Open days: from birth to the next successful mating
Open days are the days from calving, lambing or kidding to the successful mating that starts the next pregnancy. The animal is not pregnant during those days, so farmers look at open days together with the interval between births and body condition.
Why do open days matter in a breeding herd or flock?
Open days decide how soon the next kid, lamb or calf arrives. For example, a doe kids on 10 January and is mated successfully on 20 April. Her open days are the 100 days between those dates, a figure you can compare with your flock or herd average for the season.
Questions from the farm
Are open days the same as the birth interval?
No. Open days end at the successful mating, while the birth interval runs from one birth to the next, so the two measure different spans.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
HerdMobile keeps each animal's birth and mating dates together, so you can see its open days from its breeding history without working them out on paper. Compare the figure season by season to spot the animals that need a closer look at body condition and feeding.
