After identifying bottle teats as a significant potential cause of calf loss in the CalfWatch project, the Northern Territory Livestock Industries team photographed some cows shortly after calving with varying degrees of bottle teats, and then took follow up pictures at weaning. Some of these “before and after” photos are shown below.
An observation reported in Bottle teats causing calf loss: An update from CalfWatch was that a noteable number of cows that had bottle teats at calving, had somewhat normal looking udders 3-6 weeks later once the milk supply had been sucked down by the growing calf or the cow had ceased lactation after losing a calf.
If this is consistent with many commercial northern breeder herds where it is impractical to monitor cows during the postpartum period, there is a high chance cows with bottle teats are not being identified to be culled at the next weaning muster. Should the cow with bottle teats have failed to rear a calf but has since reconceived, then some management systems may allow her to remain in the breeding herd and continue to regularly lose calves. In contrast, if the cow has bottle teats but the calf survives, she will likely pass on her udder and teat conformation to her offspring, as it is moderately heritable (udder attachment = 0.2 to 0.3; teat size = 0.5).
This theory suggests herd productivity could be improved by culling harder on breeder teat and udder structure and considering teat and udder structure when selecting replacement heifers.
| Body condition score | Body condition | Expected pregnancy rate next mating |
| 1 | Poor | 0-40% |
| 2 | Backward | 20-50% |
| 3 | Store | 40-80% |
| 4 | Forward store | 60-90% |
| 5 | Fat | 80-95% |
| Type | Common name | Scientific name |
| Grass | Rhodes grass | Chloris gayana cv. Sabre |
| Panic | Megathyrsus maximus cv. G2; Gatton |
| Indian couch | Bothrichloa pertusa cv. Keppel |
| Hybrid panic | Megathyrsus maximus X M. infestus cv. Massi; C1 |
| Green coloratum | Panicum coloratum var. coloratum cv. under commercialisation |
| Buffel grass | Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Gayndah |
| Finger grass | Digitaria milanjiana cv. Strickland |
| Sabi grass | Urochloa mosambicensis cv. under commercialisation |
| Signal grass | Urochloa decumens cv. Basilisk |
| Creeping bluegrass | Bothriochloa insculpta cv. Bisset |
| Legume | Desmanthus | Desmanthus virgatus cv. Progardes |
| Atro | Macroptilium atropurpureum cv. Aztec; Emu foot atro (under commercialisation) |
| Butterfly pea | Clitoria ternatea cv. Milgarra |
| Stylo | Stylosanthes spp. cvv. Seca, Verano, Primar and Unica |
| No legume |
| Treatment number | Treatment detail |
| 1 | Control (untouched) |
| 2 | Fungicide* – Propriconazole - Bumper® (one application) |
| 3 | Fungicide* – Azoxystrobin (one application) |
| 4 | Cultivate once, fertilise NPKS mix (urea and CK88®) at 370kg/ha |
| 5 | Cultivate once, fertilise NPKS mix (urea and CK88®) at 370kg/ha, plant grass/legume mix |
| 6 | Cultivate twice, fertilise NPKS mix (urea and CK88®) at 370kg/ha, plant grass/legume mix |
| 7 | Cultivate twice, fertilise with 210 kg/ha Granulock starter Z®, plant oats, plant Gayndah buffel |
| 8 | Spray Roundup® twice, fertilise NPKS mix (urea and CK88®) at 370kg/ha, plant grass/legume mix |
| 9 | Insecticide* – Movento® (2 applications, 14 days apart) |
| 10 | Fertilise annually – broadcast NPKS mix (urea and CK88®) at 370kg/ha |
| Fly burden | Control group | Treatment group | Fly worry | Control group | Treatment group |
| Week 1 | 1.8 | 1.6 | Week 1 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| Week 16 | 3.0 | 1.2 | Week 16 | 2.9 | 1.4 |
| Change | +1.2 | -0.4 | Change | +0.5 | -0.6 |
| Weight week 1 | Weight week 16 | Weight gain |
| Control | 133.7 kg | 180.7 kg | 46.9 kg |
| Treatment | 122.4 kg | 183.8 kg | 61.4 kg |
| Negative | Toxic/Positive | Percent positive/toxic |
| Control | 80 | 5 | 5.9% |
| Treatment | 46 | 3 | 6.1% |
More information
Bottle teats causing calf loss: An update from CalfWatch →
CalfWatch — Developing a system to remotely monitor calving and study calf loss in extensive situations in Northern Australia →
Calf survival checklist →
Heritabilities of Teat Traits and Their Relationships with Milk Yield, Somatic Cell Count, and Percent Two-Minute Milk (Journal of Dairy Science) →
