We are now into the middle of November, which means that the start of the breeding season for the autumn calving herd is just over a month away.
In order for farmers to get the best out of their liquid milk contract, the autumn calving herd should be calving down from October to early November.
In order for the first cow to calve down on October 1, based on the average gestation length of 285 days, serving cows would have to start on December 20.
The aim for any breeding programme, whether it is an autumn calving herd or a spring calving herd, is to improve on milk solids, while also improving on fertility traits, such as calving interval and a six-week calving rate.
However, none of this is achievable if the cows are unable to go in calf due to a poor body condition score (BCS), or if there are a number of cows that are not cycling.
Breeding
Pre-breeding checks should be carried out at least three weeks before the mating start date, to make sure every cow is cycling in the herd.
The cows that are not cycling in the herd could have picked up an infection or a cyst during or after calving, and may need some treatment to recover fully.
If a cow has calved down a couple of weeks by now and she is still not cycling, she needs to be handled by the vet to see if there is an issue.
A vet will carry out a metric check which is an examination of vaginal discharge to see if the cow has endometritis and early identification means the cow can be treated with with metricure or whatever the vet recommends to get her back cycling in time for breeding.
For maiden heifers, once they are in good condition and on their target weight (60% of mature body weight), there should be no issue with them going in calf.
Monitoring your autumn calving herds BCS at this time of the year is essential, as you cannot afford to have cows losing condition this close to breeding.
Cows that have a low BCS will have a lower level of fertility and will find it harder to go in calf, and so any cows that are under condition need to be identified.
Anything below a BCS of 2.75 should be a concern as they will need to be closely monitored, fed more meal, or even separated and given more quality silage, as silage is the best way to increase condition.
There is just over a month to the start of the breeding season, which means if action is taken as soon as possible, cows’ condition can still be corrected.
Ideally, you want cows going to the bull or getting artificially inseminated (AI’d) with a BCS of 3, to maximise cows’ chances of going in-calf.
