The Benefits of Pregnancy Scanning Beef Cattle
Pregnancy diagnosis (PD) is a simple but valuable management tool for beef farmers and is an essential part of fertility management within a suckler herd. Knowing the pregnancy status of your herd early has several cost saving benefits as carrying empty cows’ costs money!
Early pregnancy diagnosis enables farmers to identify which cows are in calf, which are empty and, where possible, how far along cows are into pregnancy. This supports improved business efficiency, helps reduce emissions in line with climate change targets, and maximises herd profitability by ensuring that only productive cows are carried through the winter, reducing feed, bedding and housing costs.
Herd Management
While one of the main benefits of pregnancy scanning is identifying cows that are not in calf to ensure that resources are not wasted on non-reproductive livestock, it also offers significant benefits for herd management. More accurate predictions of calving dates allows for more effective rationing and calving management, with cows grouped according to stage of pregnancy and lactation to ensure their nutritional needs are met. Pregnancy scanning can also identify cows carrying twins. This allows farmers to adjust the ration and feed intake requirements to support a successful outcome, maintain optimal body condition and improve the cows chances of getting back in calf again.
Timely Vaccination
Pregnancy diagnosis and knowing cow due dates allows for more timely administration of vaccines. Scour vaccines given to cows where protection is passed onto the calf via colostrum intake, are only fully affective if the cow has been vaccinated 3 – 12 weeks before calving. For later calving cows’ vaccination can be delayed, to ensure that all the herd is fully and effectively vaccinated, ensuring all calves are protected.
Identify Wider Issues
Pregnancy diagnosis is more than simply a way of finding empty cows, it provides important data from informed breeding decisions and useful information about herd reproductive performance.
A high number of empty cows can highlight a wider herd issue. If several cows are not in calf, it is important to investigate why these cows are barren. Look at;
- Cow body condition and nutrition
- Heifer weight and age at bulling
- Bull fertility and performance
- The timing and length of the breeding period
- Cow age and previous reproductive performance
- Herd health and potential disease problems
- The impact of previous calving difficulties/interventions
Help Your Bottom Line
Every cow that fails to produce a calf represents a significant cost within a herd, adding pressure to already tight profit margins. An empty cow continues to consume feed, occupy housing and or grazing space and requires labour, yet produces no saleable calf. Successful suckler beef production relies on getting a live, healthy calf from each breeding female every year. Pregnancy diagnosis provides an early indication of whether the herd is achieving this. As a reminder the industry target is to keep the barren cow rate at no more than 5%.
When To Scan
Ideally cows should be scanned six weeks post breeding, however with many herds handling cows in the coming weeks for weaning and housing, this can be a practical opportunity to carry out pregnancy diagnosis and ensure that only productive animals are carried through the winter. Delaying scanning until later in the year, once cows are housed, can make it more difficult to estimate foetal size and identify twin pregnancies. Missing twin pregnancies can result in increased losses and poorer fertility in the following breeding season. It is important to note that not all scanners are able to detect twins, so farmers should check that this service is available when booking a scan.
Sarah Balfour, SAC Consulting
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