Beef reproductive services

Tararua Vets offers a wide range of reproductive services for both stud and commercial beef farmers.

Pregnancy Testing

Our pregnancy testing service is carried out using ultrasound scanners, backed up by manual palpation to confirm empty cows and check for any individual cow problems that may be preventing animals from getting in calf. We can tailor our services to your needs, be it just identifying the dry cows or accurately ageing in calf cows from 6 weeks – 12 weeks. The optimal time for pregnancy testing depends on your needs however 6 -8 weeks after bull removal is ideal. We are happy to work in with other animal health jobs such as TB testing ( as arranged with Assure NZ).

Artificial Insemination (AI)

AI is widely used in the dairy system for rapid genetic gain but less so in the beef system. We run synchrony programmes for both stud and commercial farmers, allowing for AI to be used to maximize genetic gain or to try a new sire as opposed to buying an expensive bull. In calf rates vary between farms and bulls, the average is 55%, however, we have had results as high as 70%.

Our clients use AI programmes for:

  • stud farms in yearling heifers in introduce new genetics into their herd
  • stud farms in adult cattle to introduce new genetics into their herd and tailor bull selection to individual cows
  • commercial farmers who wish to try a new breed of bull but don’t want to make an expensive purchase without seeing how that breed crosses over their herd

The basic programme involves 3 yardings over 9 days.

Day 0: Insert CIDR and inject with GnRH

Day 7: Remove CIDR and inject with PG and PMSG (optional)

Day 9: Mate all cows and inject with GnRH at mating.

We recommend that the bull is introduced 10 days later. As this is a synchrony programme the cows that do not get in calf will all cycle in the same few days, therefore, we recommend having more bulls than you would normally have with a traditional system. The best way to identify animals in calf to AI is to preg test 6 weeks after the AI mating.