Managing Reproduction in a Modern Dairy Herd Gregory M. Goodell, DVM The Dairy Authority, LLC

Components of Establishing Pregnancy Transitioning a cow properly through the post partum period Heat Detection/Timed AI Pregnancy Diagnosis Monitoring the reproductive process

Transition through post partum period Extremely important Large impact Multifactorial

Michael W. Overton, DVM, MPVM University of Georgia-College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, GA

Heat Detection: How do I find cows that are ready to breed? Heat Detection ◦Observe for signs of estrous ◦Advantages:  Less expensive and easier to implement ◦Disadvantages  Time consuming, more skill required

Heat Detection Aides Marking Crayons/Chalk Pressure-sensitive pads Pedometers Rumen boluses

Pressure Sensitive Pads

HeatWatch Pressure Pad

Pedometers

Implementing Heat Detection on a Dairy Train personnel on signs of estrous Cannot cut corners here! Excellent tools for vets from stud services and breeding companies Review numbers often as a program starts to evaluate heat detection numbers.

Timed Artificial Insemination (TAI) Many different programs Success depends on management/style of the dairy Labor intensive Compliance a must

TAI Programs

CIDRSync Programs with CIDRs

Which TAI Program is Best? Veterinarian should couple the management ability of the dairy with the TAI program A producer will almost always go for the program with the best published rates but demand the most convenient program In general the more intense the program the better the rates

Compliance to TAI Programs Same time every day of week and time (including Christmas day and July 4 th !) All cows MUST be found. ◦Missed injections primary cause of compliance failure.

Example of Compliance Preg rate = Heat detection X Conception rate TAI programs force 100% heat detection If a TAI program requires 6 visits to the cow and we miss 5% of the cows at all visits then we’ve reduced effective heat detection rate from 100 to 70%. If conception rate is 40% then we’ve reduce preg rate by 12%

Preg Rates and Costs TAI ProgramCow VisitsPreg RateCost per Cow CoSync % $7.22 OvSync % $7.38 OvSync % $7.38 PreSync 12/OvSync % $11.90 PreSync 14/OvSync % $11.90 G6G640-50% $11.80 Double OvSync740-50% $13.96

Preg Rates and Costs TAI ProgramCow VisitsPreg RateCost per Cow CoSync % $7.22 OvSync 48*428-33% $7.38 OvSync 56* % $7.38 PreSync 12/OvSync 56*632-38% $11.90 PreSync 14/OvSync 56*632-38% $11.90 G6G640-50% $11.80 Double OvSync740-50% $13.96 * If CIDR used add another $9.00

Pregnancy Diagnosis Rectal Palpation Ultrasound Blood Test Milk Test

Rectal Palpation Most common form of pregnancy diagnosis for cattle Conducted between days after breeding Sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 96% when conducted between 35 and 45 d post AI Chronic Trauma to shoulder

Ultrasonography Usually performed between days Sensitivity of 97.7% and specificity of 87.7% when conducted between 26 and 33 d post AI (Pieterse et al., 1990) Skills vary among ultrasonographers Rechecks still must be done Reduced shoulder trauma if extension arm used.

Ultrasonography Current controversy regarding stage to preg check Research shows no difference in economics when preg check between 32 and 39 days (Silva, et al 2009 ) At 39 days U/S not required and neither is early P2

Blood Tests for Pregnancy Detection of early pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) Pregnancy-Specific Protein B (PSPB) Proteins only produced by the placenta of the growing fetus

Advantages of Blood Testing Sensitivity reported to be between 96-99% Specificity reported to be between 97-99% Lay personnel can pull the sample Often combined with other modalities of pregnancy diagnosis allowing for coverage of more animals or larger herds Decrease physical wear and tear of shoulder

Disadvantages of Blood Testing Requires minimum of 24 hours to achieve result Does not provide any fetal staging Half life of some PAGs may be as long as 90 day postpartum

Commercially Available Tests bioTracking Idexx Conception

bioTracking Test name is BioPryn Located in Moscow, Idaho Characteristics ◦Se/Sp is 100/87.8 at days post breeding ◦Used as early as 28 days post breeding ◦Must wait until 90 days postpartum Cost is $2.50-$3.50 per sample

