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Getting Cows Pregnant - Reproduction & Breeding
Reproduction is a key factor for the profitability of dairy operations, however, in a large proportion of dairy herds, reproductive performance is far from optimal. Synch programs can facilitate and improve reproductive management through reducing time between heats, or alternatively, by allowing for programmed breeding without estrus detection.
Performance based financial incentives are used in many industries to motivate employees to a higher level of performance. For example, most sales professionals are compensated, at least partly, with commissions thus their sales success greatly influences their earnings-but could a similar incentive for breeders motivate them to a higher level of performance?
The regular creation of pregnancies is essential to providing the steady stream of fresh cows necessary to maintain a good milk production average along with the heifer calves that will become the future replacements for a dairy operation.
Calve...Produce high amounts of milk...Eat lots of feed...Recover from calving...Start cycling normally. We ask a lot of our cows these days. Conception rate in large commercial dairy herds stands at only 35-40% for mature cows as compared with 51% in first lactation cows and normally 65+% in virgin heifers. These differences within a herd indicate that fertility declines with each calving until cows reach maturity.
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