flushing

[WSC2010]

We had a cow checked today to see about getting her set up to flush. She is a coming 3 year old PB Shorthorn. She calved as a 2 year old. She aborted 2 months ago. Our vet told us today. That cows do not flush good until they have had 2 calves and are basically wasting our time. Just curious to hear other peoples opinions. Thank you

 

[SimFarmer]

That is very wrong. I just finished flushing a virgin heifer and she flushed 8 freezable. As long as they are cycling normally they can flush. I should warn you that some cows don't respond to the hormones as well, so some flushes might be unsuccessful.

 

[mbigelow]

Flushing heifers can be tough on their reproduction tract.  The cow can most definitely be flushed if she is cycling.  Flushing in my opinion should be done to proven matings  on cows that have a proven track record.  Blindly flushing to some random mating will likely be costly and have a low success rate on consistent positive outcome.  I have been involved with flushing cattle since 1992 and have learned some hard lessons.  Do some research and know what you are getting into and have clear understanding of what to expect.

 

[cowman 52]

Id be digging into her past , why did she abort, what kind of cow was her mother and grandmother,  did they breed back regular, no signs of hard breeding, slow breeding, and such.  If the fertility is there and no signs of problems or difficulty, go on,  probably wont be anything to slow you down.  If shes a hard breeder, reproductive tract not in good shape as to cervix, ovaries, oversized or infantile, you might need to rethink a little

 

[Diamond]

I have flushed a few heifers and all have had good results 8+ save for one but that turned out to be a bad batch of semen. IF I have a particular heifer who was a standout Ill have her flushed before breeding in case she runs into calving issues. Personally I rather have the choice of tossing out some embryos if she doesn't produce, verses having rather I had collected when I'm looking at a dead one lost to a twisted calf. 

 

[justintime]

I do not flush heifers, but I know of lots of people who do so. I just like to see them in production before they get flushed. Your female is not a heifer as she has calved as a two year old. There could be multiples of reasons of why she aborted. It could be something fairly routine but just make sure her reproductive tract is back to normal and I would suggest that she should have cycled regularly at least twice before you start to flush her. A leading reproductive physiologist told me a few years ago, that it approximately 10% of cows and heifers will abort their fetus. Most of the time it is early in the pregnancy and an example would be a female you see bred and then do not see her cycle for one or two times, then all of a sudden she returns to heat. Usually when this happens you wonder why you did not see her cycle previously but she maybe didn't.
If you are only flushing this female once, I see no problem if she is checked and is back to cycling normally. I have found that I can flush most females several times providing I give them 2 months of rest between flushes. If I do this, I usually can flush then and breed them back for a natural calf after they have been rested again. It is important to allow them to have a natural calf after they have been flushed a few time.
I would also say there is a wide difference in how females respond to being flushed. I have had a few cows that don't seem to be affected in any way after several flushes. A few others can show some problems.

 

[CRS]

Since you're in Northern Ohio, call Dr Virgil Brown at the Moulton Embryo Center.  He has been doing it the longest here in Ohio and is a wealth of knowledge.  He told us when we flushed a two year old that he prefers them to have had two calves as their reproductive tract is mature and the 2nd calf is always the hardest.