Services for Adding Value

Completing Herd
Inventory Information

The first set of data sheets that must be submitted for each calving season is the Herd Inventory and Application for Registration .

If you participate in the Performance Program then you must complete the form in its entirety. Every cow must have a calf recorded (whether you register it or not) or a dam status code as shown below. Calves that are crossbred or not going to be registered should still be recorded on your worksheet as this information will contribute to the cow’s performance evaluation.

Cow Status Codes

1 – Died (disease)

2 – Died (age)

3 – Died (other)

4 – Culled (physical defect)

5 – Culled (fertility)

6 – Culled (performance)

7 – Culled (temperament)

8 – Culled (age)

9 – Sold for breeding (no paper transferred)

10 – Sold for breeding (transfer forthcoming)

11 – Animal on lease

12 – Open (missed calving opportunity)

13 – ET (donor dam)

14 – ET (recipient dam)

15 – Moved to next calving season

16 – Still to calve in current season

17 – Aborted/premature

18 – moved to commercial

When recording a calf and its birth weight, a breeder must also indicate a birth management group. This is the breeder’s opportunity to indicate if any calf had a different opportunity to develop birth weight. Any cows that are treated differently during pregnancy, especially their last trimester as this is when birth weight is mostly developed, should have their calves assigned to a different birth group than all other calves. Birth groups are numerical and can be assigned any number between 1 and 99. Most breeders use group 1 for their main calf crop and then other groups such as birth group 2 for calves that had different opportunities to grow.

ET calves, twins and fostered calves will be placed in their own contemporary groups by the Association as they should not be compared to other calves as their opportunity to grow is altered by their circumstance. These details are also recorded on the Herd Inventory and Application for Registration.

Nursing Codes are used for twins or calves grafted onto another cow (consistent with breeder how to above):

  1. Single-born or twin-born calf that is fostered onto another cow and nurses alone
  2. Twin-born calves that both nurse their genetic dam
  3. Twin-born calf that nurses its genetic dam alone (other twin died or is fostered)

Once members have submitted complete herd inventory information, a Birth Averages Summary Report is generated.