1. Chapter 12: Animal Acquisition © 2005 Thomson Delmar Learning. All rights reserved.

2. Key Chapter Concepts: Evaluating physical traits Identifying diseases Evaluating suppliers Transition problems

3. Evaluating Physical Traits Items to Examine Weight Body composition Enlarged quarters Width between front and rear legs Angle of hocks Claws Hairy heel warts Body capacity

4. Identifying Diseases Diseases to Identify Johne’s disease BVD Chronic staph infections Mastitis Salmonella BLV (for semen and embryos) Blue tongue (for semen and embryos)

5. Evaluating Suppliers — Dealers and Agents Consider Can they deliver the animals on time? Can they deliver the expected quantity of animals? What bio-security measures do they use? Cost of additional bio-security testing Overall affordability compared to AI Reputation

6. Evaluating Suppliers — AI Consider Costs of ancestry information Overall cost benefits of ancestry information USDA statistics on costs and savings Ability to breed own animals with AI animals

7. Transition Problems Precise animal calving dates hard to predict Trouble adapting to freestalls Trouble adapting to new milking parlor Increased stress due to new competition Always a risk of disease