The Cost of Abortion in Dairy
A model to allow for individual farm calculations
Abortion in cattle is widespread and apparently increasing. Many of the causes are infectious. Farmers often do not realise that cows in their herd have lost a foetus, and even if they do, they often lose track of the effects of abortion on the cows and on their herd.
Study to calculate the cost of abortion
A database of 4000 calvings was examined to gather data on the effect of abortion in dairy cows on:
- milk yield
- fertility
- disease
- culling
Records of cows/heifers that aborted were compared to those animals that had a normal gestation. An abortion was defined as a gestation interval of 90 to 267 days.
From the cattle that aborted, the following was eliminated:
- Twins- twin bearing pregnancies are often short.
- Cows that were in calf to natural service.
- Pregnancy diagnosis information may be inaccurate.
- Cows are often in calf to another service apart from the service indicated.
To asses the economic losses from abortion, aborting cows/heifers were divided into three groups:
- Abortion at 90 days after service
- Abortion at 180 days after service
- Abortion at 240 days after service
Costs were assessed using an Abortion Cost Calculator based on Excel.
For detailed information see:
Using the Abortion Cost Calculator
Taken from information provided by Dr. R. J. Esslemont.
