a herd fertility service ( hfs ) is considered a basic component of modern herd health service provision in dairy industries internationally .
a hfs may be defined as a proactive , routine service provided to manage all aspects of bovine fertility , usually by a veterinary practitioner , with emphasis on the herd as the unit of interest , rather than the fertility of the individual animal .
it is usually provided on an appointment basis , rather than as part of an emergency call , with visits scheduled at appropriate times relative to the herd breeding pattern .
the hfs may be part of a larger herd health service provided by the veterinarian . while planned animal health and production has been promoted in ireland for many years
the models of veterinary hfs provision are quite diverse between dairy industries internationally , often with little communication of ideas or practices between commercial service providers . for example
, pharmacological intervention services to achieve pregnancies may be a routine practice on many north american dairies   but not in many european dairy herds .
within europe , contrasting dairy herd management systems operate in different countries resulting in different , largely undocumented , approaches to dairy herd fertility management .
this variation in hfs between countries was the motivation for the international surveys reported here .
the objective was to elicit veterinary practitioners ' views on hfs provision within ireland and to compare this with two contrasting dairy industries ; the netherlands and portugal . in ireland ,
the majority of dairy cows calve seasonally , primarily in the spring , and are bred in a low - cost , pastoral management system with emphasis on grassland management , and farmer - led fertility management predominates . in the netherlands and in portugal , the majority of dairy cows calve all - year - round and are bred in a confinement management system with emphasis on total mixed ration and limited pasture access , and veterinarian - led fertility management is practiced .
it was hypothesised that hfs provision would differ substantially between these two contrasting dairy management systems with less emphasis on a planned hfs in ireland and more focus on such a service in the netherlands and portugal .
a questionnaire was designed and pilot - tested with veterinary delegates at two veterinary conferences in the netherlands and scotland . following discussion with respondents and analysis of the responses
the questionnaire was re - drafted and distributed among veterinary delegates at three buiatrics conferences in ireland ( cattle association of veterinary ireland annual conference ) , the netherlands ( proveto annual bovine conference ) and portugal ( jornadas da associacao portuguesa de buiatria ) .
the questionnaire included questions on fertility problems encountered by veterinary practitioners in their dairy clients ' herds ; whether the vets provided a hfs ; how the vets started this service ; how they promoted this service ; the type of client who uses this service ; how the vets charged for this service ; the components of the service and the benefits to themselves and to their clients . for veterinary practitioners who did not provide a hfs
there were questions on why they did not provide this service , if they wanted to provide this service and what would assist them in providing a hfs .
descriptive statistical analysis of the questionnaire results was conducted using excel ( microsoft office , 2003 , usa ) .
dairy herd fertility problems encountered by veterinary practitioners in ireland , the netherlands and portugal ( responses in % * ) . *
each % figure represents the percentage of respondents who provided this answer and as each respondent could provide multiple responses within some questions , the total % for each question does not necessarily add up to 100% .
details of the herd fertility service ( hfs ) provided by veterinary practitioners in ireland , the netherlands and portugal ( responses in % unless otherwise stated * ) . *
each % figure represents the percentage of respondents who provided this answer and as each respondent could provide multiple responses within some questions , the total % for each question does not always add up to 100% .
responses of veterinary practitioners who did not provide a herd fertility service ( hfs ) in ireland , the netherlands and portugal ( responses in % * ) .
* each % figure represents the percentage of respondents who provided this answer and as each respondent could provide multiple responses within some questions , the total % for each question does not necessarily add up to 100% .
a total of 122 veterinary practitioners , 47 in ireland , 44 in the netherlands and 31 in portugal , completed the questionnaire .
of these , 73 respondents ( 60% ) - of which 12 were in ireland ( 26% ) , 40 were in the netherlands ( 91% ) and 21 in portugal ( 68% ) - provided a hfs and the other 49 respondents did not .
the mean ( min - max ) dairy herd size in the respondents ' practices was 57 ( 20 - 150 ) in ireland , 77 ( 45 - 110 ) in the netherlands and 221 cows ( 10 - 2,500 ) in portugal .
the responses from veterinary practitioners who did or did not provide a hfs in the three countries are shown in table 1 .
the majority ( 76% ) of respondents in each country stated that dairy herd fertility had declined in their practice .
this decline in herd fertility was not attributed to a single factor , rather it was attributed to numerous factors of which inadequate management of dairy cows ( 21% of respondents ) , increased milk yield ( 19% ) and inadequate nutrition of dairy cows ( 19% ) were the most common contributory factors listed .
the main fertility problems encountered in dairy herds were similar in each country but their ranking differed ; puerperal problems were ranked as the main reproductive problem in irish dairy herds but as the least important problem in portuguese dairy herds . in the latter country , repeat breeder cows were the main fertility problem encountered by veterinary practitioners .
