GIVE NON-CYCLERS A HELPING HAND
Timely intervention = best payback
True or false: Treating non-cycling cows breeds for infertility.
False! Most cows that fail to ovulate by planned start of mating (PSM) are later calvers, or are in energy deficit rather than poor breeders.
What is true however is that non-cyclers cost you a lot of money if you delay taking action in the hope that they will start ovulating on their own.
New Zealand research has shown that treating non-cycling dairy cows with the best modern non-cycler programme results in 21 more days in milk on average, compared to untreated non-cyclers.
This extra milk yield is worth about $210 per cow, leaving a healthy profit after deducting costs of treatment and the extra feed needed to produce that additional 34 kg of milk solids.
We can calculate a ROI using your own herd figures, but the bottom-line is don’t delay taking action – non-cycling cows treated at the right time with the best non-cycler treatment program produce an incredible 7 times more milk compared with treating 3 weeks into mating.
But wait, there’s more. Timely treatment of non-cyclers means these cows are inseminated on the first day of mating, giving more AB heifer calves as well as more milk. In addition, fewer non-cycling cows need treatment next spring, as these earlier calving cows cycle earlier the following year.
Two things are essential to make this work for you.
First, tail-paint all calved cows five weeks prior to planned start of Mating (PSM). That way it’s much easier to identify the cows not cycling 3-4 weeks later, and simple to draft these non-cyclers for treatment 9 days prior to PSM. Use the ‘Ready To Mate’ App for reminders on when to tail paint cows.
Second, use the best non-cycler program (including Novormon eCG). Several large-scale NZ studies have shown resultant early in-calf rates are significantly higher when this program is used and provide the best farmer returns.
Latest research from NZ company AgriHealth, involving over 2,200 non-cycling cows from 21 NZ dairy herds, showed that 3% more cows became pregnant with a higher Cyclase (PG) dose, so we now include this PregBoost in our recommended non-cycler treatment program.
Take a look at this herd from 2018 where the owner decided to leave a portion (of what we would consider ‘eligible’ cows for non-cycling cow treatment) of cows that have not been detected with a pre-mating heat untreated. Compare this to the cows that he did decide to treat.
Treated non-cycling cows had a 12% higher 3 week in-calf rate, and a 24% higher 6 week in-calf rate!
The gap between the blue (treated) and green (untreated) lines before week 3 of mating is all extra days in milk the following season, in this case there is follow on effects on 6 week in-calf and not in-calf rate.
Make sure you get the most benefit from treating non-cycling cows with early intervention beginning before the planned start of mating.
Call the clinic to book in your non-cycling program for better in-calf rates.