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Consequences of Long-term Commitment to Estrus Synchronization

By Dr. Pedro Fontes

The use of estrus synchronization programs has substantially increased over the last few decades. These programs allow cattle producers to manipulate the estrous cycle of cows and heifers, facilitating the adoption of biotechnologies such as artificial insemination (AI). Cow-calf operations can combine estrus synchronization with fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) and AI all cows from a given herd at a pre-determined time without the need of estrus detection. The development of these estrus synchronization protocols has significantly impacted reproductive management commercially, leading to a remarkable global increase in the use of AI by beef cattle producers. In fact, the number of beef semen straws sold yearly in the United States increased by 145% between 1990 to 2017.

beef

Studies have repeatedly evaluated the effectiveness of estrus synchronization protocols in combination with FTAI, and pregnancy rates usually range between 40-60%. These are great numbers considering that approximately half of our females are becoming pregnant on the first day of the breeding season. Nevertheless, there is still some variation in . . .

Source : osu.edu

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Preparing for Lambing Season | Handling Pregnant Ewes Safely

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Handling pregnant ewes safely is the highlight of today's sheep farming vlog at Ewetopia Farms as we do final preparations for lambing season. With lambing season only days away, today’s focus is transforming our breeding barn into a lambing barn. This means cleaning out the last of the barns, removing old bedding, and laying fresh straw for our pregnant ewes. A big part of the process is safely moving our Suffolk and Dorset sheep to transform their breeding pens into their pens for lambing.