Fertility Resources
Vetbiz Consultancy have helped produce open source resources in a number of projects and we want to see them used as widely as possible. We have also put links to some resources that we have found useful.
Cattle fertility videos
Poor cattle fertility is recognised as a problem in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) but little data is available for the large number of small scale producers that make up the majority of animals kept in LMIC. For many small holder farmers, their cows currently have a very low peak yield 2 months after
calving. The levels then reduce rapidly. In some cases cows only produce milk for 5-8 months after calving or will produce very little milk per day and then spend an unproductive year to eighteen months before calving again.
The normal target would be to produce a live calf every 365 days, (the calving interval) and for
dairy animals to milk for at least 10 months.
The aim of these videos is that they are easily used, shared, translated and understood by farmers and advisors to improve cattle fertility and production. The tables and images used in the videos are available as handouts from the links below the videos or from this web site.
There are two groups that these videos aim to help:
1) Animal Health Service providers/Advisors - These would include Artificial Insemination (AI) technicians, NGO and Government advisors. 2) Dairy inputs field staff, veterinary para professionals and veterinary surgeons in the field.
Video 1 The Importance of Fertility and the Oestrus Cycle and Video 2 Signs of Oestrus, Detection, Recording and AI can be used by advisors with farmers and small scale producers (SSP)
Please contact hello@ livestockdevelopment.co.uk help with translating these videos
calving. The levels then reduce rapidly. In some cases cows only produce milk for 5-8 months after calving or will produce very little milk per day and then spend an unproductive year to eighteen months before calving again.
The normal target would be to produce a live calf every 365 days, (the calving interval) and for
dairy animals to milk for at least 10 months.
The aim of these videos is that they are easily used, shared, translated and understood by farmers and advisors to improve cattle fertility and production. The tables and images used in the videos are available as handouts from the links below the videos or from this web site.
There are two groups that these videos aim to help:
1) Animal Health Service providers/Advisors - These would include Artificial Insemination (AI) technicians, NGO and Government advisors. 2) Dairy inputs field staff, veterinary para professionals and veterinary surgeons in the field.
Video 1 The Importance of Fertility and the Oestrus Cycle and Video 2 Signs of Oestrus, Detection, Recording and AI can be used by advisors with farmers and small scale producers (SSP)
Please contact hello@ livestockdevelopment.co.uk help with translating these videos
FULL VIDEO SERIES SCRIPT:
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DISCLAIMER & COPYRIGHT:
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Video 1 | The Importance of Fertility, the oestrus cycle and heifer breeding
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Fertility is an important driver of production as cows produce more milk when they first calve. So the target is to have a calving interval, between one calf and the next, of around 365 days.
There are three open source handouts that can be accessed from the links below.
Well grown heifers calving at 24 months will produce more milk and become pregnant again more quickly. ILRI have produced a growth chart that is available here:
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Video 2 | The Important stages from before calving to being confirmed pregnant
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This follows the important stages from before calving to being confirmed pregnant. Looking at:
Transition cow management, Oestrus Cycle, Signs of oestrus and the advantages of Artificial Insemination There are three open source handouts that can be accessed from the links below.
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Video 3 | Aids to oestrus detection including the use of p4 gold
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Artificial insemination requires better oestrus detection and training of farmers to replace the bull at identifying cows in season
This video looks at aids to oestrus detection including the use of P4 Gold to measure milk progesterone. There are two open source handouts that can be accessed from the links below.
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Video 4 | Pharmaceutical Interventions for Fertility Management
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This video looks at the pharmaceutical interventions for fertility management. There are a number of interventions that may be available from your veterinary surgeon depending on the local situation. This video describes the generic interventions and tools but local licensing and regulations may vary. Please consult your veterinary surgeon about the health and fertility of your animals.
There are two open source handouts that can be accessed from the links below.
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Video 5 | Why is my cow not pregnant?
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Why is my cow not pregnant?
That is a question that always needs answered but in an individual cow is very difficult to answer. This video aims to help answer that question.Fertility is always about probability, the chance of a cow becoming pregnant. For small holder farms, there are too few animals to be able to make inferences as the numbers are too small. However in groups of animals it is possible to investigate possible reasons. So data from small holder farms need to be grouped. This can be done in to villages or vet practices, by bull or AI technician, or geographies or selling groups with similar situations and practices. SNV has produced a table of fertility indicators:
SNV Extension Worker Manuals can be found here.
Goopy, J.P. and Gakige J.K. (eds.) 2016. Smallholder dairy farmer training manual. ILRI Manual 24. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). | ||
Video 6 | Issues with AI & the importance of Bulls
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For good conception rates then good fertile semen needs to be available. This video looks at issues with AI and the importance of bulls.
Measuring scrotal circumference & table of sizes:
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Video 7 | Rectal Manual Pregnancy Confirmation in Cattle
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This is the omnibus edition training video that explains the basics of manual rectal pregnancy confirmation in cattle for vet students, AI Technicians, AISP, Paravets and Extension workers.
🌐Image link for the size of pregnant cow uterus 🌐More images are available at: https://visgar.vetmed.ufl.edu/ |
