Getting beef cows in calf
The list of what to do is long enough to be daunting. Often it is dominated by animal health inputs such as vaccines and trace elements. The reality is though that management coming into mating will have the biggest impact. The summary of these actions follows:
- Cow condition rules - if possible, take off light condition cows and preferentially feed. The return on that feed is huge. Giving these cows a drench is beneficial. Not a pour-on.
- Time of calving - cows that calve late will be more difficult to get back in calf. If these cows are accessible, preferentially feed them.
- Feeding level - if cows are gaining condition at mating they have a much higher chance of getting pregnant than if they are losing condition. Allocating some extra feed even just for the two weeks before mating starts and for two weeks into mating will make a difference.
- Bull power - sound bulls are vital, so getting some soundness checking done on them is well worth the cost. Given that we find 13% of beef bulls are not 100% sound, paying under $50 to get a bull tested is very good investment.
Putting out enough bulls is also very important. But what is enough? For good condition cows on adequate feed, one bull per 40 odd cows in a multi-bull team is oodles. But for those high-risk cows, lights and lates, one per 20 can make a massive difference.
- Age of cow - while this cannot be changed, it does indicate risk. Cows coming up to their second and often third mating are high risk and will benefit from special attention. That attention is small mob size, well fed and extra bull power.
