I was quite surprised when reading Scott Norman's articles (Australian Farm Journal July-September 2008) on dystocia to learn there is a lot we still do not know about its causes. In fact, 37% of causes remain unidentified. That said and done, as Norman says, there are steps that we, as producers, can undertake to ensure we minimise dystocia in our heifers. These steps were summarised at a field day I attended at the Wiruna Poll Hereford Stud: 1. Choose bulls with good estimated breeding values (EBV) for calving ease. 2. Give good nutrition to heifers from weaning to early pregnancy so they grow. A well-grown heifer has a bigger skeleton, hence, a bigger pelvis. 3. Taper-off nutrition to a maintenance level in the last trimester so unborn calf does not grow too large.
展开▼
