1. AfiWeigh ™ Automatic Cow Body Weighing System Oded Nir (Markusfeld) Consultant to SAE Afikim Dealers Meeting, Dead Sea, Israel, 2008

2. 2 AfiWeigh™ - Cows Body Weight  Evaluation the energy balance f or backing up decisions such of feeding and breeding policy  Monitoring stress and health  Body weight & body condition score  Reliability

3. AfiWeigh™ (1) Evaluation the energy balance  In the dry period  From calving to service

4. 4 Loss of body weight in the dry period

5. 5 When over the dry period do cows lose BW? (n=268) cows SJ

6. 6 Diagnosis (risk factors for ketosis) loss of BW compared to loss of BCS in the dry period (odds ratios)

7. AfiWeigh™ Automatic cow body weighing system May we use BW instead of BCS for evaluation of Energy Balance?

8. 8 Dry matter intake & energy requirements BCS compared to BW Calculations NRC 2001 Lactating cow, 4 th lactation, 46 DIM, 51.2 kg 3.5% FCM/day

9. AfiWeigh™ Prediction

10. 10 Individual Cow Models (1) Should I inseminate or wait for the next heat?

11. 11 Individual Cow Models (2) AFIfarm AFIfarm Calving & Fertility Data Health Traits Milk solids Body Weight Season

12. 12 Individual Cow Models (3) AFIfarm AFIfarm The Chances of the Cow to get pregnant from the present AI are 35% Compared to 45% from the Next One

13. AfiWeigh™ AfiWeigh needs constant care

14. 14 At drying off After calving r=1 Credibility of the Data: Correlations (r) of Body Condition Scores & Body Weights (1)

15. 15 At 50 days in milk At drying offBCS r=.306**r=.449**At calving At 50 days in milk At drying offBW r=.846**r=.843**At calving Correlations (r) of BCS & BW (2) 273 cows

16. Correlations of BW in farms using AfiWeigh 7 countries It can, and should be done!

17. Thank you for listening