40% open cows

[Anonymous]

We bought 7 heifers from a guy two years ago - the next year everything calved normal. That fall we pregged all cows, and had 5 of those 7 either open or way late. Got rid of those 5. This year had one of the original cows abort at 7-8 months. Just pregged all the cows and the remaining two we purchased as heifers are open, along with all of our young 2 and 3 year olds we raised. The old set of 6 year old cows are bred, and have bred up every year with no problem. BVD? Or what did we bring in with those 7 heifers we bought?? Excellent mineral program, good grass hay in the winter. Any ideas?



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[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear of your cow problems! Several questions:

Did all the cattle you purchased have current (and verifiable) vaccination records? If not, did you "re-vaccinate" them after they arrived at your place to be on safe side?

From what I understand sometimes if a product such as "Staybred" which contains some of the VD vaccines can cause abortion if vaccinated after female is pregnant.

Did the cattle you purchased come from a well-managed "clean" facility? If so, and they had been thru a sale barn, then they might have picked up something at the barn for which they were not vaccinated against.

Finally, any new herd additions should be "quarantined" on your own property for a while to observe them closely for any health or other problems. If any present, then they can be treated in isolation from rest of herd without endangering health of your other herd members.

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[Anonymous]

The cows we purchased were yearling heifers at the time, and had probably not had any shots. They had never run with a bull either. We gave them a complete set of shots before turning them in with our bull. It was March when we bought them.

They had not been in or even near a saleyard, and showed no signs of any problems, sickness, etc.

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[Anonymous]

Young heifers aren't always predictable. Some will reach puberty at an earlier age. Some will not rebreed quickly after the first calf. Some things to help: 1. Make sure your bull is potent and effective. 2. Vaccinate your heifers and bull with a vaccine that covers most or all and that is safe for the one's that may already be bred. (I use Cattlemaster VL5) 3. Worming and nutrient supplement plays a major role also. I'm averaging 95% or better calving. (Not a huge herd, but decent sized) That didn't come easy. When I first started I learned the hard way. I bought cheaper stock and ending up culling ruthlessly. Now I only get replacements from a reputable program or my own herd. Don't keep much from my own herd unless it is exceptional as I try to introduce new blood and maintain the integrity of my crossbreeding program as much as possible. If none of these work, better have a vet get some blood samples.

> We bought 7 heifers from a guy two
> years ago - the next year
> everything calved normal. That
> fall we pregged all cows, and had
> 5 of those 7 either open or way
> late. Got rid of those 5. This
> year had one of the original cows
> abort at 7-8 months. Just pregged
> all the cows and the remaining two
> we purchased as heifers are open,
> along with all of our young 2 and
> 3 year olds we raised. The old set
> of 6 year old cows are bred, and
> have bred up every year with no
> problem. BVD? Or what did we bring
> in with those 7 heifers we
> bought?? Excellent mineral
> program, good grass hay in the
> winter. Any ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

Some vaccines will abort, or cause ifor a period of time.

Diseases like IBR or trichonosis will cause abortions or absorbtions.

Feed nutrition may be adequate for open heifes and older cows, but not 2 year olds trying to re-breed.

Things like mold can cause abortions.

A sub-par bull can cause many open females.

To narrow this one down is pretty hard just from a couple lines on the computer.

I would suggest a full exam on your bull as number 1. Have a vet or older cow man evaluate your cowherd for body score condition.

Start with the obvious and eleminate those first.

Jason

 

[Anonymous]

> We bought 7 heifers from a guy two
> years ago - the next year
> everything calved normal. That
> fall we pregged all cows, and had
> 5 of those 7 either open or way
> late. Got rid of those 5. This
> year had one of the original cows
> abort at 7-8 months. Just pregged
> all the cows and the remaining two
> we purchased as heifers are open,
> along with all of our young 2 and
> 3 year olds we raised. The old set
> of 6 year old cows are bred, and
> have bred up every year with no
> problem. BVD? Or what did we bring
> in with those 7 heifers we
> bought?? Excellent mineral
> program, good grass hay in the
> winter. Any ideas?

You mentioned grass hay- you might want to check the hay- Several years ago we had several opens, abortions, and weak calves from the two and three year old heifers and it turned out to be from ergot on the blue joint hay we were feeding- Didn't seem to affect the older cows as bad, but was really tough on the heifers.

 

[Anonymous]

> We bought 7 heifers from a guy two
> years ago - the next year
> everything calved normal. That
> fall we pregged all cows, and had
> 5 of those 7 either open or way
> late. Got rid of those 5. This
> year had one of the original cows
> abort at 7-8 months. Just pregged
> all the cows and the remaining two
> we purchased as heifers are open,
> along with all of our young 2 and
> 3 year olds we raised. The old set
> of 6 year old cows are bred, and
> have bred up every year with no
> problem. BVD? Or what did we bring
> in with those 7 heifers we
> bought?? Excellent mineral
> program, good grass hay in the
> winter. Any ideas? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i bet your bulls got a low spearm count.i could see 2 or 3 being bad. but 40% is not likely.get you a good hot bull .i bet it will solve the problem.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

 

[Anonymous]

Either there is a venereal or systemic infection (ask your vet re testing) OR your nutrition is lacking OR the bull is subfertile. Anyway I'd talk to a good large animal vet to figure out what to do next! Good Luck V

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds to me like you got hit with an abortion storm.

We got hit last year with a protzoan abortion storm, Neospora Caninum, carried by Cyotes and domestic dogs in their feces and spred by rain into the water and grass sources. I would pull blood and run some lab work, consult your vet for common cattle dz in your area and test to see if your cattle have high titers for any of those common to your region, you can not fix it if you don't know what you are dealing with, and some can not be treated, they must be eliminated.

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