Reproduction

Challenge: Finding cows in heat sooner and getting cows pregnant quicker

Fertility is critical to a farm’s success. Heat detection results that don’t meet your goals turn in to more time spent tracking, sorting and breeding cows, in addition to increased semen costs and lost time for you and your employees.

Boost your reproduction results

The worst-case scenario could be culling a cow due to reproductive problems. With herd sizes increasing daily and milk production on the rise, identifying cows in heat is more difficult and costly than ever.

If heat detection on your farm is less than ideal, here are a few things to consider:

Timing – with a short window of optimal breeding time, breeding cows too early or too late can impact conception rates.
Silent estrus – not all cows are comfortable mounting in freestall alleys, and some cows simply don’t exhibit as many physical signs of estrus.

Human error – Farm employees and herd managers are busy from the beginning to the end of their shifts. Many times, a heat is simply missed. Other times, someone improperly administered drugs or hormones, leading to poor conception rates.
Cow health and environment – Do you know if your cows’ nutritional and environmental needs are met? If a cow isn’t happy and healthy, she may not have the reproductive performance of a cow whose health and welfare is maximized.