18 Months ago we found by the monthly farm advising that we had a longer list with cows we did not see in heat is telling Jan Zoontjes dairy farmer in Oldehove (Groningen) Holland. If you have 220 milking cows there is not so much time for watching for cows in heat. Zoontjes start from that time with the heat detection system Heatime sold by Semex Holland. If there is a cow in heat the red lamp is blinking on the Heatime box. On that moment I take a straw with me for insemination after the first milking or one milking later depending on the time the heat was starting. "The accurate if a cow is really in heat when the red lamp is blinking is high". The stand alone heat detection system is not connected to cow management programs. For that reason the system is very good to use by heifers. The fertility results are much better now. The days between calving by the milking cows goes down from 404 days till 385 days. The inseminations per cow were going down from 2 till 1,85. In average Zoontjes starts insemination 82 days after calving. After the first insemination 57,1% is pregnant. The red lamp system works easy. The investment from approximately € 8.000,00 for 80 tags with belts is paid back by a shorter calving interval of 19 days. If a cow is pregnant by the pregnancy checking the belt can be used for a new cow. Chancing of the belts cost some time but the automatisation of the heat detection is a big benefit told Mr. Zoontjes.
 
The activity from the cows with an Heatime transponder will be sent true the antenna to the Heatime control box. The included software is makes the conclusion if the cow is in heat or has less movements. In both cases the red lamp start blinking.