From the cow side, the logic behind the length of maintaining a voluntary wait period (VWP) is that after normal calving, cows require 30-40 days to complete normal uterine involution before they can be expected to be rebred. From that point on, her fertility will continue to increase as she works through negative energy balance. […]
Did Cows Like the Polar Vortex?
Bitterly cold temperatures, schools closing, and severe warnings to stay indoors, the polar vortex that parked over the Midwest between January 29th-31st, 2019 brought with it low temperatures that have not been seen in the region for decades. Temperatures in Grant County, WI on January 30th 2019 went well below -20 degrees Fahrenheit, not including […]
Tweaking health management with a monitoring system
Information generated by a cow sensor holds the promise of helping monitoring users manage herd health programs more efficiently. However, ensuring the success of a new sensor-driven program is not the product of chance. It’s the outcome of a systematic and structured process. Here’s the blueprint: Successful electronically monitored farms don’t discard their pre-system health […]
How to determine the severity of health issues
One of the more powerful benefits of an electronic cow health monitoring system is its ability to identify cows undergoing a potential health issue earlier than a trained employee (in most cases). This amazing ability is the outcome of the monitoring system’s ability to measure cow behaviors, plot a baseline or a “normal” pattern of […]
How to Successfully Implement a Monitoring System
Many farmers are intrigued by electronic animal monitoring. They’ve heard that it “works,” but how will it work on their farm? To this we answer, “It’s up to you.” A quality monitoring system will monitor individual cows, develop a baseline of behavior and flag the cows that need attention. A credible monitoring system will collect […]
Cows in the California Fire
Smoke over Central Valley in California, picture taken November 15th 2018 near Turlock, CA approximately 150 miles from the fire. The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire started on November 8th, 2018. As of November 19th, the fire has claimed 77 civilian fatalities and destroyed over 8,500 […]
Sick Cows That Don’t Get Treatment
The first weeks of working with an electronic animal monitoring system is a period of discovery for farm employees. They continue to use the pre-monitoring system protocols alongside the animal behavior data generated by the monitoring system. This is typically an opportunity not only to find sick cows before clinical symptoms appear, but to also […]
Finding Herd-Wide Issues Early
The dairy business is a business where problems don’t disappear, they only get bigger. Most, if not all, of health and reproduction issues are a symptom of an issue that occurred weeks or even months before. Therefore, identifying potential problems when they are still small is very impactful on the bottom line. Early identification of […]
Cow Stress, Health, and Longevity
For decades the scientific community has tried to answer the question “What plays a bigger role in determining the propensity for improved health and longevity, is it genetics or is it the environment?” Research on human paternal (identical) twins clearly shows that the environment has a more significant role in determining health and longevity. It […]
What is TAI covering up?
Poor or inadequate heat detection is a major cause of reproductive inefficiency in dairy herds. Timed artificial insemination (TAI) results in improved reproductive performance, because all animals are inseminated in a timely manner, regardless of the farm’s heat detection efficiency. But the perceived freedom from the need to heat detect may have significant practical drawbacks. […]