the details of the hfs provided in each country are listed in table 2 . in the majority of cases ( 73% of respondents )
the majority of respondents indicated that the type of client using this service was more educated than average ( 70% ) and/or had a herd fertility problem ( 58% of respondents ) .
the majority of vets ( 86% ) promoted their hfs by telling their clients about the service .
the number of clients using a hfs was increasing across countries ( 71% of respondents ) . demonstrating the fertility improvements and financial gains accruing from this service were the primary methods of showing clients the benefits of a hfs .
the two main benefits to the veterinary practitioner or his or her practice were the financial rewards and the satisfaction in providing a good veterinary service .
some components of the hfs differed markedly between countries ; pregnancy examination by ultrasound ( 92% and 90% of irish and dutch respondents , respectively , vs 14% of portuguese respondents ) , blood metabolite / mineral profiling ( 67% and 53% vs 24% ) and ai auditing ( 0% and 8% vs 38% ) .
pregnancy examination by ultrasound was the most common component of hfs provision in ireland ( 92% of respondents ) while postpartum examinations were the most common component in portugal ( 100% ) and in the netherlands ( 98% ) . in ireland and in portugal fertility records
were most commonly available in notebooks and farm diaries while in the netherlands records were most frequently available on the farmer 's computer .
the number of planned visits per year was substantially higher in portugal ( 23 ) than in ireland ( 4 ) .
the fee payment structure differed markedly between countries with the majority of irish and dutch veterinary practitioners charging per hour for this service ( 100% and 90% of respondents ) while in portugal the majority ( 57% ) of vets charged a monthly fee . the majority of respondents in the netherlands intended to provide an extended and enhanced hfs but not in ireland or in portugal .
the three main factors which would facilitate veterinary practitioners in providing a better hfs were better economic evidence to convince clients of the benefits of this service , allocating more time to concentrate on dairy herd fertility work and better fertility data provision .
the responses about hfs provision from veterinary practitioners who did not provide such a service are listed in table 3 .
the most common reasons given for not providing this service were the lack of client demand ( 55% of respondents ) followed by a lack of fertility records ( 31% ) . the majority ( 80% ) of veterinary practitioners who did not provide a hfs wished to do so .
they responded that the three main factors which would facilitate provision of such a service in their practice were allocating more time to concentrate on dairy herd fertility work ( 74% of respondents ) , better economic evidence to convince clients of the service benefits ( 67% ) and better fertility data availability ( 63% ) .
the majority of veterinary practitioners agreed with the general consensus in the peer - reviewed literature ( ireland ; , portugal ; , the netherlands ; ) that dairy herd fertility has declined .
this implies that successful bovine fertility management is now more critical than ever to profitable dairy farming .
the respondents indicated that inadequate dairy cow management and nutrition and increased milk yield are the factors which need to be addressed in order to improve bovine fertility .
the variation in the ranking of the three most common fertility problems highlighted reflects the differences between countries in both breeding patterns ( seasonal vs year round ) and cow accommodation ( at pasture vs housed ) .
the most receptive clients to provision of a veterinary herd fertility management service were those with larger herds having a fertility problem .
these findings correspond well with the results of a survey conducted in the uk by wassell and esslemont   in which they found that the type of farmer who joined a herd health scheme was generally better educated and had a larger herd with a fertility problem .
the increasing number of clients availing of a hfs in each country may reflect the importance dairy farmers now place on herd fertility performance , given the decline in herd fertility , and the response by veterinary practitioners to this demand .
there was more emphasis on use of ultrasound for pregnancy examinations and blood metabolite and mineral profiling and less on routine postpartum examinations , fertility records analysis and ai auditing .
this may be due to the recent increased availability of less expensive veterinary ultrasound equipment and the variable nutritional inputs of dairy cows at pasture .
while , in general , fertility records were most commonly available through client pcs , in ireland , practitioners primarily used farmers ' breeding charts and notebooks .
this may be due to the relatively low level of computerised milk and fertility records ( 30% of dairy herds ) in ireland .
the number of hfs visits per year was much lower in ireland ( on average four visits ) where breeding is seasonal , compared to the netherlands and portugal , where breeding is non - seasonal and postpartum examinations are routinely carried out .
the fee structure in ireland was primarily fee per hour or per cow , but in the netherlands it was mainly fee per hour and in portugal fee per month or per cow .
the fee charged per hour was quite variable both between and within countries while the fee per cow tended to be more uniform .
practitioners in ireland responded that they needed more time to spend on a hfs in order to provide a better service .
while in the netherlands respondents emphasised the need for better economic evidence to convince clients of the need for this service .
interestingly , a recent danish study showed that while veterinarians believed that farmers primarily focus on production and profit , farmers valued teamwork more .
