Fertility is hugely important in seasonal calving systems. Cows must calve compactly and at the right time to get the most days at milk and at grass from the herd. Long and spread out calving patterns reduce this and cost the farmer money.
Problem cows are cows that are sick, lame, thin or have mastitis. Over the next few weeks other categories can be added to the problem cow group. These are cows that have not yet calved and cows that are not cycling. This group of cows are all challenged – either by their health or by time as they have calved late.
Getting these cows back in-calf this season is going to be the challenge for the farmer. What can they do to increase the chances of the cow going back in-calf?
Cathal O’Sé is a vet with the Riverview vet practice in Bandon in Cork. He was speaking at a fertility seminar organised by Interchem recently about his approach to dealing with problem cows.
When it comes to dealing with fertility issues, he says the main problem he encounters is farmers reporting cows not seen bulling. Because these cows are not seen in heat, they are not inseminated and so they can’t go in-calf. This costs the farmer money, both in terms of the direct costs associated with treatment and also indirect costs with longer calving interval and higher replacement rates.
Uterus
He says there are three things to look for in a cow not seen bulling. The first is to check the uterus or the womb. Uterine infections can cause metritis, endometritis and pyometra (pus in the uterus). All of these conditions are as a result of an infection picked up at calving time. Hard calvings, dirty calving area and retained cleanings all contribute to uterine infections.
Cows with metritis are easily enough spotted. They will be smelly and will probably be forcing out brown fluids. It’s often associated with other things such as a high temperature and off feed, etc. Depending on severity, Cathal treats these cows with antibiotics into the muscle and into the uterus along with anti-inflammatory drugs and fluids.
Endometritis is more common and is a white discharge from the uterus, often seen on cubicle beds. It indicates an infection of the uterus which Cathal says impacts on heat expression and conception rate.
He treats endometritis with prostaglandin (PG) or with a Metricure antibiotic into the uterus, but only in cows calved more than four weeks.
Pyometra or pus in the womb can only really be observed by scanning. Cathal treats cows with pyometra by injecting them with PG and giving a Metricure after the heat. He will then give another shot of PG 10 or 11 days later and then serve the cow on that heat.
He says that one of the main causes of uterine infections is retained cleanings. These can be caused by a variety of factors including hard calvings, twins, milk fever, and vitamin or mineral deficiencies. When it comes to treatment of retained cleanings lasting more than 24 hours, Cathal cuts the cleaning off at the lips of the vulva to reduce the amount of bacteria getting in.
“A long trail of a cleaning dragging along the ground after the cow is an elevator for bacteria to get into the uterus,” Cathal says.
He also gives the cow a shot of long acting oxytocin. He will monitor that cow for signs of illness such as a high temperature, or a drop in milk yield and use antibiotics if necessary.
He will schedule a recheck 10 to 14 days after calving.
Ovaries
The next cause of cows not cycling could be to do with the ovaries. Disorders such as anoestrus, cysts and silent heats are all related to the ovaries and won’t be identified unless the cow is scanned. Cathal called out a long list of reasons why a cow might be anoestrus or not cycling, but in real terms, only a very small proportion of cows are truly anoestrus – most just aren’t seen bulling.
Cows that are on a good diet and are in a good comfortable environment should be in a good position to show strong heats. In dairy cows, anoestrus tends to be associated with underlying health issues, very high milk yield or poor housing. Heifers might be anoestrus if they are immature.
Cathal says the treatment of anoestrus cows involves removing, alleviating or treating the underlying causes. He says many of his clients routinely put the cows not seen bulling into a once-a-day milking group. Treatment of true anoestrus involves using progesterone hormone devices along with other hormone treatments.
Cysts are large structures that are present on the ovaries and prevent normal function. In some cases they cause regular heats every two or three days but more often are associated with no heats. Cathal says they are heritable, can be caused by stress or poor diet and are more common in certain breeds.
Cathal says drugs alone will not treat cysts and that some disruption will be necessary to get rid of the cyst. After bursting the cyst, the cow is put on a progesterone therapy to reset the hormone mechanisms.
He says silent heats are the easiest to treat as the cow is cycling correctly, but the heats weren’t observed. Depending on the stage the cow is at in her cycle, he will recommend that the farmer uses PG to short cycle the cow.
In-calf
Cathal says that it often happens when he is scanning “non-cycling” cows from mid-May onwards that some of the cows actually show up in calf. This could be because they were inseminated and not recorded, or the bull got them without the farmer seeing. So Cathal says it is extremely important to check for pregnancies before using PG.
In brief
Problem cows are late calvers, cows that haven’t shown signs of heat and cows that have been sick. They will all find it harder to get in calf.It’s a good policy to scan these cows and use hormones to get them back cycling. Good hygiene and diet before and after calving will help to prevent a lot of uterine disorders.Progesterone and prostaglandin based treatments are all used to treat non-cycling cows.
