Fertility Fix

Forages the Foundation of Strong Conception Rates

The first step to any successful season is a high conception rate. Here's how Chris Daugherty keeps it locked in at more than 90%.(DTN/Progressive Farmer photo by Becky Mills)

Obviously your cows need to get pregnant if you're going to have calves to sell. With input costs and overhead to figure, the more calves per herd the lower your overall cost of production. It's simple economics.

At Lathem Farms, they make it their business to get cows bred in a timely manner. The results are conception rates well above 90%. And it all starts with what's under the hoof.

"The forages are oh-so-important," said farm manager Chris Daugherty. "We have to pay attention to them."

The base of their forage program in Pendergrass, Ga., is fescue for cooler months and bermudagrass for the warm season. They also drill a mix of wheat and rye into a portion of their bermuda sod for high-quality winter grazing.

To fuel the forages, Daugherty uses judiciously applied hen litter from the farm's layer enterprise. "We use soil samples to know how much hen litter to apply," he said. They also spray for weeds annually.

Once the table is set, Daugherty is careful to rotate their four herds through pastures to prevent overgrazing, especially of winter annuals. The result is he rarely has to supplement with anything but home-raised hay. He does, however, keep high-quality minerals out for the cows year-round.

University of Florida animal scientist Cliff Lamb said Daugherty has his priorities in order. "In a management system, nutrition is likely the most important thing contributing to conception rates."

THE HEALTHY HERD

No matter how good the forage, cows and bulls have to be healthy to benefit from it. Daugherty's animals are vaccinated twice a year. In the spring, they are dewormed, fly tags are applied and they get a vibrio/lepto vaccination.

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In the fall, fly tags are removed, cows are preg checked, and both cows and bulls are vaccinated against vibrio and lepto, IBR, type I and II BVD, PI3, BRSV, haemophilus and the clostridial diseases. In addition, the cows get ScourGuard.

Even though bulls are away from the cows for most of the year, Daugherty puts a big emphasis on their health. In addition to being on the same herd health program as the cows, Daugherty said, "I try to start supplementing them three months before they go in with the cows."

Lamb said this is another good move. "Bulls are like athletes. They have to be fit and have the proper nutrition to perform. Overly fat bulls tend to produce lower-quality semen, and the same goes for overly thin bulls." He said being too fat or too thin also affects the bull's physical ability to mate with the cows.

EASY ON THE BULLS

Daugherty said he is conscious not to overwork bulls. When breeding season arrives, he puts four of his youngest, newest bulls in with the replacement heifers for a 120-day breeding season. He uses three bulls for each herd of 100 cows for their 90-day season. After five years, bulls are replaced.

Lamb said that's a good cow-to-bull ratio. "Yearling bulls can handle 20 to 25 heifers or cows each; and mature bulls—those 2 years old and up—can handle 25 to 35 heifers or cows."

If a cow is open at preg check time she's culled. Period. While the economics of keeping an open cow play a strong role in the decision, genetics is another key factor.

Lamb said, "Even though fertility has a fairly low heritability, you can definitely manipulate it by culling late calvers and open cows. You will definitely increase your conception rates in subsequent years."

For Daugherty, the fine-tuning has yielded big benefits. When he first came to the farm eight years ago, conception rates were in the 80% range. With those rates now well over 90%, he said he would be hard-pressed to pick just one factor that has made the difference. It all matters, he said. "It really is the whole program."

While conception rates get plenty of emphasis at Lathem Farms, the percent of calves weaned per cow exposed to the bulls is the measurement that really counts. Once again, they excel with weaning rates in the 90%-and-higher category. Here are five factors experts said most often cut into producers' weaning rates.

1. Absorption or abortion of the fetus. "Absorption of the fetus normally happens in the first 30 days," said Cliff Lamb, University of Florida animal scientist. "In a normal herd, about 3% to 6% of cows will abort later. It is a natural phenomenon from unknown factors."

He added that stress, lack of nutrition and disease can be factors. "In situations where disease is a factor, it can be a lot higher; sometimes the whole herd will abort."

2. Calving difficulties. When a heifer or cow has trouble delivering her calf, the calf can die or be so weak it can't get up and get that critical colostrum. At Lathem Farms, they buy bulls with calving-ease Expected Progeny Differences.

They also check pastures at least twice a day during calving season so they can spot a heifer or cow who is having trouble delivering her calf. "It is so important to be around when they are calving," said manager Chris Daugherty.

3. Poor nutrition in the cow. "Nutrition plays a big role in the immunity a cow gives her calf," said Lamb. "The immune factors in the colostrum are a lot lower when the cow hasn't had the proper nutrition."

4. Inadequate vaccination programs. "The cows' vaccination program is good for the calves," says veterinarian Fred Ingle, who does the herd health work for Georgia's Lathem Farms. "A lot of the immunity carries over to the calves."

The Clermont, Ga., veterinarian added, "Lepto also influences milk production. If a cow is infected with lepto, she won't milk as much."

Scours vaccinations are also an important component in the cows' fall vaccination routine. "That will knock out 99% of the scours in the calves," said Ingle.

5. Lack of predator control. Daugherty found out how important predator control can be when a neighbor moved and abandoned two Great Pyrenees. The guard dogs took up with one of Lathem Farms' herds, and their weaning rate went from the low 90s to 100%. After a year, the neighbor apparently came and got his dogs and the weaning rate dropped back down to the low 90% again.

(VM/CZ)

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