CHAPS 2000 GUIDELINES

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY WHEN FILLING
OUT THE CHAPS BLANK INPUT FORMS

(The biggest delay in processing your records is improperly or poorly completed input forms.)

REQUIRED FIELDS: There are 8 fields on the Calf Input Forms that are required information for processing your herd analysis. They are: Calf ID, Cow ID, Cow Age, Calf Sex, Calf Birth Date, Actual Weaning Weight, Weigh Date and Bull Turn Out Date.

CALF ID: (8 characters max.) - calf ID's may be any combination of letters and/or numbers. We recommend, when possible, that all calf ID's use the same number of characters. Although calf ID's are left to your discretion, we also recommend a sequential numbering system that includes a year designation, such as starting 1998's first calf with either H001 (H is the letter code for 1998) or 9801 or 8001.

COW ID: (8 characters max.) - cow ID's may be any combination of letters and/or numbers. All cow ID's must be unique for cows over all years that you are in the cattle business. All ID's should start with either the letter code for the year the cow was born or the last two digits of the year the cow was born. Then enter anything you want in the remaining number of spaces allowable for the ID's. For example, a cow born in 1993 may be entered as C0001 or 93001. The letter designations for specific years are: 

NOTE: Do not use dashes, slashes, or an asterisk as they cannot be entered.

COW AGE: (2 characters max.) - age, in years, of cow when this calf was born. Input to the nearest year. If you do not know the age of the cow, you must use your best estimate since age is mandatory to run the program.

COW BREED: (4 characters max. - optional) - abbreviation for the breed of the cow. It is important to be consistent because group averages are sorted by cow breed. A total of four letters may be used to denote crossbred cows. List the breed type of the cow's sire first and breed type of the cow's dam second. For example, if a cow had a Hereford sire and Angus dam, her breed type would be listed as HHAN. If a cow had a Simmental sire and her dam was a black baldy, list her as SMMX. Please contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association at North Dakota State University if you would like to be more specific in coding cows produced from crossbred dams. Do not make up your own breed codes. A number of abbreviations are listed below. Refer to the BIF Guidelines for additional breed abbreviations.

COW BREED CODES

NOTE: Do not use dashes, slashes, or an asterisk as they cannot be entered.

CALF SEX: (1 character max.) - identifies the sex of the calf. Valid inputs are: 1 = Bull, 2 = Heifer, 3 = Steer, 0 = Unknown. When the sex of the calf is unknown (0), the management code of an A or B should be used. These calves will all be listed on a miscellaneous calf report and reported as open or aborted in the calving distribution report. A temporary calf ID is given to those cows with unknown calf ID's. For example, EMS1, where E indicates the International year/letter code for the birth year and MS indicates the calf is missing an ID and 1 specifies it was the 1st unknown calf listed. Dead calves at birth have a valid birth date and birth dates should be recorded for a complete calving distribution table.

SIRE ID: (8 characters max.) - the ID of the sire of the calf. Please note that both sire of cow and sire ID are limited to eight letters and/or numbers and can be any system you desire providing the sire ID's are unique over all years you are in the cattle business.

NOTE: Do not use dashes, slashes, or an asterisk as they cannot be entered.

SIRE BREED: (4 characters max.) - breed abbreviation for the sire of the calf. The same rules apply to sire breed as cow breed. Please refer to the section under COW BREED for details. If multiple sires are used during breeding, you should still fill in the sire breed, if possible, based on color or type of calf.

CALF BIRTH DATE: (8 characters max.) - birth date of the calf in the form of Month/Day/Year. Use MN/DA/YEAR (substitute the four digit year for "YEAR") for cows that didn't calf or have unknown birth dates. For example, enter 01/01/1998 for a cow that had an unknown calf birth date in 1998. The CHAPS program only allows a maximum of 15 (01/01/YEAR) birth dates for any one year.

BIRTH WEIGHT: (3 characters max.) - the number of pounds the calf weighed at birth. The program will use the BIF standard of 70 pounds for heifers and 75 pounds for steers in calculating 205 adjusted weight if the birth weight is omitted.

