Illicow

The context

Building on Guide Taureaux, Prim’Holstein France wanted to let farmers test a mating before committing to it: pick a cow, browse through bulls — building a shortlist as you go — and instantly see the expected genetic profile of the offspring, with a multi-generation inbreeding calculation to rule out risky pairings. All of it had to keep working without a connection, out in the field.

My mission

I took over the application as Lead Developer: ramping up on an existing codebase, then building new features, owning the backlog and upcoming releases. Selecting a cow and a bull among more than 4,000, a detailed offspring sheet, a visual (radar) comparison between the dam and the projected offspring, inbreeding calculations and herd management by category (insemination, pregnancy check, drying off, calving…).

What to remember

Praised by the trade press (“choosing a bull becomes child’s play”), Illicow made an exercise previously reserved for genetics experts accessible to every farmer.