The Partners in Reproduction Series is a collaboration between MSD Animal Health and Agriland Media Group.
In the first part of the series, ruminant business unit director at MSD Animal Health, Jack O’Connor, spoke with Prof. Finbar Mulligan from University College Dublin (UCD) about pre-breeding management of cows.
This three-part video series will cover a number of topics focused around the breeding season, including: pre-breeding management, selecting the most suitable cows for sexed semen, synchronisation protocols and using technology for optimum fertility performance.
A new video will be released every Wednesday for the next three weeks.
Fertility
The first part of this three-part series is focusing on pre-breeding management of cows on dairy farms.
Speaking on the importance of fertility in dairy herds, Prof. Mulligan said that it is extremely important for profitability.
He explained that the target for dairy herds is to have 90% of the herd calved within the first six weeks and failing to achieve this costs €8/cow for every cow in the herd, for every percentage that this target is missed by – based on figures from Teagasc.
“The current statistics from ICBF [Irish Cattle Breeding Federation] would indicate, that in fact nationally, we have a six-week calving rate in spring of approximately 66%.
“So, it is very easy for the loss in profitability arising to poor fertility to amount to €19,000 or €20,000 for a typical 100 cow herd. That is why fertility is so important,” he said.
O’Connor pointed out the fertility performance within a herd is multi-factoral, and asked Prof. Mulligan what farmers can do to maximise their breeding success.
Prof. Mulligan said that there are several key elements involved in a good fertility performance.
“Animal health has to be good, management has to be good, management of the breeding season, heat detection, being organised and the genetics have to be good,” Mulligan said.
Nutrition
Prof. Mulligan also noted that nutrition is also important for good fertility performance.
Commenting on what can be done at farm level, if silage supplies are getting short, he said: “The first thing to do, is to identify that early and then to consider a strategy around it.
“We can’t predict the weather over the next two to three weeks – is it possible to buy in some silage?
“If not, would it be possible to buy in some straights, like rolled barley – it might be used as a good energy supplement at this time of the year.”
Mulligan also speaks about the important of using body condition scoring (BCS) and identifying cows that are thin early.
Cows that are thin ahead of the breeding season are at bigger risk of a fertility problem, and they also have an increased risk of lameness.
OAD milking
Cows within a herd that have been identified as being too thin or unconditioned ahead of breeding can be put on once-a-day (OAD) milking.
Mulligan explained that OAD milking is used on the Lyons farm, which reduces the energy output by reducing milk production by around 20-25%.
Although the cows are only being milked OAD, it is important that you continue to feed the cows twice-a-day (TAD) – to give the benefit to their energy balance.
“A cow with a poor energy balance, will also have a poor immune system,” Prof. Mulligan said.
If there are a large number of cows in the herd that are underconditioned, Mulligan said that this would suggest that the herd is being underfed.
Mulligan said a threshold of 10% is acceptable for thin cows, and there may be a reason for these cows being thin, such as health or lameness issues.
He advised farmers to get these cows checked by their vet to determine what is cause of these issues.
“If there is 20% or more of the herd thin, to me that’s a herd problem, and you need to review your feeding levels.
“That’s back to the calculation, with the amount of grass that I am expecting my cows to consume with their level of milk production – they are fed a diet that will support 100% of their energy requirements,” he added.
High risk cows
Within every herd, there will be a number of cows that will have issues around calving, and these cows should be considered high risk.
Mulligan said that is very important that these cows are given a pre-breeding exam from a vet and this is done at the right time.
He explained using the Lyons farm with a mating start date of April 22, so the pre-breeding examine will take place around March 20.
This ensures that enough cows have calved to make the exam worthwhile and have enough time to correct any potential issues.
Mulligan and O’Connor pointed out the importance of working with your vet to ensure that up-to-date with vaccinations.
Supplementation
Prof. Mulligan said that it is important that farmers base their feeding plans on the energy requirement of the cow.
He explained that cows generally need six UFL (net energy value) to maintain themselves and approximately 0.47 UFL/kg of milk.
Which means a cow producing 28L will need 13 UFLs for the milk and 6 UFL’s for herself – which is 19 UFLs.
Mulligan said: “If your herd is achieving a grass intake of 14kg, that is about 14 UFLs, and you need another five UFLs to come from the supplement.
“I would encourage farmers to do their own figures, based on their own current milk yield on March 17 or April 1 – but make sure you feed them to requirement.
“People often make the mistake of thinking I’ll skimp on the feed, but normally when milk prices are good dairy cows will return a good profitability and they will be able to pay for the feed they do require.”
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