CALVING EASE: (1 character max.) - codes that indicate the difficulty of birth. Only scores of 1-4 are used for averages in data summary. Valid calving ease codes are:

1 = no difficulty, no assistance
2 = minor difficulty, some assistance
3 = major difficulty, usually mechanical assistance
4 = caesarean section
5 = abnormal presentation

ACTUAL WT: (4 characters max.) - the actual weight of the calf at weaning.

DATE WEIGHED: (8 characters max.) - date calf was weighed. See the previous explanation for CALF BIRTH DATE for proper format to enter dates. CAUTION: Calves which are younger than 120 days or older than 290 days at weighing will be classified as irregular calves because they fall outside the age range for accurate calculation of the adjusted 205 day weight. Irregular calves do not have weight ratios calculated and are not included in sex group averages, breed averages, sire summaries or herd averages. Both irregular calves and regular calves are included in the herd summary data.

MANAGEMENT CODE: (1 character max.) - the purpose of management codes is to concisely record anything unique about an individual cow or calf, or to record the number of months a calf is on creep. Management codes can only be one character, so for calves that need a letter code you should ignore the months creep fed, even though the calf may have been creep fed. The available codes are:

FRAME SCORE: (4 characters max.) - there are two options of input: 1) You may directly input the frame scores (1 to 12). The program accepts frame score entries as high as 20, but scores greater than 12 are unrealistic. 2) The frame score will be calculated if you enter hip height of between 20 and 70 inches and the date measured. If a number between 20 and 70 is typed, the program assumes you are typing hip height and will request the date the measurement was taken. The measurement date must be within 30 days of the date the calf was weighed. Frame score is obtained by measuring hip height. The measurement should be taken at a point directly over the hip bones (hooks) with the animal standing on a level surface. A simple and quick way to obtain hip height is to position a board within your scale on the opposite side that you record the weight on. Draw lines on the board at 2 inch increments starting at 36 inches and ending at 50 inches. The 36 inch line should be 36 inches above the floor of the scale. As you record the weight of the calf, estimate the hip height of the calf using the indicator board. Record hip height in inches on the form and the program will compute the frame score of each calf.

CONTEMPORARY GROUP: (1 character max.) - flexible one letter or number code you assign to represent any contemporary group within your herd. Contemporary groups are animals reared and managed together, of the same sex and breed, and within 60 days of the same age. Proper contemporary group definitions are extremely important in the computation of EPD's. Contemporary groups should be clearly defined and animals within a contemporary group should, to the greatest extent possible, be given an equal opportunity to express their genetic potential. Try to keep contemporary groups as large as possible and avoid calving over one of the season dates. If you must separate calves during the pre and postweaning period, try to sort based on sex because they are already considered to be in different contemporary groups. Individual breeders are the only ones who truly know how animals in their herds should be grouped. Separate calf reports can be generated for each contemporary group.

GRADE: (3 characters max.) - grade of the calf. The USDA feeder calf grades are L1, L2, L3, M1, M2, M3, S1, S2, S3, and I. The letter stands for the frame size specifications. Large (L) represents steers and heifers that would have choice carcasses at approximately .5 inch fat at 1200⁺ Ibs and 1000⁺ Ibs, respectively. Medium (M) represents calves that would have choice carcasses at approximately .5 inch fat at 1000-1200 Ibs for steers and 850 - 1000 Ibs for heifers. Small (S) type calves would grade choice under 1000 Ibs for steers and under 850 Ibs for heifers. Inferior (I) represents unthrifty or double muscled calves. Those calves with predominantly beef breeding are number 1, while number 2 represents breeding characteristically narrow through the hindquarter. Number 3 represents cattle that are very thin through the hindquarter. The older version of calf grades can no longer be used.

SCROTUM DATE: (8 characters max.) - the date the scrotal measurement was taken in the form of Month/Day/Year. The age of the bull is important when obtaining the scrotal circumference.

SCROTAL CIRCUMFERENCE: (8 characters max.) - a measurement of testes size obtained by measuring around the testicles in the scrotum with a circular tape. The circumference gives an indication of a bulls ability to produce sperm and is related to age at puberty. The measurement should be taken at the largest diameter of the scrotum. The actual measurement of the circumference should be recorded in centimeters. Record age of bull at time of measurement using the table below as a guide.

1 - Severely Emaciated. All ribs and bone structure easily visible and physically weak. Animal has difficulty standing or walking. No external fat present by sight or touch.

