SELECTIONS - Summer 2004
Tail Chalking
Improves Reproductive Efficiency
By Shelly Lammers, communication specialist, East Central/Select Sires
Like other dairy producers, Allen Abel and his sons Steve
and Bill strive to maximize their reproductive and genetic efficiencies
by using a tail-chalking program.But Abel Dairy Farms is not your
typical tail-chalking herd.With 1,450 cows housed in facilities with
no headlocks, this herd doesn't seem a likely candidate for a successful
tail chalking system, and yet it's helped this Eden, Wis., herd to
increase their heat detection rate by 14 percent in a five-year period.
The Abels have always relied on Select Sires for its genetics,
but it wasn’t until the spring of 2000 that the tail-chalking system
was incorporated. Their primary goal at the time was to increase heat
detection, pregnancy rates and labor efficiencies while continuing to
use high-quality semen. Today they report that tail chalking has done
all that and more for their herd. Of the 1,450 cows housed on site,
eligible cows are chalked and bred daily by East Central/Select Sires
A.I. technician Howie Minnema, who has helped the Abels consistently
exceed their heat detection and pregnancy rate goals. On a typical day at
the farm, Minnema walks through four pens of 150 cows each, checking for
signs of heat, bleed-offs, potential reproductive problems, and to
re-chalk tail stripes that are wearing off.
With his trained eye, Minnema determines which rubbed-off chalk
markings are the results of legitimate estrous activity and which were
licked off or worn off naturally. When it’s clear that the signs point to
estrous-related riding, Minnema records the cow’s ear tag number so he can
check her reproductive status on the computer reports after his walk-through.
Minnema marks a cow based on her signs of heat,
noticing that she has clear discharge.
A cow that is in heat but not bred
is marked with the heat date.
A cow that is in heat and bred is
marked with a circled breeding date.
Back in the farm office, Minnema reviews the computer records to
determine the status of cows that showed signs of activity. From these reports
he determines if a cow is eligible to be bred or not, how long she's been open,
if she was recently bred, and if there are any other reproductive issues that
need to be checked. He then checks the SMS™ (Select Mating Service™) mating
report to determine which service sires to use in his matings. Once he's back
in the pens, he relocates his active cows for the day, marking the cows that
are in heat, but not ready to be bred, by putting the date on each side of her
rump. Cows that are bred are marked with the date and a circle around the date.
Not only do these signs help employees to note estrous cycles at a glance, it
also helps Minnema monitor activity in his day-to-day walk throughs to watch
for short or long heat cycles, bleed-offs, and other estrous signs.
This practice of walking through the cows to monitor and record
reproductive activity is typical for an A.I. technician using a tail-chalking
system. What makes the Abel operation unique is that all this is done without
headlocks. Minnema comments that since the operation has freestalls he is usually
able to breed cows in the stalls, occasionally having to corner one in a gated area.
This tail-chalking system has saved the Abels a bundle of money while
improving their genetic advantage and reproductive efficiencies at the same time.
Relying on Minnema means they never have to worry about heat detection or breeding,
and relying on SMS evaluator Kevin Jorgensen means they don't have to worry about
sire selection. Jorgensen mates the herd once a month and works closely with
herdsman Steve Abel to determine blend price as well as type and production
criteria to decide on service sires. Currently, the Abel herd is using
7HO6349 BEST, 7HO6302 READY, 9HO2575 BRET, 7HO5687 FORBIDDEN,
7HO6326 DIFFERENCE, and 7HO6500 CADENCE. Both cows and heifers are
mated with the SMS program, and this has been a monthly ritual since 2000.
"From a reproductive and labor-saving standpoint, tail chalking can help
producers achieve better numbers," Minnema comments. "It's my goal to save my
customers money,and the tail chalking system can do that, even while using
high-quality A.I. semen."
Ask your Select Sires representative to help you design a systematic
breeding program that is right for your herd.
7HO6349 Hidden-View BEST*TV, 7HO6302 Bo-Irish RJ Lead READY-ET*TV,
9HO2575 Peckenstein Form BRET-ET*TV, 7HO5687 Sandy-Valley FORBIDDEN-ET*TV,
7HO6326 Regancrest DIFFERENCE-ET*TV, and 7HO6500 Emerald-ACR-VR CADENCE-ET*CV
™SMS and Select Mating Service are trademarks of Select Sires Inc.
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