Animal Health & Welfare

General Recommendations To Reduce Dystocia

• Mate virgin heifers and small cows to bulls that will sire small calves. Consider the breed, birth weight estimated progeny differences (EPD), actual birth weight and physical structure of the bull when making mating decisions. SAC will soon be providing breeding values for calving ease for some of the major beef breeds through its Edinburgh Genetic Evaluation Services.
• Feed heifers well enough to weigh at least 85% of their expected mature weight at first calving. Spring calving heifers and cows should have a condition score of between 2 and 2.5 at calving, whilst for autumn calvers this should be around 3.
• If calving difficulty is a problem in your herd, measure the pelvic area in replacement heifers and cull those that are too small. The required size will differ from one breed to the next. In general, however, heifers of medium-sized breeds should have pelvises of at least 160 square centimetres at breeding; those of large breeds, 180 or more.
• Do not retain daughters of cows that have a record of calving difficulty.
• Begin breeding heifers 21 to 30 days earlier than cows so you can observe heifers more at calving time. Feed the herd late in the day during the calving season so that more will calve in daylight.
• Record a 'calving ease score' for all the calves you observe at birth. If calving ease or difficulty changes over time, consider the reasons for this.
• When providing assistance at calving, provide adequate time for the cow or heifer to calve without the use of mechanical traction aids before making the decision to use them.
• Research has shown that the survival chances of a calf that as had a difficult birth can be increased by housing rather than being left outdoors in the immediate post-natal period.  These animals should be priorities if housing is limited.