Breeding and Preg Check Records: Know Which Cows Earn Their Keep

It is October. The vet is coming Thursday. You have a rough idea which bull went in with which cows and about when, but the dates are in a notebook, your phone, or your head. After the preg check, you write open, bred, or late next to a tag number and hope you can match it to the right cow at sorting time.

Breeding records are what decide who stays. A cow that came up open two years in a row has a story in her records. If the records are scattered, you do not see it.

What breeding and preg check records need

• Which cows were exposed to which bull, and for how long
• Dates of AI breeding or embryo transfer, with the sire and donor
• The preg check result for each cow
• If you AI and turn in a cleanup bull, which one settled her
• An expected calving date you can trust

How Herd Advisor handles it

Bull exposure with no breeding book. Move a bull in with the cows and each cow gets an exposure window and an expected calving date on her own. Move him out and the window closes. Open and overdue cows show up on your dashboard. Leave your bull in year-round? Herd Advisor sets each cow's exposure window from her last calf, so you can still see which cows are running late. You can also enter exposure or breeding by hand.

AI breeding. Record each AI breeding with the sire and date. Pick the sire from your semen inventory, or add him as an external sire. You do not have to keep a semen inventory. You can record AI on up to 500 cows at once; each cow gets an expected calving date 283 days out and a calving reminder. Running a cleanup bull behind the AI? Enter the vet's preg check estimate and Herd Advisor tells you whether the AI took or the bull settled her, and at calving it can suggest the likely sire.

Embryo transfer. Record each embryo placed in a recipient with the donor, sire and date. Pick the embryo from your inventory or type in the donor and sire.

Straws and embryos. If you do keep inventory, Herd Advisor tracks straws and embryos by sire, donor, tank and canister, takes each used straw off your count, and flags any lot down to 5 straws or 2 embryos.

Preg checks at the chute. In Chute mode you set a plan for the whole bunch or by class of cattle (a preg check is one of the options), then scan each animal's EID tag with your reader, or type the tag. It keeps track of which animals have been worked, and a summary at the end lists worked and skipped head and preg results, with a CSV download. You can also add preg checks to many animals at once with bulk edit.

Where every cow stands. The Cow Herd report shows each cow's stage: recovery after calving, breeding, early, mid or late pregnancy, or due soon. Herd Advisor works it out from her calving, breeding and preg check records, and from bull exposure when she has not been checked. Tap a stage to see just those cows.

Reminders for open cows. If you tick the option, an open preg check can set a rebreed or keep-or-sell reminder.

Judging your bulls

When calves arrive, the Sires report ranks every bull by how his calves perform: how many he sired, calves' birth and weaning weights, and growth. Outside bulls that you borrowed or used by AI can be added as external sires so their calves carry the right sire.

Frequently asked questions