STEPS ON GETTING STARTED

STEP 4

Define the beginning of the breeding season.

Select Setup> Bull Turn Out Dates

Enter the date that the bulls were turned out for the breeding season that produced the calves you will be entering records for in Step 5.

The dates must be in the form of Month/Day/Year (01/01/YEAR, substituting the four digit year for "YEAR"). Once a date has been entered, do not adjust it. Only one date is allowed per year.

In order to generate an accurate report, the Bull Turn Out Dates and Calving Dates must be adjusted accordingly for that time period. The biggest problem that producers encounter when trying to generate reports is not thoroughly thinking about the dates entered for that particular record and the CHAPS 2000 program reads the dates first. For example, you want a report on the entire herd from three years ago. Go to Reports, Calf Reports and select Herd Analysis and preview the Herd Summary page. You realize the culled cows are not shown on the report. Cows are usually culled after a calving season and would include the same year as the calving season. Under the Calf Reports in the Herd Analysis, you need to adjust the Start Birthdate to include the calving season for that year and the End Birthdate can be set for one year later. The Calving Dates, Birth Dates, and Weaning Dates are also very important in this program and must be studied carefully.