Hormonal gremlin?

[cert]

I have a hereford cow that will not carry a calf to term. I'm quite embarrassed to say that she has not calved in 2 years. She will cycle, the bull will service her and she will come back in heat in about 4 months. My herd is disease free and my bull is quite competent. I even tried AI ing her to no avail. Any opinions on a solution shy of shipping her?
She is no heavier than the rest of the herd. They get no grain and live on hay in the winter and native grass. They always have mineral and during calving season and breeding season they get VitaFerm. Vet has checked her, says everything "feels" right and fine.

I'm open to suggestions.

Have thought of flushing her, just to see if that will jump start her. Have also thought of putting an embryo in her to see if she will carry it to term. Have not done any blood work...what tests do you think should be run, if any?

 

[brahmergirl]

I'm in the same dillemma you are.  Will be anxious to see what responses you get.  We have two four year old heifers, now wait before you start flaming us, Brahma's do not start cycling until at least 18 mos, some are two.  The heifers will be four this summer.  They've been in with the bull, then after 10 mos and it was spring, we loaded them took them to vet, no luck, then we changed bulls turned them out and haven't had a chance to have them checked again.  We had both the bulls and cows checked last spring, both tested fine. 

The only thing the vet could figure was the bull wasn't getting the job done.  It's hard to believe again but brahma's are known to be nocturnal breeders.  So we never saw him riding them until we went to feed at night.  We thought that was the craziest thing we've ever heard.  Also, their standing heat cycle is about 4 hours. 

The only thing we haven't been real aggressive on was their mineral.  How much can that play on their cycles?  I mean we normally have free choice mineral out but sometimes, I'm not the most aggressive on checking it when it runs out.  :  We now know the bulls are proven as they have both bred cows and have viable calves on the ground. 

Like I said, I'll be curious to see what advice you receive!!!! ???

 

[Joe Boy]

First, I would take them to the vet for an aggressive examination. 

Second, what is your vaccination program?

Third, there can be a nutrient or vitamin short fall.  We have been in a drought in this are for a few years.  Dad has fed his very good alfalfa hay.  I fed wheat hay and 20% breeder cubes with a breeder lick available.  Dad's cows back up on calving 2-4 months.  The ones I left a bull in continuously gain a month.  My brother-in-law had a shortage of selenium in his dairy that caused some problems.

Fourth, the bulls fertility.  He may get some cows bred but others might be more difficult due to a low sperm count.

Ask D.L.  She has seen most of what goes around....

Best wishes...

 

[OH Breeder]

I have a hereford cow that will not carry a calf to term. I'm quite embarrassed to say that she has not calved in 2 years. She will cycle, the bull will service her and she will come back in heat in about 4 months. My herd is disease free and my bull is quite competent. I even tried AI ing her to no avail. Any opinions on a solution shy of shipping her?
She is no heavier than the rest of the herd. They get no grain and live on hay in the winter and native grass. They always have mineral and during calving season and breeding season they get VitaFerm. Vet has checked her, says everything "feels" right and fine.

I'm open to suggestions.

Have thought of flushing her, just to see if that will jump start her. Have also thought of putting an embryo in her to see if she will carry it to term. Have not done any blood work...what tests do you think should be run, if any?

I will tell you. I had a similar situation and wasted alot of high dollar semen on a beautiful Power Plant x Traveler T510. What we discovered was she was cystic. She aborted and would not carry to term either. I put her on two cycles of CIDRS with hormones and let the bull naturally service her. She caught and carried calf to term. beautiful heifer calf. Prior to the hormone regimen, I made sure everything was up to date vaccinations etc. It was my hoof trimmer and then reconfirmed via vet that this might be the case. But all it took was a round of hormones with CIDR protocol.  She caught right back last summer without an issue after calving.
It might work.

 

[red]

The only thing we haven't been real aggressive on was their mineral.  How much can that play on their cycles?  I mean we normally have free choice mineral out but sometimes, I'm not the most aggressive on checking it when it runs out.    We now know the bulls are proven as they have both bred cows and have viable calves on the ground. 


Very important! A good mineral will pay dividends in the long run everytime. Of course you need to give it to them too! Many areas are defiecient in a lot of minerals. SE is a good example. Low levels can be breeding nightmare while high levels can be toxic. I'd check to see what is needed for you area & get them on a good mineral package. Soil tests don't hurt either, that way you can get the right one for your place.
Learned a lot about Bramha's too. Never knew that about about them.

