Scanning season is fast approaching for us vets, and just as it gets quieter on the dairy farm for you guys, we crack right into one of our busiest times of the year!

In fact, we have already started doing our first aging scans for heifers! Many farmers are starting to age scan their heifers to work out which cows have held to AI if they ran a PG synchro or CIDR program. They can then easily identify who the AI replacement calves are, and potentially calve them down in a separate mob.

It is also crucial to work out the success of the repro program they used so they can make informed decisions around what to do the following year. We are also getting some farmers now asking us to age scan their heifers so they have exact calving dates and can split them into wintering mobs based on this, or draft aggressively into the springer mob to help with their transition period.

Straight after the Christmas break, we will be right in the thick of age scanning herds too. Most of our farm's age scan their herd so they can winter their cows in mobs based on their calving dates. This is particularly important when wintering off the milking platform. Again, we would also recommend drafting aggressively into the springer mob based on calving dates as well as uddering up. Having cows in the springer mob as close to 14 days as possible is crucial for setting them up for the milking season ahead. This means that getting an early aged scan is important to make this happen.

Most scans are being booked in right now, so if you would like an early aged scan done on your herd or heifers then please give your KeyVet a ring to discuss your options and book a time in.