Fertility is hugely important in seasonal calving systems. Cows must calve compactly and at the right time to get the most days at milk and at grass from the herd. Long and spread out calving patterns reduce this and cost the farmer money.
Problem cows are cows that are sick, lame, thin or have mastitis. Over the next few weeks other categories can be added to the problem cow group. These are cows that have not yet calved and cows that are not cycling. This group of cows are all challenged – either by their health or by time as they have calved late.
Getting these cows back in-calf this season is going to be the challenge for the farmer. What can they do to increase the chances of the cow going back in-calf?
Cathal O’Sé is a vet with the Riverview vet practice in Bandon in Cork. He was speaking at a fertility seminar organised by Interchem recently about his approach to dealing with problem cows.
When it comes to dealing with fertility issues, he says the main problem he encounters is farmers reporting cows not seen bulling. Because these cows are not seen in heat, they are not inseminated and so they can’t go in-calf. This costs the farmer money, both in terms of the direct costs associated with treatment and also indirect costs with longer calving interval and higher replacement rates.
Uterus
He says there are three things to look for in a cow not seen bulling. The first is to check the uterus or the womb. Uterine infections can cause metritis, endometritis and pyometra (pus in the uterus). All of these conditions are as a result of an infection picked up at calving time. Hard calvings, dirty calving area and retained cleanings all contribute to uterine infections.
Cows with metritis are easily enough spotted. They will be smelly and will probably be forcing out brown fluids. It’s often associated with other things such as a high temperature and off feed, etc. Depending on severity, Cathal treats these cows with antibiotics into the muscle and into the uterus along with anti-inflammatory drugs and fluids.
Endometritis is more common and is a white discharge from the uterus, often seen on cubicle beds. It indicates an infection of the uterus which Cathal says impacts on heat expression and conception rate.
He treats endometritis with prostaglandin (PG) or with a Metricure antibiotic into the uterus, but only in cows calved more than four weeks.
Pyometra or pus in the womb can only really be observed by scanning. Cathal treats cows with pyometra by injecting them with PG and giving a Metricure after the heat. He will then give another shot of PG 10 or 11 days later and then serve the cow on that heat.
He says that one of the main causes of uterine infections is retained cleanings. These can be caused by a variety of factors including hard calvings, twins, milk fever, and vitamin or mineral deficiencies. When it comes to treatment of retained cleanings lasting more than 24 hours, Cathal cuts the cleaning off at the lips of the vulva to reduce the amount of bacteria getting in.
“A long trail of a cleaning dragging along the ground after the cow is an elevator for bacteria to get into the uterus,” Cathal says.
He also gives the cow a shot of long acting oxytocin. He will monitor that cow for signs of illness such as a high temperature, or a drop in milk yield and use antibiotics if necessary.
He will schedule a recheck 10 to 14 days after calving.
Ovaries
The next cause of cows not cycling could be to do with the ovaries. Disorders such as anoestrus, cysts and silent heats are all related to the ovaries and won’t be identified unless the cow is scanned. Cathal called out a long list of reasons why a cow might be anoestrus or not cycling, but in real terms, only a very small proportion of cows are truly anoestrus – most just aren’t seen bulling.
Cows that are on a good diet and are in a good comfortable environment should be in a good position to show strong heats. In dairy cows, anoestrus tends to be associated with underlying health issues, very high milk yield or poor housing. Heifers might be anoestrus if they are immature.
Cathal says the treatment of anoestrus cows involves removing, alleviating or treating the underlying causes. He says many of his clients routinely put the cows not seen bulling into a once-a-day milking group. Treatment of true anoestrus involves using progesterone hormone devices along with other hormone treatments.
Cysts are large structures that are present on the ovaries and prevent normal function. In some cases they cause regular heats every two or three days but more often are associated with no heats. Cathal says they are heritable, can be caused by stress or poor diet and are more common in certain breeds.
Cathal says drugs alone will not treat cysts and that some disruption will be necessary to get rid of the cyst. After bursting the cyst, the cow is put on a progesterone therapy to reset the hormone mechanisms.
He says silent heats are the easiest to treat as the cow is cycling correctly, but the heats weren’t observed. Depending on the stage the cow is at in her cycle, he will recommend that the farmer uses PG to short cycle the cow.
In-calf
Cathal says that it often happens when he is scanning “non-cycling” cows from mid-May onwards that some of the cows actually show up in calf. This could be because they were inseminated and not recorded, or the bull got them without the farmer seeing. So Cathal says it is extremely important to check for pregnancies before using PG.
In brief
Problem cows are late calvers, cows that haven’t shown signs of heat and cows that have been sick. They will all find it harder to get in calf.It’s a good policy to scan these cows and use hormones to get them back cycling. Good hygiene and diet before and after calving will help to prevent a lot of uterine disorders.Progesterone and prostaglandin based treatments are all used to treat non-cycling cows. 
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: