The benefits of shorter gestation length in dairy cows have been widely reported and many AI companies have identified and marketed sires whose calves tend to be born a few days early. This can lead to easier calving as well as fewer days open, bringing substantial welfare and financial benefits to a farming business.
But AI company Cogent has early indications that one of its most popular bulls – Huddlestone Spooky – is cutting a remarkable nine days off average gestation length, which is considered to be exceptional in the cattle breeding world.
"The potential benefits of this are enormous," says Cogent’s Hugh Pocock. "Any dairy farmer will tell you that a difficult calving frequently sets off a chain of negative health events, often beginning with uterine infections and retained cleansings and developing into metabolic problems in the forthcoming lactation.
"Spooky’s calving ease figure is, not surprisingly, exceptionally good [4%], and his calves are reported to be strong and vigorous, developing into the robust and great framed cows for which they’ve earned a reputation.
"The easier calvings are clearly being influenced by shorter gestation lengths for cows inseminated with Spooky semen, which data from NMR has revealed to average just 275 days. This is exceptionally short compared with the national average at 284 days, and rarely would a bull shave more than three or four days off this time.
"In Spooky’s case, the cow carrying his calf has, on average, nine extra days to return to cycling activity, which puts her in a very good position to recover from calving, and potentially gives her a full 90 days to get in calf, and still remain within a 365 day calving interval.
"If they then go on to mirror the reduction in gestation length in reduced days open, they will also cut nine days off this figure.
"It’s widely accepted that the cost of one day open is £5 per cow per day, so just reducing days open by nine days has the potential to save £45 per cow per lactation, or £4,500 per 100 cows.
"What is particularly gratifying is that Spooky transmits many other desirable traits for production, management, fitness and type. He is truly a bull of the moment, offering average stature combined with strength through the body as well as strongly attached udders with good milking speeds and low cell counts. His daughters also carry some condition which is particularly important in these welfare-conscious times.
"PTAs for production are also good at 341kg milk with 34.7kg fat plus protein and big positive percentages for both components. Daughter lifespans are unsurprisingly positive and his Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) is £160.
"We are absolutely delighted to have received this new information about Spooky, which makes him even more of a complete package than even we had realised," says Mr Pocock. "Anyone using him within their herd stands to benefit from a win-win situation. They will not only get the genetic benefits he transmits to his daughters, but they also have the potential to make significant financial and welfare gains through better reproductive performance by the cows carrying his calves."
List price for Spooky is £18; he is available sexed at £37; there are discounts for quantity and for Visions (progeny test) participants, and he is available to users of the whole herd HerdPlan scheme.
