News & Advice

Bull Fertility Testing – Why? What? How?

Nov 4, 2021 | Beef cattle, Biosecurity, Bull Fertility, Dairy, Dairy Farm Reproduction, Dry stock, Podcast

Emma Franklin & George Watson, Veterinarians

Join Anexa Dairy Vets for a low key chat about all things Animal Health. This podcast series is aimed at staff on dairy farms that want to learn more. Designed to be an easy-listen while you are bringing the cows to the shed for milking or hosing the yard down, these interview-style chats aim to help create common knowledge on-farm and provide some points for discussion amongst the farm team.

In this episode, Emma Franklin chats with George Watson about why it is so important to fertility test bulls before mating. George outlines some of the reasons that bulls fail fertility testing and explains that almost half the bull-fertility issues can only be diagnosed by examining a semen sample under the microscope. The vets chat through the practicalities of testing and give a rundown of the facilities needed to carry out this quick and cost-effective procedure. As George puts it: “With reproduction failure, we are always looking in the rear-view mirror, so this is our one opportunity to pre-plan and gives us the best chance of not having to look in the rear-view mirror and see a car crash”.

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