ICBF HerdPlus has added a new profile screen to view dairy body condition scores (B.C.S) quickly and easily. The profile will help manage the B.C.S of cows to ensure optimal body condition scores are achieved for drying off, calving and at mating time. Body condition scoring plays an important role for a successful breeding season.
Research has shown that B.C.S at the time of first service and the loss in body condition from calving to first service affect the health, production, and reproductive performance of dairy cows. This will have a negative impact on submission rates and conception rates, and therefore, the six-week in-calf calf rate. Identifying thin cows early allows steps to be taken to improve their body condition in good time.
The profile includes the body condition scoring guidelines for drying off, calving, and at mating start time. This is a useful reference to see if cows have the correct body condition score before the next event. The profile also includes the animal events associated closely to body condition scoring. These dates will help the farmer to manage and take appropriate action to increase B.C.S on thin cows before the next event.
With the drying-off process on-going for many Spring-calving herds, the optimal body condition score at drying off is between (2.75-3.25). The optimal body condition score at calving time is between (3.0-3.5).
Animals that have a B.C.S below the 2.75 range will be highlighted in red. Any B.C.S scores that are recorded through the record events screen, software packages or handhelds are displayed on this screen.
Some useful benefits to the farmer when using this profile screen include:
- Access a specific animal score quickly and easily.
- Animals can be sorted and filtered in this profile.
- Profile can be downloaded to Excel and PDF formats.
- Click on the blue figures to view even more information on the animal. E.g., Lactation Summary, Fertility, Ancestry data etc.
- Click on the Last recorded date to view previously recorded body condition scores on the animals and the date scored.
- This profile is also available on the HerdPlus app.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to access this profile.
- Go to icbf.com and login to your HerdPlus account using your username and password.
- Under the ‘View Profiles’ drop down, select ‘Dairy Body Condition Score’.
The screenshot above illustrates the screen, and the user will see. Click on the animal number to view more details. Note: All the columns can be filtered to analyse body condition scores more closely. The data in the columns can also be sorted into ascending or descending order by clicking on the column heading. The profile can be downloaded to excel and PDF format.
We hope you find this new profile a useful improvement to view recorded body condition scores on your dairy animals. If you have any questions, or if you have any comments or feedback, please contact HerdPlus on 023-8820452 or email [email protected].