this highlights the need for good communication with the client through a relationship - centred approach rather than a paternalistic approach . despite the benefits described here by respondents for both the veterinary practitioner and his or her clients of a hfs - primarily financial and personal satisfaction - many practitioners , mainly in ireland , did not provide a hfs
the main reasons listed for this were lack of client demand , lack of fertility records , lack of specialisation in bovine fertility work and lack of time to devote to this particular service .
regarding client demand in ireland , farmers tend to call the veterinarian to solve problems rather than to build best practice .
this may apply particularly with older , more conservative clients with family - run small herds where contact - hours per cow are still high . paradoxically
, other clients do not demand a change in veterinarian services because they are doing much of this work themselves , are employing para - veterinarians or are using natural service bulls , roll - over cows and high culling to mask poor fertility .
however , where farmers are using a herd health and production management ( hhpm ) service , as in the netherlands , routine reproductive monitoring is by far the most popular service .
this implies that if clients can be persuaded to try veterinary - led herd health management , a bovine fertility service is a core component .
some veterinarians may lack the confidence and the competence to provide a specialised fertility management service even when there is a client demand .
specialised fertility work may be seen as physically demanding and too complex to yield answers which can be sold to clients .
this may be particularly true in small practices where the need to provide a service across species overrides the need to specialise in bovine theriogenology .
for example , in ireland , 45% of veterinary practitioners are in practices with one or two vets ( according to damien o'donoghue , pfizer , through personal communication ) .
this hypothesis is supported by findings in the uk , where wassell and esslemont   found that the size of the veterinary practice was the most significant factor determining whether a practice was likely to run a herd health scheme .
devoting extra time to bovine fertility management can be a problem for practitioners with a multi - species traditional ' fire brigade ' case load or who earn a substantial proportion of their income from the state through veterinary meat inspection and disease eradication schemes .
the latter work yields a higher income per hour than fertility work ; hence the opportunity cost of such time is also higher .
however , such non - clinical income streams may come under threat with economic recessionary pressures leading to increased engagement of non - veterinarians in such work . in this scenario ,
veterinary practitioners may need to sell themselves more aggressively as unique herd health and fertility service providers .
the findings reported here are the responses contributed on questionnaires , not an audit of what actually happens in the respondents ' practices .
in addition , one must be cognisant of sample size and bias in the responders versus the eligible population . in the present surveys ,
practitioners who attend conferences may not be representative of those who do not attend conferences , the former possibly being more likely to be more progressive and early adopters of new information and technologies .
in conclusion , these surveys showed that , in ireland , a minority of respondents provided a hfs while , in the netherlands and portugal , a majority did so , in agreement with the study hypothesis .
the reasons suggested for this were a lack of client demand , the seasonal nature of veterinary work and the small size of veterinary practices in ireland .
the primary constraints , cited by respondents to provision of a hfs were lack of economic evidence to convince clients and lack of time to focus on this type of work . without promotion within the veterinary profession that addresses these identified barriers and drivers to adoption ,
however , given the recent emphasis on problem - based learning for veterinary undergraduates in ireland , the provision of veterinary services may be quite different in the future as the profession endeavors to remain relevant in an increasingly crowded marketplace .
the author thanks the veterinary practitioners who took the time to contribute to these surveys and the conference organisers who facilitated their completion .
 the decline in dairy herd fertility internationally has highlighted the limited impact of traditional veterinary approaches to bovine fertility management . 
 three questionnaire surveys were conducted at buiatrics conferences attended by veterinary practitioners on veterinary dairy herd fertility services ( hfs ) in countries with a seasonal ( ireland , 47 respondents ) and non - seasonal breeding model ( the netherlands , 44 respondents and portugal , 31 respondents ) . 
 of the 122 respondents , 73 ( 60% ) provided a hfs and 49 ( 40% ) did not . 
 the majority ( 76% ) of all practitioners who responded stated that bovine fertility had declined in their practice clients ' herds with inadequate cow management , inadequate nutrition and increased milk yield as the most important putative causes . 
 the type of clients who adopted a herd fertility service were deemed more educated than average ( 70% of respondents ) , and/or had fertility problems ( 58% ) and/or large herds ( 53% ) . 
 the main components of this service were routine postpartum examinations ( 95% of respondents ) , fertility records analysis ( 75% ) and ultrasound pregnancy examinations ( 69% ) . the number of planned visits per annum varied between an average of four in ireland , where breeding is seasonal , and 23 in portugal , where breeding is year - round . 
 the benefits to both the practitioner and their clients from running a hfs were cited as better fertility , financial rewards and job satisfaction . for practitioners who did not run a hfs 
 the main reasons given were no client demand ( 55% ) and lack of fertility records ( 33% ) . 
 better economic evidence to convince clients of the cost - benefit of such a service was seen as a major constraint to adoption of this service by 67% of practitioners . 
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Materials and methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements