So I have asked many people this questions, and noone has really any solid answers for me.
My dad has a small group of Angus cows. Nice enough cows, they do what he wants them for. For years he has had me or the brother in law AI them, then he turns the bull out on them pretty normal stuff.
The thing that is puzzling is this group of cows absolutely does not show any signs of heat. He has early fall calvers every year, and we usually sync the cows to breed back end of Novermber early December. The cows do not show any natural heat in between their September calving, and their Nov/Dec breeding. They also do not show heat after synchronization either. (7-day CIDR protocol) We breed on a timed AI after pulling the CIDR, and breed to about 65-70% range on timed AI. The clean-up bull usually gets the rest 3 weeks later. (they obviously stand for the clean-up bull). So there is no real reproductive problems, just heat detection problems.
It isn't for a lack of checking either. He constantly checks on them, and when synched they are checked many times a day, and through the night. However nothing.
Nutrition shouldn't be an issue unless there is something we aren't thinking of.
The replacement heifers are a different story. They show great heats on a sync program, however as soon as the move into the herd after calving for the first time the strong heats are gone.
I have no problems with my own cows/heifers and they are virtually on the same program 12 miles down the road.
Any thoughts?
My dad has a small group of Angus cows. Nice enough cows, they do what he wants them for. For years he has had me or the brother in law AI them, then he turns the bull out on them pretty normal stuff.
The thing that is puzzling is this group of cows absolutely does not show any signs of heat. He has early fall calvers every year, and we usually sync the cows to breed back end of Novermber early December. The cows do not show any natural heat in between their September calving, and their Nov/Dec breeding. They also do not show heat after synchronization either. (7-day CIDR protocol) We breed on a timed AI after pulling the CIDR, and breed to about 65-70% range on timed AI. The clean-up bull usually gets the rest 3 weeks later. (they obviously stand for the clean-up bull). So there is no real reproductive problems, just heat detection problems.
It isn't for a lack of checking either. He constantly checks on them, and when synched they are checked many times a day, and through the night. However nothing.
Nutrition shouldn't be an issue unless there is something we aren't thinking of.
The replacement heifers are a different story. They show great heats on a sync program, however as soon as the move into the herd after calving for the first time the strong heats are gone.
I have no problems with my own cows/heifers and they are virtually on the same program 12 miles down the road.
Any thoughts?