The majority of cows will have received their first service, meaning the focus should now be on maintaining pregnancy rates.
At this stage of breeding, there will likely be a number of repeats in cows, however, the number of repeats should be kept to a minimum and should become less frequent as the weeks go on.
The next concern, is embryo loss. In order to prevent this, good management practices post-breeding need to be implemented.
Breeding
Over the last number of years, the breeding plan has changed on a lot of dairy farms, with a lot more beef sires being used than dairy sires.
The cows and heifers with the best genetics are being selected to produce replacement heifers, meaning fewer cows are carrying replacement stock.
With fewer replacements being bred, embryo loss prevention should be prioritised.
It can be next to impossible to completely eliminate embryo losses, however, it is possible to reduce the number of potential losses.
Maintaining pregnancy rates
The number one prevention to embryo loss in cows and heifers can be attributed to a high level of good nutrition in early pregnancy.
Research from Teagasc confirmed that keeping the diet at the same rate, or even increasing the level of nutrition, resulted in high embryo survival.
The research also showed that when the level of energy intake decreased slightly after breeding, it severely reduced embryo survival rates.
Therefore, to improve pregnancy rates, maintaining dry matter (DM) intakes at the early stages of the pregnancy period is crucial.
Avoid placing any stress or any unnecessary disturbance on cows and heifers during the early stages of pregnancy, as it will also negatively impact embryo survival.
The first few weeks may have been stressful with very little grass growth, and this may have put stress on the cows.
However, grass growth and grazing conditions have improved over the last couple of weeks meaning the concern over intake should be over.
Sudden grass shortages should be avoided and if you do run short, extra meal or silage will have to be supplemented to make sure that their diet and energy intake is constant.