I am most concerned about the number of bred heifers that died or were culled between the end of their first breeding season and the start of their second breeding season.Less than 5% of bred heifers should be culled before the start of their second breeding season. If culling rates are higher, steps should be taken to reduce this number. The most likely cause of excessive culling during this time frame is due to problems with calving. If the bred heifers were mostly culled because of dystocia or other calving problems click here (dystocia pdf). If the bred heifers were culled because their calf died, click here (neonatal calf health pdf). If the heifers were culled because they failed to calve they either aborted late in gestation or they never became pregnant. If they were pregnancy checked as pregnant and failed to calve, please talk to your veterinarian about the possibility of abortions. If they were not pregnancy checked, it is more likely that they did not get pregnant during the breeding season (unless you have evidence of abortions). Please continue through the CONSULT, we will discuss the replacement heifer breeding season next. Death loss of first-calf heifers should be less than 1%. If you are experiencing a higher amount of death loss, then actions should be taken to reduce this number. Common reasons for death loss in first-calf heifers would include calving difficulty, retained placentas and mastitis, with calving difficulty being by far the most common cause of death. If your heifers died due to dystocia, please click here (pdf). If you had heifers that died due to other causes, please discuss the problem with your veterinarian.
Are you satisfied with the percent of replacement heifers becoming pregnant during their first breeding season? Click on the icon below to see benchmark pregnancy percentages.
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Map: Heifer CONSULT (55)
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