STEPS ON GETTING STARTED

STEP 3

Enter your current cow inventory.

Select File> Open> Cows

Select Add in the Cow dialog box.

Enter your entire inventory of the cows and heifers that were exposed to the bulls which produced the calves for which you will be recording data.

REQUIRED DATA

COW ID: (8 characters max.) - May be any combination of letters and/or numbers. All cow ID’s must be unique. All ID’s should start with either the letter code for the year the cow was born or the last two digits of the year the cow was born. For example, those born in 1993 may be entered as C0001 or 93001. Refer to the CHAPS 2000 Guidelines for more codes.

NOTE: The use of blanks will be counted as a character. Do not use dashes as they may cause sorting difficulties.

BIRTH DATE: (8 characters max.) - Birth date of the cow in the form of Month/Day/Year (01/01/YEAR, substituting the four digit year for "YEAR"). If the birth date is unknown, give your best estimate as this date is used for calculating the 205-day weight for the calves.

COW BREED: (8 characters max.) - Abbreviation for the breed of the cow. It is important to be consistent because group averages can be sorted by cow breed. A total of eight letters may be used to denote crossbred cows. List the breed type of the cow’s sire first and breed type of the cow’s dam second. For example, if a cow had a Hereford sire, and Angus dam, her breed type would be listed as HHAN. If a cow had a Simmental sire and her dam was a black baldy, list her as SMMX. Do not make up your own breed codes. Refer to the CHAPS 2000 Cattle Breeds for more abbreviations.

SIRE OF COW: (8 characters max.) - The ID for the sire of the cow. All sire ID’s must be unique.

OPTIONAL DATA

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: (10 characters max.) - May be any combination of letters and/or numbers and may include notes about the cow.

SOURCE: (1 character max.) - The source of the cow. "R" is for raised; "P" is for purchased.

DATE ENTERED HERD: (8 characters max.) - The date the cow entered the herd. The birth date can be used if the cow was raised on the site or use the date the cow was purchased.

CALF ID AT BIRTH: (8 characters max.) - The ID this cow was given at birth.

DAM OF COW: (8 characters max.) - The dam of the cow.  May be any combination of letters and/or numbers. All cow ID’s must be unique.

REGISTRATION NUMBER: (18 characters max.) - The registration number of the cow.

PREMISE ID: (18 characters max.) - The premise identification number for the cow.

ELECTRONIC ID: (18 characters max.) - The electronic ID of the cow.

ACTIVE, CULLED, PEDIGREE: (1 character max.) Use "A" for an active cow, "C" for a culled cow, or "P" for one used in a pedigree. These selections are important when referring to a list of all active cows, culled cows, or those included in the pedigree.

CULLING DATE: 8 characters max.) - Cull date of the cow in the form of Month/Day/Year (00/00/YEAR, substituting the four digit year for "YEAR"). Enter dates after entering calf data for the season.

CULLING CODE: (1 character max.) - Refer to the CHAPS 2000 Guidelines under Culling Codes for a list of the codes.