Preparing for breeding season is a big labor and resource investment – and unfortunately, fertility can be impacted by heat stress. Here are five tips to aid in prevention to help ensure a successful breeding season.
1. Water consumption is the quickest and most efficient way for cattle to reduce core body temperature. In grazing situations, cattle often have sufficient access to water. However, surface water from a pond or stream may become stagnant, hot on the surface and contaminated with feces if cows are allowed to stand in the water to cool off. All of these factors can limit willingness to consume adequate water.
2. Providing shade can improve conception rates by 20% to 40%. Utilizing trees or a portable or temporary shade structure are ideal as wind breaks, and buildings may provide shade but tend to have inadequate ventilation and strict air movement.
3. Consider altering feeding times. If moving to a new paddock or providing a supplement, feeding in the late afternoon or evening hours allows for the peak of heat production from fermentation to occur during cooler hours.
4. Have a good fly control program. With excessive fly pressure, cattle tend to group together to combat the irritation, reducing air flow and building body temperatures. For best results, a combination of fly tags, oilers or sprays may be necessary to control fly populations.
5. Avoid adding to the animal’s stress load. If possible, wait to process or haul cattle until a cooler day. If necessary, do so in the early morning hours rather than in the evenings, even if it has cooled off. Cattle’s core temperature peaks two hours after the peak environment temperature, and it takes at least six hours for cattle to dissipate their heat load.
Keep in mind that managing heat stress starts with prevention. Open cows don’t make money very often, so strive to take extra steps to reduce the risk of heat stress and keep cows bred this summer.
