Yet the reality with winter mating is that cows must be detected mounting each other when it is often cold, wet, muddy and dark. It's much harder in the winter than in October and November. This fact will not be new to those with winter mating programs, but it should be recognised and appropriate action taken to minimise incidences of missed heats and mis-diagnosed heats. Otherwise, next season's calving pattern will be spread, too few replacement heifer calves will be born, too many cows will need to be induced or too many empty cows will be lost from the herd. There can be a lot of money lost for each of these reasons singly and collectively.
Planning is required, commencing before the autumn calving.
If induction is needed, then plan its effective use with your veterinarian. Expect to check the springing cows so that calving difficulties are detected as soon as possible. This will mean night checks, even though the days are getting shorter and the nights colder. Getting better results from tailpaint Checking for premating heats can be more difficult in winter than at other times. Most brands of tailpaint have been developed for use with spring mating programs.