No calves, No Milk – It's a fact of life
Reproduction is the first to suffer when the warm weather arrives. At just 24°C/76°F and 50%, humidity reproduction can start to be affected. That means getting cows in calf from June to October can be an issue on some farms.
When cows aren't getting pregnant on time, they aren't calving on time. No calf, no next lactation, no milk, that's just the way it is. We get it. That's why investing in a system that adjusts itself automatically according to the temperature and humidity in the barn and maintains cow core body temperature can have significant benefits.
Maintaining core body temperature is critical to reproductive health. Once body temperatures exceed 104°F/40°C, the result is catastrophic to a newly conceived embryo. Many farmers see summer reproduction drop to single digits as ambient temperatures rise, and this has ripple effects throughout the year.
Research shows...
"The upper critical temperature for heat stress to begin was between 25 and 26 °C. The conception rate declined from 61 to 45% when rectal temperature 12h post-breeding increased 1°C. Furthermore, cattle with rectal temperatures of 40°C as a result of exposure to 32.2 °C ambient temperatures for 72h after insemination had conception rates of 0% compared with a conception rate of 48% when the rectal temperature was 38.5 °C for cows in an ambient temperature of 21.1 °C."
Read the full Dairy Science Article - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030203740430
When the core body temperature rises just 1°C from 38.6°C to 39.6°C, conception rates can drop 20%, and when the ambient temperature reaches 32.2°C/90°F or above within the first 72 hours after breeding, the chances of that cow staying in calf are 0%. Imagine how much of an impact that has on an operation.
Here is what a customer has to say about the impact the CowKuhlerZ series by Core Cool Systems had on their operation.
"The most significant difference for us was in conception rate. Our reproduction percentage was horrible before. We never used to be able to breed cows in the summer. Now we are getting most in calf on the first breeding cycle throughout the summer regardless of heat events. Their AI technician commented last summer that they were the only farm around the entire area that was successfully getting cows in calf." A farmer near Kidron, OH
Who wouldn't be happy with results like that?
Poor summer conception rates can cost significant amounts of money and create a management nightmare. You shouldn't have to deal with that aggravation. Core Cool System is an investment in your operation that will pay dividends in multiple ways. Preventing the damaging impact of heat stress on reproduction rates means getting cows back in calf on the first attempt, drying off on schedule, calving on time and gets your girls back in lactation, keeping the milk flowing into your tank and the MOO-Lah in your bank.
If you would like to learn more contact nancy@corecoolsystems.com or visit corecoolsystems.com
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