Select Sires

Heat Detection Aids
Transcript of Select Sires' Reproductive Moment Program
on DairyLine Radio Which Aired April 28, 2005
With Joel Mergler,
vice president of training and herd management products,
Select Sires Inc.

Today’s Reproductive Moment is with Joel Mergler, Vice President of Training and Herd Management products at Select Sires. Joel, what are you seeing as one of the biggest challenges producers face in improving their herd's reproduction?

Here is an obvious statement that won’t surprise anyone in your listening audience: "Heat detection has never been a greater challenge."

What is causing the problem?

High-producing cows, increasingly larger herds on concrete, and operations where the labor situation is already maxed out.

What is the solution?

Unfortunately, the solution is not simple, and it takes a consistent commitment. With researchers telling us that a missed heat past 90 days is costing a producer $60 per cow or more, benefit is there to put systems into place to improve heat detection. In my experience, heat-detection aids can help. Please note the stress on the word "aid". All they can do is to aid, not replace, the heat-detection program. But, when heat-detection aids are part of a truly systematic heat-detection program, they can help to improve heat-detection efficiency and reduce days open.

What kinds of heat-detection aids are out there?

There are many good heat-detection devices available. There are inexpensive aids, such as the old standard Laco Paint Sticks, to the more complex and elaborate systems such as heat-watch, which employ heat-mount devices that send a signal to a computer to record each mount. Pressure-sensitive devices such as KAMAR® or BOVINE BEACON® are also a good choice when used as part of a systematic heat-detection program. A heat-detection aid that shows promise is Estru$ Alert® Patch. It consists of a self-adhesive patch, which is grey until the animal is mounted, but once she is mounted the scratch-off surface comes off, revealing a bright color that is easily noticed. There are also several good tail paints that are available, each designed for different housing and management situations.

The key to success in using heat-detection aids is that they are used as part of a systematic program. This means that heat-detection aids are applied to animals that should be in heat over a 21-day period. Accurate records are available and utilized. Animals are checked in a systematic manner, by the same trained person or persons, at the same time every day. Animals are confined to lock-ups or at least confined so that every animal can be easily observed. When the person doing the heat-checking finds an animal with a trigger patch, or in the case of paint stick or tail paint, finds an animal with markings rubbed off, this is only a reason to check that animal closer. It does not mean to breed her. It means check the records you are carrying with you. How long has she been fresh? What did the vet check tell you? When was her last breeding or reserve heat? Do the dates work out to near a normal 21-day heat cycle? If the records check out, the next step is to look for other heat signs: mucus on the tail, swollen vulva, ride marks on her flank, sweat or slobber up on her shoulder or back from mounting animals, heat patches that are dirty or oily from the briskets of mounting animals, hair that is roughed up or rubbed off. If what the heat-detection aid says lines up with what the records and the secondary-heat signs are telling you, odds are good that this animal is in standing heat and should be bred. Good heat-checkers go through each of these steps consistently, thoroughly, and in a matter of seconds. The key is consistency.

If you have questions about how heat-detection aids may help improve the heat detection and efficiency on your dairy, which heat-detection aids may work best for your operation, or help with setting up a systematic heat-detection program, contact your local Select Sires representative.

Thanks, Joel. Joel Mergler, Vice President of Training and Herd Management products at Select Sires.

®KAMAR is a registered trademark of Kamar Inc., Steamboat Springs, Colo.
®BOVINE BEACON is a registered trademark of Omniglow Corp., W. Springfield, MA.
®Estru$ Alert is a registered trademark of Western Point, Inc., Merrifield, Minn.

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