Breeding season checklist from our Veterinary Advisor Joris Somers

After 3-4 weeks of breeding, it is important to take stock on the initial breeding season performance and ask yourself 5 questions:

1. What is the 3-week submission rate? In other words, what proportion of the eligible breeding herd has been served within 21 days from the start of breeding?

Target 3-week submission rate for the herd is 90%. Late calving cows may not be eligible yet for breeding at the start of the breeding season, so a spread-out calving pattern will lower the 3-week submission rate for the herd. However, by only taking into account eligible cows, aka. cows that have completed the voluntary waiting period (standard = 42 DIM) and are marked for breeding, the calculation of a 3-week submission rate will give you an accurate indication of heat expression and heat detection during those vital first weeks.

If submission rates are below target, now is the time to improve heat detection or get to the bottom of why cows are not expressing heat adequately.

2. Have you identified the cows not seen bulling or not yet served so far?

To find a reason for cows not seen bulling, draft out the eligible cows that were not served during the previous 3 weeks and check them closely for subtle bulling marks in case they were missed or have a vet examine these cows to identify an underlying cause. Sometimes these cows only need a little bit more time or they may need to be short-cycled. More severe cases may require a synchronization programme to treat the cause of non-cyclicity.

In cases where cows have not recovered well from calving or have struggled throughout early lactation with underlying health conditions, it needs to be decided if this animal is suitable for breeding at all at this stage.

3. Which cows have repeated/were seen bulling 18-24 days after their first serve?

Knowing how many cows have repeated 18-24 days after their first serve will give you a good indication of conception rate to first serve. Unless you are using milk progesterone testing, it is still quite early to do accurate pregnancy diagnosis, but the goal is to have 60% of cows and more than 70% of heifers in-calf to their first serve.

If too many cows have repeated at the normal interval of 18-24 days, now is the time to review nutritional status of the cows, heat detection accuracy, uterine infections and AI technique. Where cows have repeated at intervals shorter than 18 days, heat detection accuracy is too low, with uncertainty of the signs of bulling or inadequate record keeping as the likely causes.

4. Are there high EBI animals still to be bred and is there value in short cycling them to generate suitable replacements?

When looking at the list of animals that are still to be bred, irrespective of whether they have not been seen bulling or they are only now becoming eligible for breeding due to a later calving date, there is value in using their EBI figure to make further breeding decisions.

For high EBI cows, short cycling is a way to minimize the number of days lost in the breeding season and bring the date of birth of highest EBI youngstock earlier in next year’s calving season.

5. Based on initial impressions, will your replacement rate be covered by the early calving, fertile, high EBI cows and heifers after 6 weeks of breeding?

Once you are satisfied that the current progress in the breeding season is on track to provide the necessary replacement stock for the future of the herd, the plan should be to switch from dairy replacement to beef progeny breeding once the required number of replacements is secured. Using DBI values to guide you in the choice of suitable beef bulls will allow you to get the most out of both your dairy cows and their offspring.

For more information on any of the topics covered please contact your local Milk Quality Manager.

First Published: 18 May 2021