Numbers that would define reproductive efficiency for most herds would include a 90% to 95% pregnancy rate , less than 2% abortion rate, and 65%, 88%, and 100% of the calves born by days 21, 42, and 65 of the calving season, respectively. ... Efficiency is synonymous with optimums, not maximums.
How do you improve reproductive efficiency?
- 19.5 percent of operations take advantage of semen evaluation.
- 18 percent palpate for pregnancies.
- 14.3 percent body condition score.
- 7.9 percent use estrus synchronization.
- 7.6 percent use artificial insemination (A.I.)
What factors influence reproductive efficiency?
Two factors that contribute significantly to reproductive efficiency are conception rate and loss of pregnancy .
What are the benefits of reproductive efficiency?
Benefits to industry
Investment in reproductive efficiency R&D is designed to increased productivity and profitability through: increasing breeder herd and flock fertility . improving livestock survival rates . improving the rate of calving, lambing and kidding .
How do you measure reproduction efficiency?
The percentage reproductive efficiency was ob- tained by dividing twelve , the ideal number of breeding months for the pro- duction of a calf, by the determined average number of breeding months per calf.
What is the ideal time for calving?
A good practice is to have calving commencing 4 to 6 weeks before the start of the spring rains . Mating will then commence 6 to 8 weeks after the first rains have fallen, when the veld has had time to become green and has grown out enough to support the needs of the cow and her calf.
What is a calving interval?
The term “calving interval” refers to the period from one calv- ing to the next calving . In dairy practice the most common calv- ing interval is in the neighborhood of one year. ... There may be an economic advantage in having the flush of milk production, associated with calving, occur at some particular time of the year.
What are three methods of reproduction management?
- Hand mating. This method involves selecting the buck/ram for the doe/ewe and mating them. ...
- Pen breeding. In pen breeding, the buck/ram is put in a pen of does/ewes to facilitate their mating. ...
- Artificial insemination (AI). ...
- Out-of-season breeding.
What reproductive challenges do cows have?
On the present report, we focused on four reproductive challenges that are critical to cow-calf operations: delayed puberty, poor control of timing of ovulation, early and late embryonic mortality, delayed return to cyclicity after parturition .
What are the causes of low breeding efficiency?
Evidence is presented which indicates that a low rate of fertilization and a high rate of embryonic mortality are the major factors causing the low seasonal breeding efficiency associated with high ambient temperature and humidity in lactating dairy cows.
Why is good reproductive performance essential?
Collectively reproductive problems lead to increased semen and veterinary costs . Maintaining a high level of reproductive efficiency is required if dairy producers want to maximize herd profitability.
What is the voluntary waiting period?
The voluntary waiting period (VWP) is defined as the time between parturition and the time at which the cow is first eligible for insemination . Determining the optimal VWP from field data is difficult and unlikely to happen.
What is the conception rate?
Conception Rate: is the number of pregnant cows over total of services in a given period of time .
What is a calving rate?
Calving percentage is the pregnancy percentage minus any embryonic or fetal death loss . The current benchmark for these herds is 93.6 percent for pregnancy percentage and 92.9 percent for calving percentage. The benchmark is the average for all the herds through the last five years.
How is conception rate calculated?
Conception rate is the percentage of cows pregnant divided by the number of cows inseminated during a 21-day period [2]. If two of the cows in the above example become pregnant, the conception rate is 50 percent. Pregnancy rate is calculated by multiplying the heat detection rate by the conception rate [2].
What is the actual performance of reproduction?
The reproductive performance of an inbred strain is represented as a CI, which is calculated by dividing the total number of offspring weaned per week or month by the female inventory for that week or month . A litter size dramatically higher than that calculated by the strain-specific CI raises suspicion.
