Hard to breed Jersey cows

LibertyIIE · Jun 17, 2006

I have two jersey cows that have me stumped. All of my range cattle calve on approx. 12 month cycle. These two jersey cows will cycle,take the bull and not come back in heat at 21 days,but will go 40 to 60 days. Vet has checked and feels nothing is wrong.(something is wrong) I would ship them to auction, but they do raise several auction barn babies a year when they freshen. Both act approx the same way. They have been vaccinated for Lepto/vibrio. This has been going on longer than I am willing to admit. Both are first calf heifers.

milkmaid · Jun 17, 2006

LibertyIIE":199ckwvp said:
I have two jersey cows that have me stumped. All of my range cattle calve on approx. 12 month cycle. These two jersey cows will cycle,take the bull and not come back in heat at 21 days,but will go 40 to 60 days. Vet has checked and feels nothing is wrong.(something is wrong) I would ship them to auction, but they do raise several auction barn babies a year when they freshen. Both act approx the same way. They have been vaccinated for Lepto/vibrio. This has been going on longer than I am willing to admit. Both are first calf heifers.

I'd consider that either you're missing the return to heat at 21 days, and/or you have a case of early embryonic death - either heat stress (hot weather), or they're under stress by exposure to certain bacterial or viral diseases. You said they've been vaccinated for vibrio and lepto, but have they been vaccinated for BVD and IBR? If not, start there. Or the cows could be cystic and your vet not know - is s/he an experienced palpater?

Or, maybe they're not getting proper nutrition. Dairy cows have much higher nutritional requirements than beef cows, and 1st lactation animals especially so.

LibertyIIE · Jun 17, 2006

They have not been vaccinated for BVD or IBR. They are not cystic and the vet is an experienced palpator

milkmaid · Jun 17, 2006

I'd start there then, as BVD claims a very large percentage of open cows. Put them on a good vaccination program that covers BVD types I and II, IBR, BRSV, and PI3. Bovishield Gold FP 5 and the variations on that is a good example of a MLV that fits that description. Virashield 6 is an example as a killed vaccine. I'd also worm them, as liver flukes and worms are also responsible for a large percentage of open cows.

We are getting into summer now and due to heat stress you may not be able to get them bred back. Due to the fact that a follicle takes 40-60 days (can't remember exactly) to mature, some cows take up to 2 months after the weather cools down before the effects of heat stress disappear.

Are they feeding calves now? If not, it may not make $en$e to keep them, unfortunately.

LibertyIIE · Jun 17, 2006

Thanks for the info. One of them has calves on her now. The other is dry. The reason I haven't already unloaded them is that there are no dairies in this area to purchase replacements. If the vaccine and cooler weather in the fall don't help then McDonalds here we come.