On farm health and disease recording:

Happy healthy heifers
Happy healthy heifers

In March of 2014, ICBF launched a new page under the record events tab. This page is there to allow all farmers to record health and disease events on their farm in real time.

Click on Health and Disease to record health and disease events
Click on Health and Disease to record health and disease events

This page was designed to promote better recording of health and disease at farm level and the subsequent electronic transfer of data by you into the ICBF database. Whilst the initial focus of the project is on data for breeding and management decisions, the goal for next year will be to address legislative requirements, e.g., animal remedies recording for DAFM.  In this way, ICBF are proposing to reduce duplication in recording of health events and remedies.

We are also working with companies to have a mobile app available to record these events in the near future. This will allow farmers to record events on their mobile phone and upload to the database as soon as they have WIFI access or data access. Again, reducing duplication and workload while contributing extremely useful data.

Quick glance at screen
Click the picture to get a bigger view

This page is instrumental in a pilot program involving 240 farms which will be used to give us feedback on the program and help improve it for the nationwide roll out in the future.  If you were not contacted about this program, you can still partake in recording of health and disease events with the pages described below.  We encourage everyone who is interested in recording health and disease events to do so because this is the only way we will be able to make positive genetic improvement in the realm of health and disease.

The paper recording charts are linked below. These charts contain a set of health codes and definitions developed by ICBF and Animal Health Ireland. Farmers are welcome to contact us with events they would like to see on the webpage in the future. As more requests come in we will modify the page to reflect what events occur on farms. To cope with the limited number of codes available, we have already implemented a new code: ZZ. This code is for events that are either unknown or do not appear on the list. This is just one of the ways we’ve worked to make this useful for farmers.

Below are example sheets to give you an idea of what the recording will look like on the paper copies. Once a week or more, bring the sheets in from your remedies cabinet and enter them online so we can begin identifying sires of healthy calves.

Click on the image to make it larger
Click on the image to make it larger

 

Click on the image to make it larger
Click on the image to make it larger

The idea behind this program is that as animals become sick on your farm, you will identify the condition, record the even,  and then routinely transfer the data from your chart into the ICBF database via web or your farm software system. All entries must be received by ICBF electronically either through screens on the ICBF website or your current farm software.

If you want to record your own on farm health events, click here for printable Cow Health Events Definitions and Recording Sheets  and click here for printable Calf Health Events Definitions and Recording Sheets like the ones above.

Feel free to contact us any time with questions, comments, or concerns about the program at [email protected].