Heifer Benchmarks Ian Rumbles – CanWest DHI. Deck of Cards What would you build with a deck of...
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Transcript of Heifer Benchmarks Ian Rumbles – CanWest DHI. Deck of Cards What would you build with a deck of...
Deck of Cards
What is the BEST structure?
What is the GOAL !
- Largest number of cards- Or the fewest
- Highest - Most elaborate- Stable
Benchmarks
Determining the Best card structure, is a lot like Heifer Benchmarks.
- You need to determine what are you going to measure
- The additional thing, that was not in the Card example is comparing measurements over time
What to Measure ?
What can we measure to tell us we are doing the Best job possible in raising our heifers?
There are a number of things:
Health - Stillborns - F / M ratio and Twins - 60 Day Survival rate - Diseases
- Diarrhea - Pneumonia - Navel Infection - Left Herd reasons and age
Reproduction - Age at 1st Breeding - Age at first Calving - Times Bred - % heifers Pregnant at 15 mths
Growth - Birth Weight - Weight / Height at 1st Breeding - Weight / Height at first Calving
Population and Potential - Number Heifers per cow - Genetic potential of heifers, compared to cows
Economics - Average cost of Heifer Rearing
What are the KEY ones
Measurements
Lots of things we COULD measure
Measurements- Easy to do- Has an impact- Repeatable at regular intervals - Record and Chart
Easy to do- If it is not easy, you will not do it- Especially over time
Has an Impact- Will it make you more money- Will it cost less
Repeatable- Really important to keep doing it- Must be on a schedule so you can see progress
Record and Chart- Make sure you record- Charts will show impact
Depending on where you need to improve, will impact on how many measurements you take and for what
Death
A number of calves do not even get a chance to make it to the milking herd
Calves born Dead 6 % 12 % in 1st Lact Heifers
Calves die before Weaning 8 %
PLUS
Calves die post Weaning 2 %
PLUS
MEASURE
- % of calves dead before weaning
16 %
Are you doing Better or Worse than this?
Do you really know, or are you guessing?
Death
- Stillborns - what is the relationship to difficult calving and /or Twins
- 60 Day Survival rate
- Diseases - Diarrhea
- Pneumonia - Navel Infection
- Left Herd reasons and age
If you are having trouble with calves dying, you can measure:
Growth
Measuring the height and weight of a calf can help determine breeding age
Valacta and industry partners have good growth charts and graphs
Weights (kgs)
HO JE
Breeding 400 260
Calving 610 385
Growth
Ideally, you should get height and weight measurements at Weaning, First Breeding and Calving
Remember the first key in measurements is “Easy to Do”
Chart the heights and weights against age
Establish a process to measure heights and weights - Getting all heifers would be great - Get 10 measurements, height, weight and age, 2 to 4 times per year, would be good
Measuring sticks and tapes available from farm supply and feed companies
Reproduction
2011 Reproduction Benchmarks
Over 50% of ON herds have enough heifer reproduction data to make benchmarks
Reproduction
Establishing and distributing Benchmarks makes a difference (slow progress, but moving in the right direction)
Age at 1st Calving % Heifers Pregnant at 15 mths
09 10 11 09 10 11
25 28.0 27.9 27.4 25 3 4 4
50 26.4 26.4 25.9 50 14 17 18
75 25.3 25.2 24.9 75 37 42 43
90 24.4 24.4 24.1 90 61 65 67
Every month less to Age at 1st calving is 5% less cost to raise heifer
Population and Potential
The average Genetic Potential of heifers should be higher than cows
This herd has 1.2 heifers for every cow, is that economic?
Benchmarks
Measurements- Easy to do- Has an impact- Repeatable at regular intervals - Record and Chart
- If you are getting benchmarks already prepared (e.g. Reproduction benchmarks), you should compare your herd against the other rankings
- If you are tracking your own benchmarks (e.g. Height /weights or Genetic
indexes) it is important to: - select no more than 5 key areas to track - chart them so you have a visual reference - set a goal for the upcoming year