Sucklers gone late calving.

893bet

Getting suckler cows onto calf earlier.

Have two cows due in 6 weeks time. Not ideal. They were the same last year. Managed to pull them back a week! Not ideal.

Any thoughts on getting them to come bulling faster when they calf, within 6 weeks preferable. They are in good trim, fat if anything. Currently inside on very average bay.

I know there is a shot they can be given to bring them bulling. Anything straight forward mineral wise that you would suggest?

Hard Knocks

893bet wrote: »

Getting suckler cows onto calf earlier.

Have two cows due in 6 weeks time. Not ideal. They were the same last year. Managed to pull them back a week! Not ideal.

Any thoughts on getting them to come bulling faster when they calf, within 6 weeks preferable. They are in good trim, fat if anything. Currently inside on very average bay.

I know there is a shot they can be given to bring them bulling. Anything straight forward mineral wise that you would suggest?

A bolus would be no harm
Rising plain of nutrition
Best way to bring them forward is to have with a bull

Sugarbowl

I coiled a few at the end of the bunch last year that were showing no sign of heat. The vet was out testing and he did them. They held first time to AI and calved first week of April. God knows when they would have calved only for intervening. Hate when they drag on.

893bet

893bet wrote: »

Getting suckler cows onto calf earlier.

Have two cows due in 6 weeks time. Not ideal. They were the same last year. Managed to pull them back a week! Not ideal.

Any thoughts on getting them to come bulling faster when they calf, within 6 weeks preferable. They are in good trim, fat if anything. Currently inside on very average bay.

I know there is a shot they can be given to bring them bulling. Anything straight forward mineral wise that you would suggest?

Some areas have copper shortage and that can delay fertility.

You could keep the calves away from the cow for a 4 or 5 hours a day that might bring them forward a bit.

Lepto might have been a factor if they are slipping or age if they are old cows.

grassroot1

893bet wrote: »

Getting suckler cows onto calf earlier.

Have two cows due in 6 weeks time. Not ideal. They were the same last year. Managed to pull them back a week! Not ideal.

Any thoughts on getting them to come bulling faster when they calf, within 6 weeks preferable. They are in good trim, fat if anything. Currently inside on very average bay.

I know there is a shot they can be given to bring them bulling. Anything straight forward mineral wise that you would suggest?

Buy 2 heifers sell 2 dry cows in October

jimmy G M

Deleted User wrote: »

You could keep the calves away from the cow for a 4 or 5 hours a day that might bring them forward a bit.

This. Keep the calves in, let in the cows morning & evening, gets them back cycling very quickly. Pain in the a**e, but it works, you should be able to knock 6 weeks off their calving date next year.

893bet

Hard Knocks wrote: »

A bolus would be no harm
Rising plain of nutrition
Best way to bring them forward is to have with a bull

No bull sadly. Couple of stronger weanlings but they will be only 9 months old when the time for getting back into calf comes so prob not old enough to have the same Impact.

Gonna try copper bolus as have heard they are good.

893bet

Deleted User wrote: »

Some areas have copper shortage and that can delay fertility.

You could keep the calves away from the cow for a 4 or 5 hours a day that might bring them forward a bit.

Lepto might have been a factor if they are slipping or age if they are old cows.

Relatively young cows, 5-7.

My father mentioned restricting access to the calf. Seems relatively simple option.

grassroot1 wrote: »

Buy 2 heifers sell 2 dry cows in October

Def won’t buy to replace. 25 years of AI from when we got out of dairy and only bought in one heifer in that time. They are very quiet and a shame to move on. Have 5 heifers in calf to calve Oct-dec that I plan on selling springing or with calf at foot so could keep a few of them instead. But reluctant to get rid of quiet mature cows. So quiet you can hand milk them in the field with a shake of nuts.

893bet

jimmy G M wrote: »

This. Keep the calves in, let in the cows morning & evening, gets them back cycling very quickly. Pain in the a**e, but it works, you should be able to knock 6 weeks off their calving date next year.

When should we start this process? From let’s say a month after calving? In the hope that they would then coming bulling 2-3 weeks later? Or what’s the advised protocol?

Knocking off six weeks would be the business.

trg

893bet wrote: »

Relatively young cows, 5-7.

My father mentioned restricting access to the calf. Seems relatively simple option.




Def won’t buy to replace. 25 years of AI from when we got out of dairy and only bought in one heifer in that time. They are very quiet and a shame to move on. Have 5 heifers in calf to calve Oct-dec that I plan on selling springing or with calf at foot so could keep a few of them instead. But reluctant to get rid of quiet mature cows. So quiet you can hand milk them in the field with a shake of nuts.

Would restricting access be simple? I'd say it would cause mayhem at ours!

Fairly substantial time drain as well I'd have thought?

funkey_monkey

Could you not prid/cidr them to bring it all forward?

mr.stonewall

If they are yet to calve, the decision has to be made on when breeding stops. This is the only way to tighten the calving spread. If breeding is ongoing and they are calved 6 weeks, let the calves suck twice daily and let the cows run with the bull until the cut off date for breeding. it's a bit of work but you are giving them a short chance. You might be lucky with them and they could get 2 heats in that time. Another option is to CRID them if breeding is ongoing and ai to a short gestation bull, even if it means an angus. This will pull back the calving on them and an easy calving should help the following year to start cycling quicker. Scan 4-6 weeks after the bull is pulled and you have time to plan what to do then. Sucklers are a high cost game and this leaves no room for passengers. Compact calving is real bonus for labour, the hidden unaccounted cost on farms

Personally I think you need to consider some replacements coming through for these issues. This could be the year to cull out problems as demand for beef is rising, especially as countries ease lockdown and food service gets back up and running.

TooOldBoots

If you are using AI on sucklers then expect at least half of them to go out later every year. Not much you can do if they are gone this late, best to live with it and be happy whenever they calf.
The only way to get thme back calving early is to cull and replace or leave them empty and be early the following year.

50HX

There are a lot of variables but the twice a day drink is the biggest bang for your buck imo

If you can keep calves out of sight and in a different shed all the better, there is still a maternal bond up to 50 metres I think

Donegalforever

893bet wrote: »

Getting suckler cows onto calf earlier.

Have two cows due in 6 weeks time. Not ideal. They were the same last year. Managed to pull them back a week! Not ideal.

Any thoughts on getting them to come bulling faster when they calf, within 6 weeks preferable. They are in good trim, fat if anything. Currently inside on very average bay.

I know there is a shot they can be given to bring them bulling. Anything straight forward mineral wise that you would suggest?

Give them Boluses would help.
Then you could Prid of Cidr coil them at least 35 days after calving in order to bring them on heat.

Sugarbowl

Keep calves inside here since birth - cows are coming in twice/day to suck and off they go. Not a bawl out of them. They happily stay out for the night in a field. Calves in straw and not worrying about the cold. All healthy. Most of the cows have shown heats but haven’t started AI yet. Yeah it’s time consuming but it works.