Use Pregnancy Checks to Spot and Fix Breeding Problems in the Beef Herd
By Ellen H. Brisendine
Spending money and time on an open cow or heifer is a waste. Waiting until calving season to find out how many calves you will have to market is a risk. Both problems can be avoided or reduced by pregnancy checking your beef females.
Todd Bilby, associate director of Ruminant Technical Services at Merck Animal Health, says, “Pregnancy testing allows you to identify more quickly those open animals that you potentially want to cull, so they are not out there eating the groceries that other animals could eat. Once you know their open or bred status, you can decide what to do with the open cows. Do you want to hold them over until August and September when prices are typically a little better for cull cows? Or if it was a replacement heifer, maybe you want to implant it, get the benefit of her weight gain, and then sell?
“Learning which cows are open or bred provides you with options for gaining more value out of a particular animal,” he says.
Another benefit is early knowledge. “The more quickly you know if the females are open or bred, the earlier you know what worked or didn’t work during that breeding season.”
Pregnancy checks will let the rancher know if he or she is set up for a potentially good calving season or a bad one, Bilby says. You do not have to wait until calving season to learn “what worked and what did not. You will have it fresh on your mind, have a record of the breeding season results and can know what to do for the next year. Or, maybe you have a second calf crop each year. Pregnancy checking can help you prepare for it.”
Test 30 to 45 days after breeding
Schedule pregnancy checks about 30 days after the breeding season if you are using a blood test or an ultrasound check, Bilby says. “If you are checking by palpation, you might wait until 40 or 45 days. With ultrasound and blood tests you can usually go a little bit earlier. That is typically where and when you want to test.”
Ranchers can learn the proper technique for pregnancy checking cattle, but it is always good to have access to professional help such as a veterinarian.
“I think it is always good to have a veterinarian, as far as a vet-patient-client relationship,” Bilby says. “Obviously, they can do other things right there on the spot as far as assessing the health of the cattle, or if something is going on with the herd they are there to handle a problem.”
Other testing options are a blood test or ultrasound imaging.
“A blood test works very well and is a test any producer can use. Use a vial to collect a blood sample from each female that has been bred, send the vials to the lab, and within 24 to 48 hours you get an email telling you which cows are open or pregnant.”
Can pregnancy checking by palpation cause an abortion?
There is a slight possibility that checking for pregnancy by palpating the cow can cause an abortion. “A skilled palpater should not cause that much damage,” Bilby says. The other methods of testing, ultrasound imaging and collecting blood, have an extremely low risk.
“That is why it might be best to wait until that 40- or 45-day mark when checking by palpation. It is more obvious to feel the pregnancy at that time. However, the person doing the palpation should be aware of the comfort level in checking early.”
Regardless of method, be aware of the stress of running cattle through the squeeze chute. “Be easy on them and cause them as little stress as possible,” he says.
Pregnancy rate expectations
Shoot for a pregnancy rate of 90 percent or higher and a 60-day breeding season, Bilby says. This is the percentage of pregnant females out of the number of females exposed to breeding. “I like to shoot for a 95 percent conception rate, but I would settle for a number greater than 90 percent.”
If the conception rate is considerably lower than 90 percent, take action. “If you realize that the pregnancy rate is 75 or 80 percent, find out what happened. Were the cows not in good condition or cycling like they should? Was a proper breeding soundness exam done on the bull? If you used artificial insemination (AI), were the females synchronized properly or the semen handled correctly?
Since synchronization and AI are becoming more popular, being able to quickly pregnancy check them will show you how well you did and give you an opportunity to fix a problem. I think those are all definitely things that provide you an advantage if you are using pregnancy testing.”
Pregnancy checking the beef cow herd does not mean you are counting your calves before they are born, but you are counting your possible calves. If you are expecting dozens of bred cows, but find only a handful, you have both a problem and the opportunity to fix it before the next calving season presents you with an unwelcome surprise.
Use Pregnancy Checks is excerpted from the November 2018 issue of The Cattleman magazine.