DC305 events

Definition

An event in DC305 is a dated record of something that happened to one animal: a calving, a breeding, a pregnancy check, a treatment, a pen move, a sale. Each event is stored on the animal’s record with:

the event name (e.g. FRESH, BRED, MAST),
the event date,
the lactation and DIM at the time,
a short free-text remark (item REM), and
for some events, extra fields: for BRED, the sire, technician, breeding type code and result code.

Events are the history; items are the current state. Entering an event usually updates items too.

Core events and what they change

Event	Meaning	Typical item effects
FRESH	Calved and started a lactation	LACT +1, FDAT set, RC → 2 (Fresh), TBRD reset
BRED	Inseminated (or ET)	TBRD +1, HDAT set, RC → 4 (Bred)
PREG	Checked pregnant	RC → 5 (Preg), CDAT set; breeding result → P
OPEN	Checked open	RC → 3 (OK/Open); breeding result → O
ABORT	Pregnancy lost	RC changes; breeding result → A; may start a lactation if late
DRY	Dried off	DDAT set, RC → 6 (Dry)
DNB	Do not breed	RC → 1 (DNB)
MOVE	Pen move	PEN updated
SOLD / DIED	Left the herd	RC → 7 (Sold/Died); the animal drops out of default (live-only) reports

The RC numbers are the VAS reproductive codes; see RC codes.

Treatment and health events (mastitis, metritis, retained placenta, milk fever, ketosis, displaced abomasum, lameness, pneumonia, scours, vaccinations, hoof trims) are also events. Their names are set up per herd: one herd’s KETOSIS is another’s KETO, and DA may be split into LDA and RDA. Protocol and drug details usually go in the remark.

Event names, remark codes and which events a herd uses all vary by herd. Map them in the herd’s private dc305-vocab page; don’t assume another herd’s spelling. Event settings, including each event’s repeat-case GAP (below), are set up in ALTER\9.

How to pull it in DC305

EVENTS lists or tabulates events. The general form is:

EVENTS[\switches] [event names] [items] [FOR conditions]

Lists:

EVENTS\2SI                                 list of cows and events; prompts for date range and events
EVENTS\2S30                                list of cows and events, starting 30 days ago
EVENTS BRED ID LACT FOR EDAY>-180          breedings, last 180 days
EVENTS PREG OPEN ID LACT FOR EDAY>-90      pregnancy-check results, last 90 days
EVENTS FRESH ID LACT FOR EDAY>-60 LACT>1   calvings of older cows, last 60 days
EVENTS\B DIED SOLD FOR EDAY>-365           exits in the last year (needs \B or \D)

Tables (default window: the last 365 days):

EVENTS\5 FOR LACT>0                        events by month
EVENTS\6 FOR LACT>0                        events by DIM (\6Y for youngstock)
EVENTS\7 FOR LACT>0                        events by month of freshening
EVENTS\3                                   calf table
EVENTS\UD                                  transition (fresh-period) events table
EVENTS MAST:10 FOR LACT>0\5                mastitis by month, repeats within 10 days = same case

EVENTS switches

Switch	Effect
`\2`	List of cows and events; `\S` select a date range (`\S###` start ### days ago), `\I` select which events, e.g. `\2SI`
`\3`	Calf table
`\5`	Table by month; `\5O` chronological, `\5W` by day of week, `\5C` include PREG/OPEN counts
`\6`	Table by DIM; `\6Y` youngstock
`\7`	Table by month of fresh
`\UD`	Transition events table; `\UDR` with sold/died
`\B`	Live and dead (sold/died) animals
`\D`	Dead (left the herd) animals only
`\L`	Look in the archive files
`\F`	Output to a file
`\V`	Extra EC (event code) and DIM columns
`\W`	By day of week

Live animals only by default. Like LIST and SUM, EVENTS covers animals still in the herd unless \B or \D is added. A count of past calvings, deaths or culls without \B misses every animal that has since left.

Repeat cases: GAP

Each event has a GAP value, in days, set in ALTER\9: a repeat entry of the same event within the GAP counts as the same case (a recurrence), not a new one. The tables use it when they count cases. Override it for one run by putting the days after the event name: EVENTS MAST:10 FOR LACT>0\5 treats mastitis entries within 10 days of each other as one case.

EDAY is the event date. Negative numbers are relative to today: EDAY>-30 means “in the last 30 days”. Fixed date ranges also work, e.g. EDAY=1/1/26-3/31/26.
Item conditions (LACT>0, PEN=…) filter the animals, and the listed items show their current values, not their values on the event date.
Event names in the command must match the herd’s event table exactly.

Typical range

Herd context: any DC305 herd; codes and items vary by herd setup.

A herd’s event table typically has a few dozen events: the core reproduction and exit events above, plus health, treatment, vaccination, hoof and heifer-raising events.
Event tables (\5, \6, \7) cover the last 365 days unless a range is given.
Health events depend entirely on what staff enter. A herd with no KETOSIS or DA entries may simply not record them.

Common mistakes

Assuming event names. Check the herd’s event table; names and spellings vary.
Reading current items as event-time values. EVENTS … PEN shows today’s pen, not the pen on the event date.
Missing animals that left. EVENTS is live-only by default; add \B (or \D) to count past events of sold and dead animals.
Double-counting repeat entries. Treatments entered daily, or a breeding entered twice, produce several rows for one case. Check the event’s GAP in ALTER\9, or set one for the run (MAST:10), before counting cases.
Forgetting the 365-day default. Tables without a date range show only the last year.
Treating “no events” as “no disease”. It can also mean “not recorded”.
Ignoring the remark. Protocols, quarters, drugs and diagnoses often live only in the remark.
Confusing donor and recipient on ET calves. For an embryo-transfer calf, the genetic dam is the donor; the cow that calved is the recipient. Key calvings on the recipient and genetics on the donor, or ET calves from different recipients born the same day look like false “twins”.
Computing stillbirth or DOA rates from registered calves. Dead-on-arrival and stillborn calves are often never registered as animals, so counts from calf records undercount them. Use the calving event’s calf fields or remarks instead, if the herd records them.
Forgetting that results change. A BRED event’s result is filled in later by PREG, OPEN or ABORT, so an export from last month can differ from today’s.