Idexx Idexx Bovine Pregnancy Test Serum or milk Located in Westbrook, Maine Characteristics ◦Se/Sp is 99.3%/95.1% at 30 days post breeding ◦Used as early as 28 days post breeding ◦Must wait 60 days post partum before using Cost between $2.50 and $3.00 per sample

Conception Test name is DG29 Located in Québec, Canada Characteristics ◦Se/Sp is 99.4/100 at 29 days post breeding ◦Used as early as 29 days post breeding ◦Must wait 90 days post partum before using Cost between $3.20 and $4.00 per sample

Reproduction Analysis

Cost/Preg DOPN Sold $1500

Basic Concepts Case Definitions!! Pregnant Cows/Exposed Cows Pregnancy Rate, DIM, DOPN, etc. ◦Include cows in EWP? ◦Include Dead/Sold Cows? ◦Include Dry Cows? ◦Frequency of preg checks

High Production Herd Characteristics 40-45% of milking herd pregnant Average DIM Cull rate less than 35% (???)

% of the Milking Herd Pregnant # milking cows pregnant/total # of cows milking % is the goal (moves with DIM) Dry cows not included In DC305…DC305 ◦Sum by rc for rc=1-5 Lact>0\B

Herd Averages Days in milk at first breeding (DIMFB) Days Open (DOPN) Days in milk (DIM)

Herd Averages Days in milk at first breeding (DIMFB) Days Open (DOPN) Days in milk (DIM) Count AvDIMFB Av DOPN Av DIM

Herd Averages Days in milk at first breeding (DIMFB) Days Open (DOPN) Days in milk (DIM) Count AvDIMFB Av DOPN Av DIM

Using DC305 for Repro Analysis Need to be certain of where CLEANUP parameters are setCLEANUP Commands like COUNT, SUM and PCT do NOT look at sold/died cows unless told to Switches in DC305DC305 ◦\B, \D, \L

% Milking Herd Preg and >150 DIM # milking cows preg and >150 DIM / #cows milking and greater than 150 DIM In DC305… ◦Sum by RC for DIM>150 RC=1-5 Lact>0 Goal 50-70% (moves with DIM) Dry cows not included

Specific Areas of Monitoring Calendar Month Times Bred Tech Breeding Code Interval Analysis Day of the Week

By Calendar Month for past 12 months Month 95% CI %Conc #Preg #Open Other Abort Total %Tot SPC ==================== ====== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ==== ==== 2012 January February March April May June July August September October November December * January * TOTALS non-AI breedings were omitted

By Times Bred Bred Number 95% CI %Conc #Preg #Open Other Abort Total %Tot SPC ==================== ====== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ==== ==== OTHERS TOTALS non-AI breedings were omitted

By Technician Technician 95% CI %Conc #Preg #Open Other Abort Total %Tot SPC ==================== ====== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ==== ==== Efrain Luis Alfonso TOTALS non-AI breedings were omitted

By Breeding Code Breeding Code 95% CI %Conc #Preg #Open Other Abort Total %Tot SPC ==================== ====== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ==== ==== CIDR Thur PM Normal TAI OTHERS TOTALS non-AI breedings were omitted

By Day of the Week Week Day 95% CI %Conc #Preg #Open Other Abort Total %Tot SPC ==================== ====== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ==== ==== Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday TOTALS non-AI breedings were omitted

DIM for 25, 50 and 75% Preg. Rate Survival Analysis on DOPN DC305 command… ◦Graph DOPN for Lact>0 RC=1-5\S ◦Survival CurveSurvival Curve

GRAPH DOPN\S

GRAPH DOPN FOR TID=3 WITH TID<>3\S

DOPN Cohort Analysis Caveats ◦Interpret results with other repro parameters ◦There is a lag in reproduction data equal to days till preg check post breeding ◦Should also apply monitoring techniques to parity groups

Conclusion Know the case definition Record the data often Look at the data often Check data against other criteria