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WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
Veterinary surgeon
Anna Patch
XLVets practice
Shepton Veterinary
Group
Target-setting drives a
series of improvements
to boost herd fertility
DAIRY FERT I L I TY
Shepton Vets’ veterinary surgeon Anna Patch has helped dairy farmer
Simon Bendall and herdsman Stephen Cummins to improve their herd’s
fertility by setting them a goal to serve 16 cows each week and have
achieved an average of four pregnancies at each weekly fertility visit.
ANNA PATCH, SHEPTON VETERINARY GROUP
Manor Farm near Bath is a busy mixed farm
which includes a high yielding dairy herd of
180 cows, averaging 10,200 litres/cow.
The herd is run together as one in the summer
and grazed outdoors, whilst the sheds are
used for arable crops. In the winter, the herd
is split into high and low yielders. They
receive a base TMR ration and are then
topped up in the parlour, according to yield.
Poor fertility, together with a Johne’s culling
policy, has led to a shortage of heifer
replacements coming through. So to improve
supply, the Hereford bull has been temporarily
retired from serving heifers, and sexed semen
is currently being used.
Fertility targets
Twice a year, Anna and her Shepton
colleague Paddy Gordon meet with Steve,
Simon and the farm's nutritionist to discuss
herd performance, health and plans for the
future. ‘Poor fertility has been an issue and
at the end of last year, we all agreed this
year’s aim would be to serve more cows,‘
explains Anna.
To help focus everyone’s minds, Anna drew
up a list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
and a whiteboard was installed in one of the
sheds, onto which the results of Anna’s weekly
fertility visits could be recorded, and progress
monitored.
Anna explains: ‘There are 180 cows in the
herd, and approximately 60 heifers enter the
herd annually. So that means we need to
generate 120 pregnancies in the cows per
year. There will be some pregnancy losses so
the aim is to have four pregnancy diagnosis
(PD) positives each week on my routine visit.
To generate these PD positives we need to be
serving between 12 and 16 cows per week.‘
Better heat expression
Investigations into the reasons behind the
herd’s poor fertility began in earnest towards
the end of last year after a particularly bad
routine fertility visit in which there were too
many PD negatives.
Anna explains: ‘The herd was already being
vaccinated against leptospirosis, IBR and
BVD. From youngstock blood screening and
bulk tank testing, I knew there were no PIs
in the herd – infectious disease was well
controlled.
Blood samples were taken from dry cows and
fresh cows to check their trace element status.
Results revealed that cows were indeed low
in copper, and also iodine. So in November
2015, every animal in the herd was given
a mineral bolus. Amongst the milking cows,
this led to a slight improvement in heat
expression.
Anna PD-ing
Anna and Simon discussing PD results