FlashMate, a new heat detection product developed in New Zealand which promises to improve herd insemination timings and increase conception rates, is now available in the UK.

The device from KiwiKit – a company which specialises in products to improve efficiencies on livestock farms – is designed to identify many heats that are otherwise undetectable by conventional means and ignores false bulling. Attached onto the back of the cow, it works in the wet, requires no prewarming and flashes red when the individual is in heat.

In contrast to alternative products, FlashMate uses touch sensing technology and responds to direct contact from other cows. It measures spikes in bulling, head resting and nudging.

According to KiwiKit, touch sensing is a transformational approach to capture heat behaviour and is unaffected by inert objects such as fences, trees, rain or hail which are invisible to the sensor. It also only alerts when it has seen a spike of contacts occurring over a period of several hours compared to false bulling which lacks the frequency of contacts of true heat and is ignored.

The device contains a microchip, linked to an algorithm specially designed for beef animals at

pasture, and identifies a clear pattern of heat. It then flashes for 26 hours, which is the viable

window for insemination. After this time, the light will turn off. If the cow returns to heat, a new

alert will be triggered.

“FlashMate measures the most reliable ‘primary signs’ of heat so does not rely on pedometry,

temperature or any other less reliable ‘secondary signs’,” said Justin Rees of KiwiKit.

“It provides 'expert eyes' that detect patterns 24/7 night and day and gives reliable information on activity correlated with true heat – it offers greater confidence in your heat detection rates.

“A common and costly mistake of conventional methods is inseminating pregnant cows because of false bulling. This carries a high risk of causing pregnancy losses and may explain higher than

expected empty rates on some farms – using FlashMate the likelihood of inseminating pregnant

cows because of false bulling or bossing behaviour is reduced significantly.

“Reproductive success is about the net gain across the herd. In a healthy, well-managed herd,

increasing the quality of submissions and therefore increasing conception rates, will make a valuable contribution to the financial performance of that business,” added Mr Rees.

An independent clinical study on a farm in New Zealand, found a 6.3% lift of six week in-calf rates against a control group using tail paint. Clincial work has also proven conception rates on cows bred to FlashMate alerts are significantly higher than those picked by people using other heat detection.

FlashMate has won two innovation awards and is available from KiwiKit Ltd in the UK, priced at £6.50-£7.30 per unit to include application kid, depending on volumes purchased. Minimum order is 24.