Select Sires

Systematic Re-Breeding of Cows
Transcript of Select Sires' Reproductive Moment Program
on DairyLine Radio Which Aired Jan. 9, 2003
with Jeff Stephenson, professor of reproductive physiology,
Kansas State University.

This weeks Reproductive Moment is with Jeff Stephenson, professor of reproductive physiology the department of animal science at Kansas State University. This week, Jeff, we are talking about systematic re-breeding of cows and many producers have adopted a systematic program for first insemination, but unfortunately not all cows will conceive at the first service. What kind of conception rates are we looking at and what can we expect after an estrus synchronization program?

Most of the synchronization programs being applied today will produce about 30 to 40 percent of the cows pregnant at first service.

What do we do to cows not conceived at first service?

That is a really good question, because if only 30 to 40 percent conceive at first service, that means we still have 60 to 70 percent of the cows that are open after that first service. There are a number of things that we can do there. The first thing that probably producers don’t want to hear too much about, and that is to talk about detecting estrus because that is always a challenge in almost every dairy farm. We know, since we have inseminated a group of cows to some type of breeding protocol, we know when they are going to come into heat. We would expect them to come in heat somewhere between the 19 and 24 days after we inseminated the cows, whether we’ve done that by estrus or time insemination. So, if we use some type of system, chalk or frequent visual observation of those cows we should be able to identify a high percentage of those cows in heat, during that period after being inseminated the first time.

What is another way?

Attack the problem a little bit further down the road, and that is when those cows that we do find open at pregnancy diagnosis. Those are cows that we’ve either palpated or detected by ultra sonography by our veterinarian and we need to do something to those cows to get them re-inseminated promptly. Most systems that have been applied would include something like the Ovsynch protocol, so that when we find a cow open today we start her on an Ovsynch protocol so that we can guarantee that she will be re-inseminated within ten days. Of course, if she comes to estrus before that scheduled time of insemination in ten days, we simply discontinue the Ovsynch protocol and breed the cow when we see her in heat and we’ve got her re-inseminated.

The third way is to actually try to re-synchronize cows before we even know what they pregnancy status is. That might sound like kind of a crazy idea, but we have conducted a number of studies with both dairy cattle and beef cattle where we have applied various treatments to cows at a given point after their first insemination, to attempt to re-synchronize the estrus in the cows that are not yet pregnant. Those are three different ways that one could address the problem of getting those cows that are not pregnant after first insemination to conceive as quick as we can.

Thanks Jeff, any final advice?

One of the things that producers really need to do to take advantage of the technology is to use the consulting advantages of their veterinary practitioner and if they have an A.I. reproductive specialist at hand, this could be an extension specialist. They could be representatives of the A.I. industry such as Select Sires and some of the other bull studs. It could be very health effective in helping them set up these types of program. They are all willing to help out if they get a question by phone.

Jeff Stephenson, professor of reproductive physiology the department of animal sciences at Kansas State University.

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