Over the past few months, we have been working on the development of the module Mean kinship with the association The Dutch Schapendoes (TDS) and the Dutch Wageningen University and Research (WUR). From now on, it will be possible to make mean kinship calculations with ZooEasy. The WUR has tested the calculations, and the VNS is going to start using the module.
In a previous article we have talked more about the contents of the mean kinship module. In this article we’ll take the next step, and the owner and founder of ZooEasy, Erik Reudink, will tell you how to use the module, how it works and what the costs are, among other things. He will also talk about further improvements.
Because there are various steps involved with using the module, we have established a
step-by-step plan. In this plan, we describe the tasks of the manager and our ZooEasy tasks.
In order to explain how the module works, we made an introduction video. This will provide more information on the mean kinship module:
The mean kinship module works well. Still, there are two limitations. Erik says: “The module requires a lot of computing capacity. If your administration has problems with recalculations, it’s possible that you will also experience problems with the mean kinship module. Unfortunately, in this case we cannot recommend the module, unless the number of previous generations that are subjected to calculations will be limited.”
“At the moment, we are still working on the option to divide percentages by color (e.g. red and green). The criteria are determined by the organization.Results higher than a certain percentage will be red, everything below it will be green. In the list of animals, you can show the colors like a traffic light. This makes it very clear which animals do and do not meet the criteria. ” Furthermore, ZooEasy is still working on an advisory matrix, with all the possible pairings of breeding animals. Traffic lights will be added here when offspring are born.
The module costs a one-off amount of €495.00 incl. VAT. You will also pay an annual sum of €125.00 incl. VAT for maintenance. Since this module is very important to maintain a healthy and strong breed, we now have an exclusive offer:the one-off payment is €395,00 incl. VAT. This offer is valid until December 2020.
You can order the module via this link.
Erik: “It’s very important to input the founders first. If this is not done right, it is the most important reason why calculations have to be done again. If you make sure these are correct, the calculations will be automated quicker. For example, if offspring is input or if there are other changes. A second tip is that you can also use poprep. This provides an insight into the structure of a pedigree”.