On the day before dry off:

Add the cows ready for dry off into the “Cows to Dry” Selection.  They will be sorted into the sort pen the next time they are milked.  They can stay in there until the next morning.

Dry off process:

1. Enter a group change event for the cows into the Dry Cow group.  This can be done in a batch by opening the “Cows to Dry” selection, selecting all of the cows, and doing a Batch Entry->Group Change.  (See Note 1 below.)
2. Bring the cows into the holding pen, and into the robot to milk.  Dry treat them when they finish milking.
3. After they are dry treated, enter a “Dry Off” event into Delpro.  This can also be done with a batch entry.
4. Setup the gates on the cow lane to the dry cow barn, then let the dry cows out the door, and take them to the Dry Cow pen.

Note 1:  By doing the group change first, it will prevent the cows from going back through the exit gate into the sort pen after dry treat.  This is accomplished by the “Dry Cow Group” rule in the SSG2 criteria.  Any cows that are in the Dry Cow group will always be sorted back into the holding pen.

To enter multiple breedings at the same time, do the following:

1. Find the animals to be bred in Animal List or any report.
2. Select all of the ones bred by using Shift-Click or Ctrl-Click
3. Right click > Batch Entry > Insemination
4. Set the parameters the same way as a single entry
5. Click Apply To All and then Save and Close

If different cows have different parameters (Semen, comment, date, etc.) these can be edited individually by clicking on the animal in the list at the bottom of window.

To enter an insemination event in Delpro, do the following:

1. Open the animal card – in the box at the top of the screen, type the cow number, and press enter.
2. Click on the Events tab
3. Click New and click Insemination
4. Enter the Semen by using the drop down box. If the semen used in not registered in the system, click the New button in the drop down box, and add it.
5. Change the User to your name, or “ABS Tech” if your name is not in the system.
6. Enter any relevant comments (your name, ovsynch, GNRH, or other breeding notes)
7. Click Save and Close

Or to enter multiple breedings at the same time, use insemination batch entry

I am going to use this blog to document our standard operations for the dairy.  Hopefully it will be a useful reference for everyone working on the farm.