Beef Tips

Tag: embryonic loss

Influence of Short-Term Nutritional Changes on Embryo Survival

Sandy Johnson, extension beef specialist, Colby

In an ideal world, each time a cow was inseminated (intentionally inseminated that is, this is an “ideal” world) it would result in a live and healthy calf. Unfortunately, even though fertilization rate is about 95 – 98%, by day 28 after mating, only 70 % are still pregnant and there are further losses before calving. While the significance of this loss is easy to see, research to reduce this loss is still hampered by the lack of a reliable early pregnancy test. Nevertheless, we can improve our understanding of factors that are known to contribute to embryonic loss and seek to minimize the impacts. Continue reading “Influence of Short-Term Nutritional Changes on Embryo Survival”

Tally Time – Troubleshooting Poor Pregnancy Rates

By Sandy Johnson, extension beef specialist, Colby, KS

From time to time, you hear through the grapevine that someone’s herd had an unusually high number of open cows at fall preg check time.  That is when you wipe your brow and say “glad that didn’t happen to my herd”!   In some cases, the poor reproductive response is isolated to a particular pasture, bull or age/management group and the origin of the problem may be easier to find.  If not, the search for an answer will take longer and will be helped by accurate and complete records, and sometimes diagnostic testing. What follows highlights some of the starting points for troubleshooting. Continue reading “Tally Time – Troubleshooting Poor Pregnancy Rates”