heattime

mcgyvor

just wondering if anyone has experience of this will it reduce missed heats.i use all ai and was wondering if this would be worth having or should i just stick with the tail paint.

whelan1

i have it about 3 years now... great job, it picks up alot of silent heats... i also have the drafting gate which is handy for picking out cows

mattthetrasher

ya i have it too also the drafting gate but it is a lot of money your talking 20k for 90 cows.somedays i regret spending that much money other days its the best ever.i do have 80% calved after 4 weeks with only 9% empty.good results,it does take out the stress too in the breeding season, as in is she bulling or not.like a lot of things i suppose it would be perfect if twas cheaper:)

whelan1

its also great for when you are not around, its ideal in my situation where i dont have the time to be checking the cows many times a day... also takes alot of guess work out of heats

mcgyvor

thanks for the feedback guys seems a good job except for the price.
on the other hand improving conception rates is worth money too and once you
invest you have the benefits every year

Have to agree with the above posters. Expensive to start with but very handy. We have heat-time and are very happy with it. As well as getting cows in calf quicker you will save some money because you will use less straws.
One thing i would consider is the batteries. They only last around 5 years and cannot be replaced so new collars have to be purchased. If we were buying again, I would look at the Dairymaster version because it has replaceable batteries. I don't know if they are as accurate, but it would be worthwhile in checking.
Also be careful where you locate the scanner that reads the collars. When we put it in first, the scanner kept jamming the milking machine scanner that reads the cows as they entered(Dairymaster machine). Easily fixed by moving it a couple of feet away from it.
But overall we are happy with the heat-time. Very accurate. Gets more cows and quicker. Also once a cow is in calf you can take it off and put it on another cow. Have heard of two farmers sharing belts, one was winter calver and the other spring.

follett

Deleted User wrote: »

Have to agree with the above posters. Expensive to start with but very handy. We have heat-time and are very happy with it. As well as getting cows in calf quicker you will save some money because you will use less straws.
One thing i would consider is the batteries. They only last around 5 years and cannot be replaced so new collars have to be purchased. If we were buying again, I would look at the Dairymaster version because it has replaceable batteries. I don't know if they are as accurate, but it would be worthwhile in checking.
Also be careful where you locate the scanner that reads the collars. When we put it in first, the scanner kept jamming the milking machine scanner that reads the cows as they entered(Dairymaster machine). Easily fixed by moving it a couple of feet away from it.
But overall we are happy with the heat-time. Very accurate. Gets more cows and quicker. Also once a cow is in calf you can take it off and kit on another cow. Have heard of two farmers sharing belts, one was winter calver and the other spring.

what did this cost you

delaval

Ye are clearly getting too much for milk!!!

Tail paint observe at milking and OAD Ai will get as good results as any gadgets.

From the posts drafting is what is appealing to people but do you need to spend 20k on it?

If you would instal this system at 28c go for it if not put the money back in your pocket.

This money is too hard earned

delaval

Might find interesting tail paint and attention to detail

whelan1

follett wrote: »

what did this cost you

collars are around 100 euro each, i got drafting gate and crush, 2 readers and control panel , 110 collars for just over 20k, this was 5 years ago. I got it for the reason i didnt have time with young kids to be heat detecting, probably if i was doing something now i would get a vasectomised bull with a chin ball, it would be alot cheaper. I do find the heat time a great job though

delaval

whelan1 wrote: »

collars are around 100 euro each, i got drafting gate and crush, 2 readers and control panel , 110 collars for just over 20k, this was 5 years ago. I got it for the reason i didnt have time with young kids to be heat detecting, probably if i was doing something now i would get a vasectomised bull with a chin ball, it would be alot cheaper. I do find the heat time a great job though

That's a good reason to invest.

If most of us are honest we don't have those time demands

blackdog1

Bought heatime 3 years ago. Average conception rate is 90-95% wouldn't go back. Breeding season coincides with silage season so I can just focus on 1 saved me big time last 2 seasons. Previous years only sold maybe 5 heifers now I have 20 spare each year to sell. I wasnt the best at heat detection before I got it though. Looked at dairymaster model too but batteries cost €10 a pack and have to be replaced regularly. Also their collars break down too...thats just technology. When buying I approached like buying a computer I wanted most reliable and best warranty available. Thats why I chose heatime over the rest.hope this helps

delaval

blackdog1 wrote: »

Bought heatime 3 years ago. Average conception rate is 90-95% wouldn't go back. Breeding season coincides with silage season so I can just focus on 1 saved me big time last 2 seasons. Previous years only sold maybe 5 heifers now I have 20 spare each year to sell. I wasnt the best at heat detection before I got it though. Looked at dairymaster model too but batteries cost €10 a pack and have to be replaced regularly. Also their collars break down too...thats just technology. When buying I approached like buying a computer I wanted most reliable and best warranty available. Thats why I chose heatime over the rest.hope this helps

Conception 90-95% means nothing, on how many weeks? I'm not saying its not good just wondering is it worth the money when there are cheaper ways to do it

Do you do your own silage? Why were you bad at heat detection, the cows do that for you?

blackdog1

delaval wrote: »

Conception 90-95% means nothing, on how many weeks? I'm not saying its not good just wondering is it worth the money when there are cheaper ways to do it

Do you do your own silage? Why were you bad at heat detection, the cows do that for you?

In winter and spring calving so 2 12 week blocks average 90% in each. Came home farming five years ago and had to change a few things around and reduce my workload. Always tail painted but after first round got lax. Milking high yeilding holsteins and was just too lax in this area and was missing silent heats . No cutting silage myself but have silage on outfarm so have to travel regularly to check it and cut it just right. Helped me last year as I cut just before rain started. If I was up checking cows all night I might not have cut when I did . If you are good at heat detection and have plenty of help you dont need it. For me in my situation it was invaluable.

delaval

blackdog1 wrote: »

In winter and spring calving so 2 12 week blocks average 90% in each. Came home farming five years ago and had to change a few things around and reduce my workload. Always tail painted but after first round got lax. Milking high yeilding holsteins and was just too lax in this area and was missing silent heats . No cutting silage myself but have silage on outfarm so have to travel regularly to check it and cut it just right. Helped me last year as I cut just before rain started. If I was up checking cows all night I might not have cut when I did . If you are good at heat detection and have plenty of help you dont need it. For me in my situation it was invaluable.[/quote



I find tail paint useless in the shed with the winter cows. It seems to stay on. Some find it good though

jersey101

What heat detection do you use in the winter delaval? My father never used any. I want to start now

delaval

jersey101 wrote: »

What heat detection do you use in the winter delaval? My father never used any. I want to start now

Gave up winter ai. 3 bulls for 6 weeks. All white head bulls. I don't want fr heifers at this time of year. Another group to look after. There are guys here who could advise you better

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

Gave up winter ai. 3 bulls for 6 weeks. All white head bulls. I don't want fr heifers at this time of year. Another group to look after

i can see myself in winter milk for the next ten years anyway so i want to make it good and compact and only be calving for about 8 weeks. I used crayons this year thought they were a brilliant job. No mess of paint just look at every row in the parlour and touch it up every milking, i tried tail paint and didnt find it that great

delaval

jersey101 wrote: »

i can see myself in winter milk for the next ten years anyway so i want to make it good and compact and only be calving for about 8 weeks. I used crayons this year thought they were a brilliant job. No mess of paint just look at every row in the parlour and touch it up every milking, i tried tail paint and didnt find it that great

I tried a vaso bull but every cow was marked in the shed. I never tried the crayons.

jersey101

delaval wrote: »

I tried a vaso bull but every cow was marked in the shed. I never tried the crayons.

i was milking for a neighbour this year and he used them, he had two boxes one red and one green box cost about 30e a box and they would do a fair few cows. If a cow was bulling it would be completly off. I started using them then very easy to put on compared to paint and i got way better results with it

Milked out

jersey101 wrote: »

i was milking for a neighbour this year and he used them, he had two boxes one red and one green box cost about 30e a box and they would do a fair few cows. If a cow was bulling it would be completly off. I started using them then very easy to put on compared to paint and i got way better results with it

One thing we noticed since extending the feed passage beyond the cubicles and scrapers is the cows in heat tended to do their jumping in that area, so if it's possible I reckon an area where cows can access which is out of the way of cubicles scrapers etc. would be fairly beneficial in heat detection. We tried a vasectomised bull last year to try and pick up any silent heats but he didn't last the pace inside, kept landing on his back eventually getting bruised and swollen.