Kmars V's Scratchcards

delaval

With breeding around the corner looking for opinions. We have used kmars up to yhis but am hearing good about scratchcards.
I would love to hear what you all think

mahoney_j

Tin of paint and a brush for me delaval.Pit of a chore on day1 but keep an eye on it every day and top up if nesecarry.Never used kaymars or scratch cards nor do i know price of them but reckon tin of pain is cheaper

quadboy

spraycan of tailpaint

Timmaay

Got one of these in yellow last order: http://www.magentadirect.ie/proddetail.php?prod=FILDETAILPAINT&cat=110 and tailpainted the cows more just to see what has come bulling over 3wks ago. Its a bight luminous yellow, and has worked alot better than the normal blues/reds ones, and any of the spray cans which all tend to be not very visible after 2wks or so, weather the cow has been bulling or not. That yellow one is still clearly on 4 or 5 cows now that have been calved since Jan or before it, so I know that they must not be cycling yet for some reason, weather it be bsc or something else. I know it would have been very unlikely that I would have noticed them otherwise!

Having said that I ordered afew kmars, have got most of the Autumn '11 heifers AI'd by now, and they will be going out soon so I think the kmars will be the job for them, as I certainly don't plan on chasing them around fields topping up tailpaint :P Any tips for putting them on the heifers?

delaval

Sorry Lad's 'n Lass' I wasn't clear. Paint perfect for cows this I know. My enquiry is about kmar/scratch on heifers

oxjkqg

kmars

delaval

mahoney_j wrote: »

Tin of paint and a brush for me delaval.Pit of a chore on day1 but keep an eye on it every day and top up if nesecarry.Never used kaymars or scratch cards nor do i know price of them but reckon tin of pain is cheaper

Do you need a step ladder or do you put your cows in a hole to paint:P:P

Bizzum

I used the scratchcards one season. I honestly found they caused more confusion than anything. Cards scratched by cows scratching under bushes. Half scratched cards. I really didn't rate them.

Farfield

I used both this winter for th autumn calvers. All I can say is that both work ok and cost about the same, but with the cows indoors all winter I find the Kamar bottle can get burst on the cubicles. The scratch cards are real easy to apply with no messing with glue etc. so my choice- scratch cards.

Dunedin

Bizzum wrote: »

I used the scratchcards one season. I honestly found they caused more confusion than anything. Cards scratched by cows scratching under bushes. Half scratched cards. I really didn't rate them.

+1 This was my exact experience of the cards. You'd also have the cow that was on rising on the others resulting in scratches too

reilig

Used scratch cards for the last few years and found them great compared to Kmars or any patch with the bubble.

Yes, I agree with the guys above who say that if the cow scratches the card on a bush, it will scrape a bit of it off. But if another animal rises on a cow with the kamar patch just once, it will activate it whether the cow is in heat or not. If a cow scratches the kmar on a bush, it activates it too.

The scratchcard still works even if it has been scraped by a bush. When the cow is in heat, you will know by the scratch card - it will be completely scratched. If its only half scratched, she isn't in heat and you can leave the patch on her and you will still be able to reognise when she is in heat. A bush won't fully scratch a card and it's very easy to recognise when a bush has scraped it a bit. Also the scratchcards are easy to put on - no glue, no hot water. Used the kmars for a few years also and have to say that if I had to make a choice, i would definitely use the scratch cards.

RobinBanks

delaval wrote: »

With breeding around the corner looking for opinions. We have used kmars up to yhis but am hearing good about scratchcards.
I would love to hear what you all think

I use kamars and ambic alert patches. I find them good out doors but when the cows are in they cause confusion. I notice when a cow is bulling she will try to rise on another cow and this sometimes bursts the cartridge on the cow that is not in heat. Other times when they are all feeding one might jump on another and the same thing happens.

RobinBanks

reilig wrote: »

i would definitely use the scratch cards.

Rellig, where can you purchase the scratch cards

quadboy

Can you not get them from your local farm shop, we get them from Kerry agri

reilig

RobinBanks wrote: »

Rellig, where can you purchase the scratch cards

Bought them in the local co-op

bogman_bass

The new scratch cards are a big improvement on the ones gone before. Much harder to scrach off so less false heats.

I found the AI alerts the best of the lot though