By Blake Jackson
Spring calving season brings the hope of healthy calves, but pregnancy loss poses a significant challenge for producers.
“A lot of folks see pregnancy loss within their herd and think of it in two ways: either a cow aborting a calf during gestation or losing the calf after it is already made it on the ground,” said Chloe Collins, University of Missouri Extension dairy specialist. However, pregnancy loss encompasses various factors, both before and after birth.
“Any calf loss can not only be detrimental to your calf crop and your bottom line, but sometimes it can cause a loss of the cow itself,” Collins said. “There are different types and stages of pregnancy loss, different ways they affect your herd and multiple ways producers can work to mitigate loss.”
In utero losses can occur at any stage of gestation, often going unnoticed in early stages unless producers are actively pregnancy checking. Late-gestation losses are more apparent when a cow aborts her calf.
Several factors can contribute to gestational pregnancy loss: infection or disease, poor nutrition, toxins, hormone imbalances, genetics, injuries or inflammation, and heat stress. Successfully breeding, nurturing the embryo, and delivering a healthy calf involves navigating numerous potential obstacles.
“So, what can we do to help her out?” Collins said. “Preventative measures that we as producers can put in place are mostly management-related and can be implemented quickly.”
Collins emphasizes the importance of proactive management changes to mitigate calf loss. These include working with a veterinarian to establish effective pre-breeding vaccination protocols, developing a tailored feeding program to meet the cow’s nutritional needs during gestation and lactation, providing safe handling and housing facilities to minimize stress and injuries, selecting genetically sound animals using EPDs or artificial insemination, and maintaining accurate and up-to-date records to identify trends and areas for improvement.
Implementing these changes can be a long-term process, but the effort is crucial. “Decreasing calf loss can be a long-run effort, but it is worth every ounce of preparation and prevention,” Collins said.
For further information, the MU Extension publication “Understanding and Minimizing Pregnancy Loss in Cattle” is available online. Producers can also contact Chloe Collins chloecollins@missouri.edu directly for more assistance.
Photo Credit: istock-simplycreativephotography
Categories: Missouri, Livestock, Dairy Cattle