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Although farmers are preoccupied with spring calving at present, the start of the breeding period is just over a month away for many herds.
How well cows are managed after calving has a big impact on herd fertility and conception rates during the breeding season.
But, as with all aspects of herd management, these things are within the farmer’s control. Outlined are 10 steps to managing cows for a successful breeding season.
1 Have cows settled at grass before breeding
A big factor influencing cow fertility is having animals on a settled diet prior to and during the breeding period.
Where ground can carry livestock, give priority to spring-calving cows. Ideally, you want cows settled at grass at least two weeks before the start of breeding.
Cows that calved in early March will be reaching peak lactation in late May to early June. Therefore, these animals will have an increasing nutritional demand for energy.
Spring grass is a good source of energy and protein, making it an ideal feed for freshly calved cows.
Where cows are grazing ankle-high swards of perennial ryegrass, there will be no need to offer supplementary concentrates. However, cows will need to be covered for minerals, especially magnesium.
2 Group thin cows, twins and first-calved heifers together
First-calved heifers will be under stress coping with the physical demands of early lactation, maintaining body condition and resuming breeding activity.
The same will be true of cows that lost excessive body condition in early lactation, or those suckling twins.
The aim should be to get these animals into the best possible condition before the start of the breeding period
Group these animals together for priority management over the coming weeks. If grass supplies are limited, these animals can be supplemented with a small quantity of concentrates to boost dry matter energy intake.
The aim should be to get these animals into the best possible condition before the start of the breeding period.
This means giving these animals first preference of being turned out to grass. Increasing body condition by one unit will take around 60 to 70 days, so the earlier you take action, the better.
3 Sort cows into breeding groups at turnout
There is no point in double-handling cows if it can be avoided. Instead of just turning cows out to grass simply to free up housing space, try to sort cows into breeding groups as they leave the shed.
This way, there is no need to bring cows back to the yard in late May for sorting into bulling groups. This is time-consuming, especially for farmers working on extremely fragmented land.
Cows that are less suited to breeding replacements should be grouped together and run with a terminal sire
Target the earliest-calving and best-milking cows as one group, as these animals are ideally suited to producing replacement heifers.
Cows that are less suited to breeding replacements should be grouped together and run with a terminal sire.
It is likely that numbers in each group will be small at the start, but grow as more cows calve down over April.
4 Give the stock bull the once-over
Now is the time to give the bull his annual NCT. Check that the animal is walking correctly on all four feet and that the hind legs are not sickled.
If the feet need attention, now is the time to take action. Don’t leave it until a few days before breeding starts.
Check the testicles are free of lumps and make sure the bull is in good body condition prior to breeding.
5 Tail painting cows
Even if you use natural service, it is a good idea to apply tail paint to cows at the start of the breeding period.
Using tail paint is a cheap way to check cows are cycling
With natural service, farmers are more inclined to take a quick look at cows during the breeding period to see if the bull is following cows, rather than spend time watching for heats.
Using tail paint is a cheap way to check cows are cycling and there is mounting activity going on. You can also make a note of when to watch for repeat breeding activity.
6 Limit cow numbers for a new stock bull
For a new stock bull in his first breeding season, limit the number of cows in the group so as not to overwork the animal.
As a rule of thumb, the bull should serve one cow for every month of his age. For example, a 16-month-old bull should get a maximum of 16 cows.
For older bulls, limit group size to around 30 cows, where the aim is a compact calving period next spring.
7 Using AI at grass
Just because cows are grazing does not mean AI is not an option for breeding. Heat detection is important to get animals served at the right time.
Aids such as tail paint, scratch cards or teaser bulls are proven methods for heat detection. There are also new technical products on the market which are more precise with heat detection.
To aid conception rates, it is important to avoid stressing cows when isolating them for insemination.
Once cows have finished eating meals, release them from the pen via the raceway
A good way to get animals used to regular handling is to feed a small quantity (0.5kg/head) of concentrate in a handling pen every day. Ideally, the pen should have a race and head-locking gate.
Once cows have finished eating meals, release them from the pen via the raceway. As cattle become familiarised to moving through the race, they can be easily held for insemination.
8Mixing early and later-calving cows
During the breeding season, there will be times when multiple cows are in heat on the same day, putting the stock bull under pressure to cover animals.
To ease the pressure on the bull, mix breeding groups so they consist of early and later-calving animals. This way, there will be fewer animals coming into heat at the same time.
9 Making use of short- gestation bulls for late-calving cows
Cows that calve late are a drain on labour. They also wean the lightest calves off grass. For the majority of herds, the number of late-calving cows is usually just a handful.
Most traditional beef breeds have shorter gestation periods, compared to later-maturing continental breeds
To pull cows forward so they calve earlier next year, can these animals be served to a stock bull with a shorter gestation period?
Most traditional beef breeds have shorter gestation periods, compared to later-maturing continental breeds.
If the herd runs an Angus or Hereford stock bull to cover heifers, put the later-calving cows with this bull also.
10 Rotate stock bulls
As a safeguard against an infertile or a sub-fertile stock bull, it can be good practice to rotate herd sires between breeding groups midway through the breeding period.
This way, if there is a problem with the first bull’s libido or semen quality, the second bull should hopefully cover empty cows in the second half of the breeding period.
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