Heat detection collars

GTB

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Excellent speaker at our grassland society meeting last night said he was using collars and AI and only using his bull as a sweeper if the cows didn't get in calf after two AI services.

Obvious advantages of better genetics, being able to pick a specific bull for certain cows and no worry over lame Bulls. Disadvantages, bit more work.

Anyone else doing it? 60 cows to serve here and both Charolais Bulls gone lame two weeks in so having to use Herefords at the moment. AI suddenly seems a bit more practical?
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
plus...you could use sexed semen to give more bull calves?...i'dve thought it was a good idea(y)

but what about range of the 'reader' of the collars?...unless you serve whilst cows are housed?...but cows wouldn't calve in spring:scratchhead:
 

GTB

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
The speaker was calving in jan/Feb and serving before turnout. If I was to do it I'd only use it for the autumn calvers which go to the bull after Christmas. I'd still have to use bulls on the spring calves as we don't calve them until may/June and bull from mid July onwards and some of them are miles away over the summer.
 

choochter

Member
Location
aberdeenshire
I usually have a small group of heifers and cows that I want to AI - kept in a field next to the shed with access in and out. Give them some cake from time to time, inside, so that they come in when I call. Even in summer.

Any cow/heifer observed in season and the whole lot are shut in for the night and get the AI man next day. I have all my straws already bought and just stored with them.

Sometimes use estratect stickers - they can be very useful. Heat detection collars might be an unnecessary expense.
Have about 75-85% success with conventional semen but very poor success with sexed. Its obviously not a suitable product for use on a beef suckler herd relying on an AI man once a day.

Using some AI is a good way to breed potential replacements or a potential future bull.
 

Treg

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cornwall
Suckler herd here for 13 yrs never used a bull, all Ai , all year round calving.
Would agree with Choochter, give them some cake to encourage /train them to come in. Had a heifer who was a pain to bring in before Christmas but have given her cake a couple of times in the Ai shed, now she trots down to the shed no bother.

Have you thought about synchronisation for Ai ? Not used it myself but a few people I know have used it to bring a bunch in season together & not having the time to watch when their bulling. Maybe cheaper than collars & fit your system better, e.g take bull out for short period syncronise the bunch you want put bull back in to mop up cows that haven't held.
 

Whitepeak

Member
Livestock Farmer
I think heattime (from Semex) works by the collar passing under a reader to send a signal to a control box. So the reader needs to be somewhere the cows pass every day so in an entrance to a parlour or, like many do with dairy heifers, over a water trough.
But i think Genus do a system that works by fixing an antenna on the side of a building that picks up all the signals from collars within a given range. For me that would work best for spring calving cows at grass.
I see also that MooCall are launching heat detection collars but don't know much about them.
 

GTB

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
The chap who was speaking at our meeting was using cogent collars. He said he was getting a beep on his phone to say a cow was bulling approx two hours before she was visibly bulling. He reckoned the system knew a cow was coming into heat before the bull could tell. The one thing I forgot to ask was if he was doing diy AI or using the cogent inseminator.

Edit. Forgot to say, this chap was hiring the collars for £30/cow for 13 weeks.
 
Last edited:
Location
Norfolk
I am seriously considering Smaxtec bolus’ provides by Moletech. Activity and temperature recording from within the cow. Meaning heat, calving, illness and water consumption are all anticipated. My main justification is because I am working full tine, can be moved out to the field in the summer.
 
It's got collars on the cows, don't need to go near the reader, all on an inntenia 500metre range I think
Costs about £50/60 a collar
Pretty sure there is a grant on it
Life of the battery is about 5 years
In fact they are gaurented for 5 years

Doesn’t sound too bad. Does the box cost much?
I sync autumn calvers as never at home to see bulling. 2-3 years would pay for collars compared to syncing and far less handling/work. I’d also imagine better conception rate?!
 

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