Anybody else having problem with open cows?

allenslabs · #21 12/29/11, 10:34 PM

No, he wasn't semen tested by us. If he had been before we didn't know it. He will be 3 this Feb or maybe he was in Aug. I can't remember.
The reason we had the vet out to preg check is because the same cow kept being ridden by the others....even the bull when we had him in with them. He was out for a while but is back in there now. He has tossed out all weights in calves though. We have had from 30lbs all the way up to around 130lbs. It is very odd.

willow_girl · #22 12/29/11, 11:34 PM

I checked the records on the farm where I work tonight ... of the last 20 cows sold, 10 have been reproductive culls.

allenslabs · #23 12/30/11, 08:56 AM

Hmmm so it isn't just us.

That 16 mineral thing. Some people by us have that and said it is really interesting to see the cows go to the specific mineral they need. They know what their body is lacking I guess and go to that one. I can't remember the website though.

topside1 · #24 12/30/11, 09:12 AM

This 16 mineral feeder reminds me of the buffet line at the Golden Corral, still hoping for a photo.......Topside

CCCC · #25 12/30/11, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy J

HEAT!!!!
July was a hot one, seeing quite a bit of sows and cows that are open because of the extreme heat we had in the Midwest this past summer.

Jim

In agreement with this, very hot summer could affect a lot of cows.

ramiller5675 · #26 12/30/11, 01:37 PM

There is a picture of a mineral feeder with different compartments like the one described at:

http://practicalfarmers.org/blog/201...iowa#more-1882

myersfarm · #27 12/30/11, 08:12 PM

TOPSIDE I was also hoping for the 16 different minerals you use in one

SteveO · #28 12/30/11, 08:53 PM

I'm guessing start with your mineral bag and go from there. Some of those minerals would be $$ to get in raw form. I like the idea though.

dosthouhavemilk · #29 12/30/11, 08:57 PM

I palpated most of the herd on 11/7. We are down to 7 cows (6 of them Jerseys) and 6 up coming heifers. Oh, and a beef cow and her 3/4 beef hdaughter. The 3/4 Beef daughter calved shortly before that. We don't catch the beef cow. She isa stray from the local sale barn and we have never had a halter on her (almost) but not worth it. The assumption is she is bred.
Of the 7 cows, I palpated 6 and all were bred, some bumpable. The 7th is a 12 year old Jersey who has not calved since her heifer was born in mid-2010. She ran with three bulls and just appears to be done with calving for now. Still milking, just not bred. Of the 6, three should calve by March or so. Another is is an 8 year old cow who may or may not be bred. If she is she was short bred.
I've only palpated for pregnancy a few times before now over the past 5 years.

Of the six heifers, I palpated 5. The 6th had cycled recently. 4 of them were around 4/12-6 months along. The 5th I had as short bred if even bred.....turns out, she'll probably calve first. Had a repeat buyer out and she came up. I bumper her because she had the most udder development. Yup, calf. Even taught the buyer how to bump her out in the field. Sweet heifer that one.
So ours didn't really lag much. If anything they are calving a bit earlier than last year.
The goats on the other hand...they are another story. Normally we would be kidding by now and have around 30 done by the end of January. We have nothing due until mid-March (one doe) and the rest start coming the end of February and on. We just were not seeing heats out of them.

allenslabs · #30 12/30/11, 10:50 PM

I would like to learn how to palpate. Also AI but am just now looking into it so maybe within a few months I will know. I thought about seeing if the livestock yard would let me hang with the vet a day and palpate all day long and maybe I'd learn something. LOL!

**gone-a-milkin** · #31 12/30/11, 11:19 PM

Farmer Boss just dried up 25 cows after having the vet out last week to palp.
Of 106 head, 40 were right on schedule, and 35 were settled a month later (give or take).

3 of the unsettled ones will be culled (older ladies w/ multiple issues) and the rest are this years FF's who didnt get checked this time. They should be at least 5+ months bred though.

So the numbers here were not terrible. It was pretty hot and both bulls were a little young. They did okay though.

The goal is to get EVERYBODY synched to freshen w/in a 3 month span. Easier said than done.
Especially the youngest heifers, their ages and growth are kinda all over the board.

Hopefully we wont be buying ANY new cows in 2012, then it will be easier to get everyone on the same page (theoretically).
Keep the fences plugged in, for one thing.

Still, I am happy to have 40 fewer fat cows to milk for a couple months.

Next month will be even easier.
Gives me time to miss their wonderful sassy attitudes.

I really do look forward to seeing what some of those heifers will do as 2nd calvers.
I can wait until the grass is green though.

topside1 · #32 12/31/11, 08:10 AM

Mineral wagon? Talk about adding even more chores to your already busy week...Nice set up though. I'll stick with pre-mixed bags, I'm lazy....Topside

DJ in WA · #33 12/31/11, 04:42 PM

Could be a combination of factors, but if lowered fertility is widespread in the area, I agree that a hotter year could be a factor. The impact of heat stress is not generally appreciated. Cows produce a lot of heat, and they need all the help they can to get rid of it. Instead, we breed them with black hair or long hair, or put them on concrete or dirt, without shade, or keep increasing production in dairy cattle so they make more heat.

http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2...e/CT1033.shtml

Quote:

The thermocomfort zone for cattle varies depending on a large group of factors including body condition, hair coat length, plane of nutrition, health, breed, age and acclimation. In general, cattle do not handle heat as well as humans. In the midst of a typical summer, cattle are generally less comfortable than humans at the same environmental temperature. Something to consider is that cattle begin feeling the effects of the heat at about 70 degrees F. What that means is that producers need to consider the fact that their cattle are probably hot even when they themselves are not.

In the initial or early stages, when cattle start to suffer from heat, the early signs are not always apparent. Feed and roughage intake may drop a little but the animal may be fairly uncomfortable way before that. As cattle heat up and feed intake drops, cattle begin using additional energy in order to help keep themselves cool, therefore, heat stress reduces production and efficiency. Once this performance level drops it becomes very difficult to get it back. This is especially true in growing and feedlot cattle. Some of this loss is carried all the way through to the packinghouse. In many cases with growing and feedyard cattle the losses can equal ten percent or more.

In breeding cattle, we see a similar response in terms of nutrient or feed intake and energy metabolism in an effort to stay cool. Often, this results in reduced breeding activity, reduced cycling and lower conception rates. A confounding factor in this scenario is that at a time when cows are hot and not grazing as heavily the forage quality has also deteriorated so that the roughage or pasture that is consumed is lower in nutrients as well as less digestible. This makes a pretty strong case for summer supplementation programs.

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/r...20-%20Lucy.pdf

Quote:

Heat stress causes infertility in farm animals
and represents a major source of economic loss.

Conception rates for dairy cows in the United
States typically decrease 10 to 20% in summer
(Figure 1). Heat stress causes infertility throughout
the United States but is most important in
subtropical and desert regions. The loss of
conception has led some dairymen to suspend
breeding in the summer in large United States
dairy herds. Lactating dairy cows are particularly
sensitive to heat stress because they have high
metabolic heat production associated with milk
production. Furthermore, high producing dairy
cows are most susceptible to heat stress. In a
recent study of Florida dairy cows, al-Katanani et
al. (1999) examined 90-day return rates
throughout the calendar year and found that
summer infertility was greatest in the highest milk
producing dairy cattle. Therefore, there is an
additive effect of heat stress and greater milk
production for decreasing conception rate in dairy
cattle.

The effects of heat stress can be directly
related to the increase in body temperature in
heat-stressed cows. Ulberg and Burfening (1967)
showed that small increases in maternal body
temperature would cause decreased pregnancy
rates in cattle (Figure 2). The increase in body
temperature affects the reproductive tract and the
early embryo. These changes in the reproductive
tract influence the ability of a cow to become
pregnant during heat stress.

G. Seddon · #34 12/31/11, 05:12 PM

Good post, DJ.

allenslabs · #35 12/31/11, 08:35 PM

Very good post!