Quick tail-paint product lets farmers know when heat is on
A dairy farmer and AI technician has invented a successful gadget to allow farmers more easily and safely detect when their cows come into heat — and has launched it on the international market.
Liam O’Keeffe, a dairy farmer and AI technician in Ballydesmond on the Cork/Kerry border, came up with a device which allows farmers to ‘tail-paint’ cows in an easy, safe, faster and cleaner way in the parlour environment.
Tail-painting is not a new concept: Figures show that some 68% of farmers in Ireland use the technique, which involves applying paint to the top of the cow’s tail and then visually assessing to see if the paint is gone — if it is gone, it can mean the cow is in heat.
However, correct application, visual assessment, and reapplication of the paint is crucial, says Mr O’Keeffe, a director of Agrify Solutions.
“Tail-painting has been around a long time but the challenges include the difficult, dangerous, and time-consuming application involved, which results in many farmers not benefiting fully from tail-paint as a method of heat detection.”
Carrying out the process incorrectly can be costly.
“When a farmer misses detecting a heat it can cost an estimated €250, mostly from lost milk production. If the farmer incorrectly schedules a cow for insemination, it could result in an empty cow for that season and ultimately the loss of that cow to the herd.”
Mr O’Keeffe’s custom-made tail-painting device makes the whole process easier.
“People are tail-painting in just three seconds whereas before that it could take five minutes per cow,” he says, adding that it is often also physically difficult to do, especially for farmers in their sixties — the average age of farmers in Ireland now, he points out.
Accurate heat detection is important to the overall profitability of a farm.
“Effective heat detection is a critical part of farming and been shown to be a key modulator of farm profitability as well as being a requisite for both improved milk, and a necessity in the management of the carbon footprint of a herd of cows,” says Mr O’Keeffe.
“Best practice in herd management would suggest that the most efficient practice for a dairy herd would be to get all cows in calf on the first attempt and within a six-week time period.
He adds: “Tail-painting is the most reliable and proven method of heat detection when applied and managed correctly. It also offers the most cost-effective approach.
Mr O’Keeffe says Agrify Solutions recommends using a breeding protocol which involves the use of four colours, resulting in improved and simpler heat detection and herd management.
The tail-painter device, which has been successfully tested in a number of international markets including New Zealand, works with oil and water-based paints and comes in two versions, costing from €235 upwards.
http://www.tailpainter.com/breeding
