The rotary shed was developed by a clever Taranaki dairy farmer called Merv Hicks in 1969.
A rotary shed is like a giant record player. It’s basically a large circle, with milking stalls going right around, which the cows stand in while being milked.
The circle slowly moves around at a speed slow enough that the cows are finished milking once it completes one full rotation. When the circle has finished each rotation the cows that have been milked walk out and the next lot come into the stalls.
The farmer stands in a pit on the outside of the circle, so it’s easy to wash the udders and put on the cups. Rotary milking sheds are great for large herds and they can milk over 1,000 cows during each milking.
Watch my movie all about a rotary shed:
I found this really cool animation of how a rotary shed works:
