The invention relates to a device for automatically milking fluid from udders of animals of a herd in a time-specifiable manner, in particular of cows. Said device comprises a plurality of milking robots (18) arranged on a base for automatically milking animals, wherein each milking robot (18) has an inlet (20) and an outlet (22) and a milking cluster (24) that can be automatically attached to the udder of an animal. The device further comprises a fenced waiting area (12) located upstream of the inlets of the milking robots (18) for the animals of a herd to be milked, wherein the waiting area (12) has an entrance (28) for manually delivering the animals to the waiting area (12). The device has an animal driver unit (38) for automatically herding animals located in the waiting area (12) to the inlets of respective milking robots (18) that are becoming available.