Red

 

[DL]

cert

Question #1 - has she ever been diagnosed pregnant? or do you see her come back into heat in 4 months? (This is really the biggy because we assume they are pregnant because they are not in heat - but we don't really know that this heifer was ever pregnant!)

Question #2 - as Joe Boy said - what is your vaccination program? Do you vaccinate for Lepto hardjo bovis? How about Trich?

Question # 3 - is she the only problem? How many cows do you have?

Question #4 - when you say your herd is disease free what do you mean?

Question #5 - I assume the bull has bred other cow? Has the heifer only been bred by the one bull?

Question #6 - Did the vet ultrasound her? Have you tried anything drug wise or other wise to help with the problem?

Question #7 - what part of the country are you in?

I anxiously await the answers   (cow) (cow) (cow) DL

 

[cert]

Sorry for the delay in responding. Had a death in the family this week and it has been hectic. I appreciate all the responses.

Answers to DL's questions:
#1= She is not a heifer. She is a 1999 model. She has had 3 calves and in fact one of my best cows is her daughter. No breeding problems with her daughter. She has never had a retained placenta, twins, or any other form of dystocia that I'm aware of. I'm an obsessed "mother" at calving. Not very often do I not see a calf hit the ground.
I have only had the vet tell me that she is open, never preg. Vet services are not easy to come by here. SO, I reckon that to answer your question...I see her come in heat near every 4 months.

#2= I use Cattle Master. I hit the "alphabet soup" like most everyone else. IBR, PI3, BRSV, 5 strains of lepto. They are all current thru april this year when we run them thru for spring work up. Trich?

#3= She is the only problem. Our calving season is tight. We only have 30 head.

#4= By disease free, I mean that the critters are healthy. The worst I've treated in the last 4 years is pink eye. We do not have a closed herd. We have bought a bull and a heifer (both from the same herd) a couple years ago. Vaccination program is up to date.

#5= The bull is young but covered 25 head year before last and 30 last year. Cleaned up the ai cattle as well and we have a 27 day calving season. The cow in question is the only one not to calve. I've seen him service her, he did all the necessary "things". I also have semen in the tank on him and his mobility and motility is great. I can find the numbers with some effort...

#6= As mentioned before, the vet is hard to get out here. I'd have to haul her to him, which I did last spring when he said "open and all feels right and fine". Last service date on her is August. Last ai date was april. She passed that calving date already. I'm tempted to reach her and "see" what I can see. She has not been ultrasounded. Will that give me more of the needed information?
The first year she didn't calve she was synced with a cidr. Given prostamate on day 7 when the cidr was removed and bred on a natural heat. Nothing else was seen out of her till about 4 months later. Neighbor and I both reached her when I saw her standing, determined her open and aied her again. She was seen standing for the bull about 4 months after that. I then gave her another shot of prostamate and tiime bred her. and gave a shot of fergatyl at breeding per vets over the phone instructions. That brings us to the april ai date and the august natural service. She has had no drugs since.

#7= I'm in ohio. We are selenium deficient. And rich in native clovers. No fescue.

Back to you DL... (cow)

 

[DL]

Back at ya!

Here is how I see it - we have one cow with issues in a herd of about 30. The cows appear well managed and the fact that no one else has issues like this suggests 1) it is not infectious (like contagious infectious - Trich, Lepto hardjo bovis, etc) 2) the bull is ok

So this is an individual cow issue, in a cow who has had 3 calves and now either is NOT GETTING PREGNANT or IS DUMPING CALVES at about 4 months

Differentiation of these 2 potential problems will give you an idea of where to go - Not pregnant feels fine doesn't really help you and doesn't tell you if there is an obstruction in the fallopian tubes, a mild case of metritis etc

What I would do is take her to OSU (this assumes that you like the cow, want to keep her, and are willing to spend some $ on her). There are people who specialize in bovine reproduction and a skilled ultrasonographer can tell you a whole lot about the reproductive tract.

One thought would be to take her 60 days or so after breeding - that way you can tell if she is indeed pregnant. If she is not pg they could try to determine what is the cause. If she is pg then you could come up with a plan......few thought, back to you, DL