The importance of scanning suckler cows

EVEN though drought conditions have abated in the last week with the arrival of some welcome rain, farmers will, in many cases, be under pressure to meet fodder demands for the upcoming housing period.

Some decisions may have to be made about numbers of stock to be carried over the winter, and culling of empty suckler cows is an obvious first area to look at.

Farmers should consider scanning suckler cows if it is at least 30 days since the last cow in the herd has been served.

Scanning is an important management tool on well-managed herds. For a start, it will tell you what animals are in-calf.

This will allow you the opportunity to sell empty cows.

It also offers an opportunity to calves that bit earlier, in order to keep costs down.

Another option is to finish these cows with some concentrate supplementation off grass, rather than housing them. This will save money, time, shed space and, maybe more critically this year, it will lessen fodder requirements.

Most scanners will be able to give you a good estimate of the number of weeks that each cow has gone in-calf.

This information can be used to predict the cow’s due date, which will influence how she is fed and managed over the winter.

Better decisions can be made about the date to administer pre-calving vaccines (such as scour vaccine).

On a herd basis, scanning will also allow you to predict the peak calving period so that one can get organised to cope with the extra workload at that period.

Provided cows haven’t gone over 12 to 14 weeks in-calf, your scanner operator may well be able to pick up if there are any cows carrying twins, which will alert you to watch the condition of these cows in the run up to calving.

It will also have you primed for what to expect at calving time for these cows.

Some scanners, depending on the embryo age, may be able to tell the gender of the in-utero calf.

Scanning may also indicate cows that are carrying unviable embryos that, for one reason or another, are unlikely to go full term.

From a herd fertility point of view, if the scanning reveals, for example, that more than five per cent of your cows are empty, then this may signify that there is a fertility issue in your herd.

This could be a bull fertility issue, a mineral deficiency issue or a disease-related problem. In any event, infertility issues should be investigated.

Cows can be placed in batches by due date nearer calving time so that they are easier to move to calving boxes and facilities.

In addition, late-calving cows can be restricted on feed to stop them getting overly fat, leading to calving difficulties.

On the other hand, thinner cows, incalf heifers, or cows carrying twins can be taken and identified for additional feed, if necessary.