NEW CALF ON THE FARM 

That’s not quite true, A) some a lot of systems were designed to put the units on from the side and b) there is less power when the cow kicks forward than backwards. Parlours have bars to prevent a cow kicking backwards. They can potentially kill if kicking at full stretch and speed. Think herbivores protecting themselves from wolves and how they do it. You can generally dodge forward kicks hence why cows outside of a parlour were traditionally milked from the side.

Hi Kevin We can still get kicked in the face milking from behind, I too have seen boken teeth, noses and cracked cheek bones milking from behind usually from the hock (when you are working at the same level as the cow rather than in a pit in a herringbone parlour) probs more so than from the side. This particular cow needed to be milked from the side a)due to her bag/teat placement b)the way the temporary milking area/shed set up ie cubicle step cow didn't fit lengthways, concrete trough etc c) The trolley milker didn't lend itself to milking from behind in this particular set up.