Recipient management tips the scales between possibilities and potential. If donors are the key to a herd’s genetic progress, healthy and productive recipients open the door.
Here are a few tips to ensure they’re on the right track.
1. Treat them like donors.
Is there a perfect recipient? The ones who come closest are those treated like donors. Recips must accept and raise an embryo and turn it into one of your best calves. Just as donors kick-start the process, recips nail it down for the win. Treat both accordingly.
2. Hit the ‘details’ target.
“Know what you’re putting in,” says Tim Ekovich, Dreamview Farms owner. “If you’re targeting club calves, choose the right, big framed, wide at the pins and rump cows. Try to match embryos by aligning expected progeny traits with the recipient’s capabilities.”
Ekovich runs a 300-recipient, dry-lot, confinement operation in northeast Illinois putting in embryos year-round and completing all related tasks such as vaccinations, nutritional adaptations, preg checking, and calving out recips.
His big picture is filled with details beginning with solid record-keeping. Here are some of the questions he asks before selecting recipients:
- Is her genetic and vaccination history available?
- What’s her ranch background?
- Did she previously take an embryo?
- Are her calving window timelines available?
Accurate records help track reproductive performance, spot trends, and adjust breeding program details to enhance profitability.
3. Cherry-pick. It’s for the best.
If enough records are available, ensure they’re detailing high-quality animals.
- Did she breed on the first attempt as a heifer?
- Were previous transfers successful?
- Did she hit the optimal calving window?
- Is she a repeat breeder? Is she at least 60 days postpartum?
- Does she have a moderate BCS and a good udder?
- Is she docile enough?
If the answers are positive, she’ll likely make a high-quality recip. Cherry-picking isn’t only for fruit farms and orchards. Practice selecting the best of the best.
4. Nutrition and BCS—a timeless match.
Establish a suitable and environmentally conscious nutritional program including top-notch minerals, supplements, and vitamins.
“We sometimes mess this up,” Ekovich says. “Feeding recipients needs to be consistent with strong ingredients.”
Ekovich uses a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) so his cows get what they need daily. He feeds a straw-heavy, high-fiber diet to develop and stretch them out, targeting a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 3.5 during gestation and 4.0 at calving.
His nutritional focus sharpens 3 weeks pre- and post-calving, and the months before and after embryo transfer.
“If we don’t have the correct nutrition during these periods, they won’t cycle properly and will take longer to get bred,” he says.
5. Place vaccine protocols in experienced hands.
It’s always wise to follow the vaccination protocol of a trusted veterinarian. Don’t forget about pre-breeding, with reproductive vaccines targeting BVD, IBR, and Leptospirosis plus standard vaccines 30 to 45 days pre-transfer.
No one-size-fits-all protocol is available since cattle come from various regions and climate conditions, but this isn’t the place to cut corners.
“The big thing is to give them 2 full rounds of BVD protection,” Ekovich says. “Don’t skimp on this from a reproductive standpoint.”
6. To sync or not to sync.
Whether considering a 5 or 7-day, 7 and 7 CIDR protocol, or natural heat, know what works well with your cattle.
Like the chicken and egg question, we won’t know until we try, but once established, go with proven strategies.
A key guideline is to ensure recipients are in heat 7 to 8 days before ET.
7. Set preg checking parameters.
40 to 45 days checks most boxes. Some herds re-sync off a CIDR to preg check around 21 to 25 days. Others might wait 60 days.
Ekovich schedules preg checks at 45 days. “They’re a little further along in calf,” he says. “The main point is open cows don’t make money, so get an arm in and check.”
8. Get a handle on handling.
Always work cattle as quietly and calmly as possible. It’s difficult to quantify stress, but cows like to be left alone. Stress negatively alters hormone levels and affects implantation success.
“Try not to mess with them,” Ekovich says. “The more relaxed they are, the higher their conception rates.”
9. Play ‘consistency’ on a loop.
- Make routines a fact of life.
- Use trusted veterinarians for health programs.
- Consult a nutritionist and maintain long-term diets.
- Strive for a sensible, middle-of-the-road BCS.
- Use low stress-handling practices.
“Managing recipients is just working cows,” Ekovich states. “If we’re consistent, we’ll have success. Keep it simple and the cows will pay us back.”
