Everyone has a say when it comes to detection of heat. Farmers mostly listen to one of them, and in his absence, another. In the end, even if any of them believe with absolute certainty that this job is effectively dealt with, if the period for cows to be voluntarily left open for more than a quarter, or in other words, if the amount of time elapsing after a pregnancy until the next pregnancy exceeds a quarter in average, this means that the operation is not making sufficient profit.
There are many factors affecting animals’ entering heat period. As a dairy farmer, if you properly implement all the plans for helping animals with entering the heat cycle, you may be successful. The following 5 steps should be accounted for, in order to stimulate and not to miss heat periods in cattle.
1. Conditions of Cowsheds
Beware not to collocate cows in abundant numbers in a given area. This may cause drops in cattle during the heat period. You may predict how much space do the animals have taking the following two steps:
● Is there at least one lying area for every cow?
● Is there an approximately 60 cm gap between any two cows?
2. Ground Surface
Slippery or very rough surfaces make cows angry. Clean the ground surface regularly. Unhappy and stressful animals encounter difficulties in entering estrous cycle. Three key concerns you can ensure that your animals wander around happily and free of stress.
● Dry walking yard
● Reliable and comfortable floor surface
● Durable Ground
3. Feet and Leg Problems
It is usually harder for cows with aching feet or legs to enter the period of heat. Since they are not in heat period, they do not want to perform moves much. They can even be discomforted by activities of other animals. This may block the movements of animals fitted with pedometers and cause a delay in heat period of other animals.
4. Ambient Temperature
The cow should be left to rest in an environment with an average ambient temperature of 28 to 30 degrees Celsius, for a while. Higher temperatures will definitely put the animals at unrest. If animals live in high temperature areas, their times of reaching heat may be delayed. Under hot weather conditions, you may consider taking the measures necessary for keeping your cows cool, as described in our article titled “4 Hints to Keep Animal Cool During Summer as part of Cattle Tracking”.
5. M2Moo Heat Detection
It may seem practically impossible to keep conducting trails on a 7x24 basis to catch the moment your animals develop heat, for you as a person. With the Heat Detection System you may track your livestock both during the day and the night. An auto-generated message will directly be sent to you via an SMS text or e-mail notification right at the moment when a particular animal enters the Heat period. Moreover, MilkingCloud Cattle Tracking Software works as integrated to the M2Moo Heat Detection (Activity-Meter) Ystem. By this opportunity, you may track all conditions of your animals in the best optimal manner.
M2Moo is a great system because I could not observe any unusual jump or activity on my cow however M2Moo detected and warned me about it. Then, I informed my veterinarian and she verified the heat detection and we made the insemination successfully. Thanks to M2Moo I could have managed the insemination efficiency of my cattle herd.
Mithat KUSEYRİOĞLU
Farm Owner
“Although I constantly observe the animal for 3-4 hours in a day, I cannot notice any increase in the activity level of the animal. However, when I was dealing with other stuff, M2Moo detected an activity increase in the same animal and sent me a notification. It prevented me from losing lots of money because of not detecting heat.
Ahmet BASKIN
Farm Owner
