Dairy Cow Fertility

Routines

It makes good economic sense to get dairy cows back in calf as close to 365 days as possible. A tight calving pattern means:

  • More milk per cow per year
  • Less replacements required
  • More calves sold per year
  • Greater profitability

In order to achieve a 365 day calving interval (or as close as possible to 365 days), it is important to serve and get dairy cows in calf by less than 100 days after calving.
Combined with regular fertility visits we are able to use structured breeding programs to help you serve and maximise the number of cows that get in calf by 100 days.

Year round calving herds:

Herds that calve year round should have a regular routine visit with a farm vet to help identify and find solutions to problems as they arise on the farm. The routine visit does not simply involve pregnancy diagnosis (PDs) of cows, but helps the vet to assess the suitability for breeding, fertility treatment programs, nutritional status, lameness control and management decisions which affect the individual cow and the herd as a whole.
Main areas of focus during routine fertility visits:

  • Record keeping and setting targets
  • Heat detection
  • Condition scoring
  • Disease monitoring (IBR/BVD/Leptospirosis/Liver Fluke/Johnes/Salmonella/Neospora)
  • Checking cows are clean after calving
  • Scanning cows for pregnancy and ovarian function
  • Treating cows not seen bulling, including cows not in calf          
  • Heifer breeding

Seasonal calving herds:

Herds that have seasonal calving patterns have to have a clear structure to their breeding program and veterinary involvement. All efforts must be focused on the start of the breeding season. From the day the cow dries off, the peri-parturient period and the run up to breeding, the health status of the herd needs to be monitored and adjusted to ensure every cow is in optimum condition to be bred at the start of the breeding season.
Main areas of veterinary involvement:

  • Check condition score and health status of dry cows
  • Post natal checks to ensure cows are cycling and clean
  • Monitor condition of fresh cows
  • Check herd disease status
  • Synchronise heifers for breeding
  • Treat cows that have not been seen bulling
  • Pregnancy diagnosis

Please contact the surgery for more information about starting a routine or a seasonal fertility visit.