The breeding season is now underway on the vast majority of Irish dairy farms for 2023, and for the first three weeks of breeding the target is to submit 90% of your cows.
This allows for a compact calving season in the spring and ensures that a high percentage of the herd will calve down in the first six weeks of calving.
To achieve this, a lot of things need to go in your favour, most notably the cows need to be cycling.
Most farms are now in week two of breeding and farmers will be hoping that a significant portion of their herd has now been served.
But there will nearly always be a number of cows that aren’t cycling or won’t cycle in the first three weeks of breeding.
Breeding season
Although we have not yet reached week three, it is important that any cows that haven’t been seen cycling yet are watched closely.
Pre-breeding monitoring will help to identify cows that were not cycling prior to the start of breeding, but there may have been some cows not calved or only freshly calved.
As the breeding season is already underway, any cows that are not cycling or problem cows need to be dealt with quickly.
It is important to get these cows cycling quickly so they can have a chance to go in calf within the first six weeks of the breeding season.
Ideally, these problem cows would have been dealt with before the start of breeding, but for any that slipped though the crack, treatment needs to be prompt.
Failing to get these cows cycling again will most likely result in them falling out of the system.
Farmers should consult with a vet to determine what treatment, if any, is required for cows that are currently not cycling.
Some may just need a little more time, while others may need hormonal intervention to get them to come into heat.