I had a conversation with a farmer the other day .basically it started off with him asking if I enjoyed my weekends off , oh yes i replied, telling him that although i was off , i was always around for AI's etc and to keep an eye on our activity collars on the cows for any signs of heat (bulling, ).At this point his ears picked up and he started to tell me that he too has collars on his cows , to pick up cows in heat , although he is far from happy with the results and effectiveness of them.
I explained that it is , indeed, all in the interpretation of the results of the activity graphs , that will determine the optimum results , but it soon became apparent that he has been sold this kit as a HEAT DETECTOR , this is just so wrong. The collar system we have here was sold to us , and bought by us as an ACTIVITY DETECTOR, ie, it monitors the levels of activity in the individual animals and will conjure up graphs which i can interpret and perhaps make correlations with the animal coming into season.
Too many of these systems have been mis-sold as the answer to all of the dairy industries fertility issues, and that all you have to do is look at the computer screen and it will tell you exactly what is happening out in the field with regard to fertility. Quite simply , they will give you some sort of indication that the individual animal is more/less active than her 7 day average activity level. Then , by other means , visual, dates, heat detectors etc , you may be able to determine if indeed the animal is in season.
Another aid in heat detection that we use is the Kamar heat detector. This is a plastic "bubble" filled with a red dye that is glued onto the tail head of the cow and quite simply is burst and turns red when another animal mounts her ! Now this type of aid DOES demonstrate that there has indeed been some SIGN of heat , but again , this should only be used as a guide an d possible further investigation my be needed.
There is no getting away from the fact that one of the most reliable means of heat detection is purely with the human eye , basically you can never spend enough time watching the cows for any signs of heat .It's amazing the signs are there if you can just spend that 20 mins standing , studying them .
I mentioned this to the farmer , and i advised him to perhaps try the Kamar type of heat detection. Unbelievably , he had never heard of them , and even worse was that he went on to tell me just how many thousands his collar system was to install.
I just felt it was a tale of getting back to basics , getting out in the field , seeing the signs for yourself. . . . . .far cheaper and way more rewarding too .
Thanks for following me on Twitter! I have a great mate who lives in Berwick. I loved it the last time I visited him.
ReplyDeleteAs for heat detection...nothing beats keeping track of it in the herd book or milk yield chart. Our AI dude handed me out a clever 365 day chart for tracking it. If all works out the heat days are lined up next to each other going across--especially if the girls are on a 21day cycle.... If not, then they stair step. You mark the AI day down on the calendar and watch for bulling or heat signs when the block on the chart next to the Service date comes up. Very cool.
A very simple, old world way of checking for heat, or pre-heat is to look at the mid-back swirl of your cow....yes, it's there on the top-line around the shoulders. The further towards the head, BTW, tells you what sort of yield the girl gives as well, ie higher closer to head.... When a few hairs in the swirl stand on end, it means she's charged with estrogen. Creepy how accurate it is.