Select Sires

Is Tail Chalking Right for Your Herd?
Transcript of Select Sires' Reproductive Moment Program
on DairyLine Radio Which Aired July 29, 2004
With Al Deming, general manager
East Central/Select Sires

This week’s Reproductive Moment is with Al Deming, general manager of East Central/Select Sires. The topic this week, "Is Tail Chalking Right for Your Herd?" Although the best indication of whether or not a cow is in heat is if she is seen standing to be mounted in standing heat, many of today’s busy producers find heat-detection aids, including tail-chalking, can help, and Al is here to tell us how this works.

The way tail-chalking is done is a stripe of chalk is put down the tail head of the cattle and then they are observed and that stripe is freshened up on a daily basis. When an animal stands to be mounted the stripe is wiped off, and our technician knows the cow was in heat or at least stood to be mounted. By checking records he can determine if the animal is in heat and ready to be bred.

After realizing that the chalk is mostly rubbed off, what would be the next step?

The next step is that our inseminator reviews the herd records to make sure that this is the cow that is eligible to be bred, that has been fresh long enough, and those things. Then he proceeds to put the semen in.

This is a fairly inexpensive process, isn’t it?

Yes. We have a variety of prices, depending upon herd size, whether the cows are in lock-ups or whether they are just in free-stalls and have to be chalked in that way. A lot of it depends upon how much time the technician has to spend on the farm for the number of cows that can be bred.

This technician really has to have a trained eye, doesn’t he?

Yes. We are continually training our people and they are continually going to courses. Of course, the new people that we bring on-board will spend several weeks with the people that we have that are already doing it to help to develop the technique and develop the training to evaluate the tail-chalk and know just exactly what it means.

So, from a reproductive and a labor-saving standpoint, this tail chalking can actually help producers achieve better numbers. Have you seen that?

Yes, we have seen quite an increase in pregnancy rates in our tail-chalked herds. A lot of things happen as herds expand. Everyone gets busier, and a lot of times people just run out of time on the farm. This is one thing that they can hire a professional to do, and not have to worry about being there at a specific time each morning to observe for heat, or having their employees observing for heat.

Mating the herd about once a month and working closely with the herdsman is all a part of that?

It is all a part of that service. That is correct.

And, I suppose if anyone out there is interested in getting some help from a service technician you just go ahead and call the Select Sires representative in your area?

That is correct.

Al Deming, general manager of East Central/Select Sires.

Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751