Dairy Cow Reproduction and Breeding

This is concerned with the principles of fertility management and reproductive health applying theory of reproduction to the development of a fertility management programme. This also focuses on breeding management, related to production, type and management traits, regarding cow longevity, fertility and cow performance. It applies the knowledge of reproductive physiology.

  1. Understand the principles of genetic variation and evaluate the impact of genetics on performance
  2. Evaluate animal fertility including benchmarking and be able to calculate performance figures to put in place an action plan.
  3. Identify possible breeding objectives and evaluate for use in a specific breeding programme.
  4. Understand factors affecting performance and future fertility of the herd.
  5. Recognise the signs and know the cause, treatment and prevention of health issues affecting the fertility of a dairy herd.