Monitoring fertility Flashcards
What is the purpose/role of key performance indicators?
- Demonstrate efficiency to stay in business
- Show good animal health and welfare
- Provide a “benchmark group”
- Accurately measurable (or consistent) and understandable
Name 2 legally required farm records
Sheep movement licenses
British cattle movement service
Describe the features of a farm that you would assess on a farm visit
Fresh eyes – look carefully
1. Animals
- Body condition score
- Type
- Cleanliness
2. Building / environment
3. People
- Capabilities
- Motivation
- Needs from you
Monitoring is a continued driver for..?
Change and improvement
When using a bray chart, one time around the circle = ?
One lactation
List some example KPIs of a herd
- Milk/cow/year
- Lactation yield
- Protein/cow/year
- SCC
- Average lactation length
- Average dry days
- Mean parity
- Average age at 1st calving
- Average calving interval
- Culling %
- Death %
What is the submission rate?
No. animals served / No. Eligible / 3 week cycle
When serving which parameters are used to assess fertility
- Submission rate
- 1st service submission rate
- All services submission rate
- Calving to conception interval
Define conception rate
% pregnant of those served
Why do you not need to know the exact initial conception rate?
Some will abort before pregnancy diagnosis
Why might you pregnancy diagnose earlier?
To detect empty cows
Why would you not want to pregnancy diagnose early?
Will still have later loss so wont be as predictive of calving numbers
24hrs after being in heat what occurs?
Ovulation
How many days after ovulation does maternal recognition of pregnancy take place?
14-15
How can Cu-sum be used in fertility monitoring?
Tracks conception rates over time
- positive PD moved up, negative moves down
Can pinpoint moments on the chart to assess pregnancy rate at that point - can see trends in dips/rises
