British Cattle Veterinary Association

The average incidence of dystocia is 30% in heifers and 10% for cows. A large proportion of difficult calvings and consequent calf deaths arise from feto-maternal disproportion. This can be due to over-zealous use of beef sires on dairy dams, searching for supposed financial advantages from greater weight gains. Dystocia has an appreciable heritability, and so could be bred-out of the dairy herd without effect on milk sales - but how many vets engage with the farmer when the next season's sires are being chosen, especially for heifers? Greater participation by the vet at this stage could prevent many costly mistakes.