AltaMate Mating...
What is AltaMate?
AltaMate is a mating program that works with you to determine which cow/heifer to mate with which bull to achieve the optimum results for your breeding philosophy and herd objectives.
How does the AltaMate program work?
An AltaMate consultant vet or zootechnician visits you to determine your breeding goals, be they for a commercial (high milk, protein and fat yield), a half-pure (good milk yield and physiognomy), or pure (physiognomy over yield) herd.
Then the consultant evaluates the cows/heifers that are to be inseminated in terms of their physiognomy and the worst three characteristics for amelioration. He enters the animal’s sire and dam’s registration number (if known) into his computer and uses all the information he has collected to identify suitable bulls for each cow/heifer, providing three options.
What is the benefit of AltaMate?
- AltaMate is a customized program, meaning that it is shaped by the breeding philosophy and the herd targets of the stockbreeder and the strengths and weaknesses of the herd. The breeder then makes use of the consultant’s experience and the information he can marshal to decide which bulls to use.
- Inbreeding: AltaMate takes five generations into account to eliminate the detrimental effects of inbreeding – low resistance to disease, and lower conception and calf survival rates. The problems caused by inbreeding and their percentages are below:
- Milk yield - - - - - - - - - 6%
Fat yield - - - - - - - - - - 7%
Mature body size - - - - - 5%
Calf survival - - - - - - - - 15.5%
Reproduction - - - - - - - - 5% to 13.4%
- AltaMate eliminates recessive hereditary diseases such as CVM ve BLAD.
- AltaMate screens out bulls that may cause heifers breeding difficulties.
- AltaMate determines milk, fat and protein yields according to the aims of the breeder and chooses bulls accordingly.
- AltaMate saves the breeder time. It evaluates bulls’ pedigree, physiognomy and fertility characteristics on behalf of the breeder and chooses the best bull for the animal that is to be inseminated.
- AltaMate increases the breeder’s profitability by indentifying the right bull.
HOW TO MATE THROUGH THE INTERNET?
- Download the Excel file below.
- Determine the three characteristics that you wish to be ameliorated for each cow in your herd as described in the PowerPoint or PDF file below.
- Rate the characteristics that you determined between 1 and 9 as described in the PowerPoint presentation file and enter these rates to the Excel file.
- While rating, pay attention to these: if Hump Declivity is straight, rate between 1 and 4, if it is downward, rate between 6 and 9; if the side view of the hind legs is straight, rate between 1 and 4, if it is biased, rate between 6 and 9; if the back papilla is located outwards, rate between 1 and 4, if it is inwards, rate between 7 and 9; if papilla length is short, rate between 1 and 3, if it is long, rate between 7 and 9.
- Heifer mating is pedigree mating. For this, it is sufficient to enter only the heifer’s parents’ ear tag number.
Note: the PDF document is the same as the PowerPoint document.
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