2 - Emaciated. Similar to 1, but not as weakened.

3 - Very Thin. No palpable or visible fat on ribs, brisket or shoulder blades. Individual muscles in the hind quarter are easily visible and spinous processes are very apparent.

4 - Thin. Ribs and pin bones are easily visible and fat is not apparent by palpation on ribs or pin bones. Individual muscles in the hind quarter are apparent.

5 - Moderate. Ribs are less apparent than in 4, and have less than 0.2 inches of fat on them. Last two or three ribs can be felt easily. No fat in the brisket. At least 0.4 inches of fat can be palpated on pin bones. Individual muscles in hind quarter are not apparent.

6 - Good. Smooth appearance throughout. Some fat deposition in brisket. Individual ribs are not visible. About 0.4 inches of fat on the pin bones and on the last two or three ribs.

7 - Very Good. Brisket is full, tail-head and pin bones have protruding deposits of fat on them. Back appears square because of fat. Indentation over spinal cord due to fat on each side. Between 0.4 and 0.8 inches of fat on last two to three ribs.

8 - Obese. Back is very square. Brisket is distended with fat. Large protruding deposits of fat on tail-head and pin bones. Neck is thick. Between 1.2 and 1.6 inches of fat on last two to three ribs. Large indentation over spinal cord.

9 - Very Obese. Description of Score 8 taken to greater extremes.

BACKFAT: (8 characters max.) - the reading of backfat with a real-time ultrasound image using a wave guide that fits the curvature of the animal's back and the transducer.

RIB-EYE: (8 characters max.) - area of the longissimus muscle measured in square inches at the 12th rib interface on the beef forequarter. Rib-eye area is measured between the 12th and 13th ribs. This requires collecting a real-time ultrasound image using a wave guide that fits the curvature of the animal's back and the transducer.

MARBLING: (8 characters max.) - the specks of fat (intramuscular fat) distributed in muscular tissue. Marbling is usually evaluated in the rib-eye between the 12th and 13th rib and is performed with the real-time ultrasound image using a wave guide that fits the curvature of the animal's back and the transducer. The predicted value is reported in whole percentage units to the nearest tenth of a percent.

PELVIC AREA: (8 characters max.) - vertical and horizontal measurements, in centimeters, of the pelvic area. This measurement is taken with a pelvimeter.

PELVIC DATE: (8 characters max.) - the date the pelvic area was measured in the form of Month/Day/Year. This date is used for calculating the pelvic area.

CARCASS DATE: (8 characters max.) - the date the carcass weight is taken in the form Month/Day/Year.

HOT CARCASS WEIGHT: (8 characters max.) - the weight of the carcass just prior to chilling. This is taken as the carcass leaves the slaughter operation and is used for calculating the total yield grade.

FAT THICKNESS: (8 characters max.) - estimate of the external fat, which is the most important factor in determining retail yield. Fat thickness is measured between the 12th and 13th ribs. A wave guide is not required to obtain accurate fat thickness measurements. The measurement point is located 3/4 of the distance from the chine end (medial end) of the longissimus dorsi muscle to the lateral end. It is reported to the nearest hundredth of an inch. Fat thickness is used for calculating the total yield grade.

KIDNEY (KPH): (8 characters max.) - the internal carcass fat associated with the kidney, pelvic cavity and heart expressed as a percentage of chilled carcass weight. The kidney is included in the estimate of kidney fat and is used for calculating the retail yield grade.

QUALITY GRADE: (8 characters max.) - an estimate of palatability based primarily on marbling and maturity and generally to a lesser extend on color, texture, and firmness of lean. Recommended numerical scores for quality grade and marbling are as follows:

MARBLING SCORE: (8 characters max.) - the flecks of fat in the lean is the primary factor determining quality grade after maturity is determined. Marbling is evaluated visually in the rib-eye muscle. Relationships between marbling scores and percent intra-muscular fat are shows below:

TEXTURE OF LEAN: (8 characters max.) refers to the apparent fineness or coarseness of the meat in the rib-eye. Recommended numerical scores and descriptions for color, firmness, and texture of lean are as follows:

CONFORMANCE: (8 characters max.) - the shape and arrangement of the different body parts of an animal.

MUSCLE SCORE: (8 characters max.) - the score of the muscle.