Herringbone-type rotary milking parlour

A rotary milking parlour comprising:

• an annular milking platform having a floor and being divided into a series of elongated milking stalls each having a longitudinal axis, said milking stalls being arranged in a herringbone pattern along the annular milking platform, and a central milker pit;
• a radially directed accessway at the outer periphery of the milking platform to allow cows to enter their milking stalls head first from the outside;
• an external, radially directed exitway from the milking platform and the adjacent accessway to allow the cows to exit their milking stalls head first;
• radially inner rear milking stalls delimiting means defining a rear barrier for each stall;
• a gate associated with each milking stall and adapted to be moved to an access position, each said gate serving as a milking stall delimiting means defining a radially outer front barrier;
• and
• a horizontal axle substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of each milking stall pivotally carrying each of said gates, wherein the axle of each gate is part of a hinge/bearing fastened to the floor of the milking platform, each said gate being pivotable towards a cow in the stall to insure that the cows will abut the rear barrier at any time during the milking process.