Why wont they cycle?

[wade]

I bred some cows by the method of the CIDR and Lutalyse. These cows were not cycling good to start with. I had one on Sat. that wanted to ride the other cows for just a little while then was all calm. Noone ever offered to pay any attention to her or ride her. This was approx. 48 days after we first bred her. We have watched all of them closely for blood or any signs of heat. This particular cow has shown nothing since breeding. On Sunday she had blood on her tail. We missed her. What am I doing wrong with these cows. If she wasnt bred she should have cycled before now. They are in great shape, maybe a little too fat as we have excellent pasture. I feed one 5 gallon pail of corn to 8 cows a day. That just gets them used to getting up to the barn. I topdress feed with loose mineral. I am at a loss. These are Red Angus.

 

[Aero]

basic questions:

how old are they?

did they have a hard time calving before?

what body condition are they in?

what are they eating?

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Overweight heifers or cows can have hard time breeding back. If you have good pasture, NO corn or other grains should be given...especially giving 5 gal to 8 females...(almost 3 quarts each). All animals need minerals & salt, however.

If you want to train them to come to the pen, use couple of handfulls of range cubes (probably not more than 3# coffee can for all 8 of them) as a treat/reward for coming. If female has BCS much over 5 then you can have breeding back problems.

 

[randiliana]

Just to add to the questions, how long has it been since they calved?

 

[msscamp]

I feed one 5 gallon pail of corn to 8 cows a day. That just gets them used to getting up to the barn. I topdress feed with loose mineral. I am at a loss. These are Red Angus.

You do realize that a 5 gal bucket of corn is roughly 25 pounds, depending on how full you fill it and whether the corn is ground, flaked, or whole, don't you? That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.12 pounds of corn/day for each of these cows, in addition to whatever else you're feeding them. I'm thinking they are too fat to bred back. In order to get them to 'come up to the barn', they don't need more than a mouthful of corn. That would equal maybe a 3 lb coffee can full.

 

[cowgurl1184]

We do the cidr method with lutalayse but try this...we also give a shot of cystorelin at cidr insertion than one at the time of A.I.

 

[wade]

They are were born in 03 and 2 heifers in 05. I bought them this spring and the guy I bought them from said 4 were bred. It turned out 2 were bred and they had nice calves and no problems calving. When I got them I saw one cow that wasnt bred cycle a few times but then quit. I never saw the other cow that wasnt bred cylce while I had her. They are plenty big and I will stop graining them so much. They are just eating pasture and rolled corn and mineral. The cows that have calves on them are not to fat to breed back I dont believe. One of the cows that had a calf has been bred twice, first time around 45 days after calving and then 21 days later. The cow that I talked about in my first post that apparently isnt bred is the other cow with a calf and it was over 60 days post calving that she was bred the first time. Vet had checked her after calving and she was not cystic. I have put some weight on them since this spring when I bought them but did not notice any difference in their heat cycles over this time. Another question I have is when in their heat cycle do they have clear drainage and when should I AI them according to the drainage. If they wont stand for any of the others the only thing I have to go on is the drainage they have. The man I bought them from said that the cows born in 03 all had calves in 05, if he is telling me the truth there is not reason they cant be bred again. I have had all the cows checked by the vet and she said nothing wrong with them.

 

[MikeC]

I'd breed them as soon as I saw the clear mucous. From what I understand, this mucous is the medium that allows the sperm to swim to the egg.

 

[born2run]

At least with dairy cattle you'll breed no matter what after synching. A lot of them you'll never see any signs of a heat.

 

[jnowack]

Being fat generally does not stop a cow from cycling. It will cause the egg to be unable to pass through the follopian tube and reach the uterus.

I would guess that heat detection is your problem. It can be tricky especially in small groups. The young cows and heifers may not try to ride the old boss cows because they knock the crap out of them for getting too close the rest of the time. The other problem is heat checking at feeding time. The cows are more worried about eating than anything else. Try checking more times a day and hanging around for a while after they are done eating to see if anything is going on.

 

[jcarkie]

some cows do not exhibit heat signs. also the presence of a bull and testoterone causes tham to cycle as well. you may need a gomer bull or a steer that acts like a gomer. or a clean up bull until you get them figured out so you don't lose any more time on calves.