COURSE TITLE                                                         COURSE NUMBER  

Advanced Dairy Reproduction                      DANS 340                                         

                                                                                                                                   

SYLLABUS:

 

Instructor:         Bob Haight, Assistant Professor, Dairy Science

Office:              107 Marshall Hall

Office Hrs:        M 10:00 – 11:00 T 8:00 – 10:00 W 9:00 – 11:00

Or by appointment

Phone:              315-684-6301

E-mail:  haightrj@morrisville.edu

 

Course Description:

This course is designed to study the dairy cattle reproductive system and provide students with expertise in managing herd reproductive programs effectively.  Students will study in depth the anatomy and physiology of the male and female reproductive tracts, understand hormonal controls of the estrous cycle and be able to manipulate the estrous cycle with approved hormone therapies.  Students will be responsible for herd heat detection and some artificial inseminations.  Students will work with reproductive records, herd managers and artificial insemination technicians to manage the dairy herd’s reproductive program.

 

Prerequisites:                DANS 110, DANS 115 with a minimum grade of a “B” in each course

 

Required Materials:       Notebooks and pen/pencil, Laptop computer, rubber boots for biosecurity, a herd to analyze their reproductive performance and assist with record keeping.         

 

Course Outcomes:

·        Discuss the estrous cycle of the dairy cow (know it inside and out)

·        Manipulate the estrous cycle with the use of approved hormones

·        Maintain all reproductive records for a dairy herd

·        Analyze reproductive records

·        Recommend improvements to a reproductive program to improve profitability

·        Assist with embryo transfer in dairy cattle

·        Experiment with the use of ultra sound for reproductive management

Text:                             There is no required text for the course.  The students will

be required to have access to dairy periodicals such as: Dairy Today, Dairy Herd Management, Hoard’s Dairyman, Journal of Dairy Science, or others.  Through the course of the semester there may be required reading from one or more of the above periodicals.

 

Course Calendar:          Class room begins August 23th. 

Lecture / Lab Tuesday 10:00 – 1:00, 2:00 – 4:00 (there will be required student activities at the dairy or with a private reproductive specialist in addition/substitution to the listed class time)

                                               

Grading Policy:             Grades will be based on the course lecture, assignments, and your project.  

Grades reflect how well the course outcomes are met.

·        Lecture grades will be based on 1 preliminary examination and the final examination.

·        A review session will be scheduled prior to the examinations.

·        A Management Concept Report is due weekly

 

Final Grade:                  The final grade will be based on point distribution of:

                                                            Exam #1           10%

                                                            Final exam        20%

                                                            MCRs              20%

                                                            Projects            50%

                                                           

Course policies:            Attendance in lecture is mandatory.  Any student with over three absences will be asked to drop the course.

 

                                    Cell phones must be turned off during lecture.

 

                                    Anyone disturbing the learning of others will be asked to leave and that session will be counted as an absence.  This includes the use of inappropriate language.

 

                                    Anyone sharing or accepting information on an individual quiz or examination will receive a grade of zero.

 

                                    Plagiarism is not tolerated and will result in a grade of zero and a letter being placed in your permanent file.

 

                                    Students are expected to remain in class until dismissed.

                                    Appropriate time will be allowed for breaks during extended classes

 

                                    No music will be played during class, with or without headphones.

Management Concept Reports (MCRs)

 

Students are required to complete one Management Concept Report each week.  The report will be a summary of a dairy article from any dairy periodical.  The reports are due at the beginning of lecture every Tuesday.  Late reports will not be accepted.  The report will be reviewed by the instructor as well as one of your peers.  Along with the report the student must turn in a copy of the actual article.  The peer review will take place the first 10 minutes of the Tuesday lecture. The MCR grade will be based on the following criteria; Title of article, author of article, type of article, summary, and evaluation of the article. The article must be current and be related to dairy reproduction.  Length is expected to be at least 1 page, typed & double spaced with 11 or 12 point font.

 

Students with disabilities

If you are a student with a documented disability, who wishes to use academic accommodations you should do the following:

1.      Speak with me during the first two weeks of class

2.      Talk with David Symonds to arrange your test accommodations

 

 

The syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.

Advanced Dairy Reproduction          DANS 340

 

Tentative Lecture Outline

1.       8/23      Introduction, expectations, semester heat detection trial, estrous cycle

2.       8/30      Estrous cycle, cattle activity – Heat detection

3.       9/6        Estrous cycle, cattle activity

4.       9/13      Estrous cycle, cattle activity

5.       9/20      Record analysis

6.       9/27      Record analysis

7.       10/4      Field Trip

8.       10/18

9.       10/25

10.    11/1     Student Projects

11.    11/8     Student Projects

12.    11/15    Student Projects

13.    11/22    Student Projects

14.    11/29    Student Projects

15.    12/6     Student Projects

 

Student projects will include:

1)      Work with an embryo transfer specialist

2)      Work with ultra sound

3)      Heat detection project

4)      Record keeping and analysis of a commercial herd

a.       Conception rate

b.       Heat detection rate

c.       Pregnancy rate

5)      Recommendations to the commercial herd of improvements to increase profitability