Moving Bred Animals

MT. VERNON, MO.
   I’ve had a few questions about the safe period to haul heifers and cows without hurting their pregnancy rate. Dr. Mike Smith, University of Missouri, reproductive physiologist made some helpful comments about this at the beef repro conference in Joplin in the fall. Here are some of his statements:
   • Pregnancy losses before day 42 after breeding are called embryonic loss and range from 20 to 44 percent.
   • Pregnancy losses after day 42 are called fetal losses and amount to about 4% in beef females. or netwrap.
   • Patch holes promptly with a special tape, not duct tape.
   • Innoculents are not required to make quality balage. to handle fescue in both heat and cold and live with “hot” fescue. I suspect the majority will try to live with it. A good Greene county cattleman told me when I first came to Mt.
   • Embryonic/fetal losses may be due to genetic abnormalities, fescue toxicosis, other plant toxins, excess protein, heat stress, reproductive disease, or shipping stress.
   • Transporting cattle on a trailer decreased preg rates by about 10 percent when done between days 5 and 42. The loss was about 6 percent between days 45 and 60.
   • The best time to ship cattle is within 4 days of the fixed- time AI date. Δ
   ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri