning.
If you are feeding 100 calves using only a couple of Milk Bar 10 feeders, then the teats will need to be replaced more frequently.

The calves will tell you when the teats have become soft and need replacement. As the milk flow increases they will start to suck on each other or their surroundings (cross suckling). As soon as you start to see cross suckling, change your teats to prevent the next stage of fast flow which is diarrhoea.

How do I change my teats?

Milk Bar Teats have a pull through design to sit snugly against the feeder wall for optimum hygiene. However, while this is the most hygienic system, it can also be difficult to change teats!
Use a Teat Tool: This is by far the easiest method. The purpose designed Teat Tool plucks the teat from the feeder with minimal effort in seconds.
Pull the teats out by hand: When removing by hand, make sure to either pull the teat directly down or up. If you try to pull the teat straight out, it will be a tough job!
Cut the teats out: Make sure the blade is sharp and you use the knife away from you. Be sure to check the teat alignment is correct and the slit is vertical!

Milk is a difficult substance to clean off of surfaces. You need hot water to remove the fat, but the heat can bake the protein onto the surface. Using warm water to get rid of the protein leaves a film of fat. When fats and proteins stick to the surface of equipment, they form a biofilm, a nutrient-rich layer in which bacteria grow.
The biofilm protects bacteria from the cleaning process and results in equipment that appears clean but has bacteria on the surface. The cleaning process not only needs to remove fat and protein from surfaces but prevent the formation of a biofilm.

Milk Bar Teats are made from a natural rubber, much the same as your milking liners.
Natural rubber absorbs the milk fat and protein which causes the teats to become softer. Using an Alkali Detergent a few times a week with strip the milk fat and protein from the rubber so your calves can enjoy the controlled flow for longer.

1. Rinse your teats with water.
2. Use an alkali detergent, following the manufacturers instructions.
3. Using a brush, lightly scrub the outside of the teats making sure to bend the teats.
By bending the teats, any milk gets pushed back inside the feeder so the detergent can make contact with the inside of the teat wall.
4. Rinse clean.

Milk Bar Teats come in packs of 10 and 50 pieces.
Milk Bar Teat: 50 pack Code 900112

Milk Bar Teats are made from a natural rubber with no synthetic or oil based additives.

Occasionally we have some rubber that performs well in the testing machine but that becomes unstable with milk contact. As farm practices vary we cannot specify how long the teats will last.
NZ Pat Apps 757655 & 767633 & 727000. NZ Des Reg. 420972 PCT Patent Applications NZ2016/050190 & NZ2020/050110 International Patents and Designs pending or apply.