Pregnancy drives economics for cattle producers. The longer cows stay open, the less profit they can generate in weaning weight per calf or milk production. A key to efficiency lies in breeding cattle when they are in optimum estrus.

Detecting estrus with the ESTROTECT™ Breeding Indicator helps pinpoint when cattle are ready to breed. Breeding cattle at optimum estrus results in more pregnancies per artificial insemination (AI), less money spent on additional semen straws and more time focused on other management areas.

The precision-designed ESTROTECT Breeding Indicator patches take the guesswork out of breeding programs. The patch’s silver and black ink rubs off as mounting activity occurs, revealing a bright indicator color – indicating when an animal is ready to breed. Industry-leading self-adhesive on each patch allows for easy application and reliable adhesion even in adverse conditions.

Cattle producers and reproduction specialists use ESTROTECT in the simplest to the most advanced breeding management applications to improve the quality and efficiency of their reproduction programs. The reliability of ESTROTECT Breeding Indicator patches as a multi-use reproduction management tool has been proven in university studies around the world and through research with tens of thousands of cattle.

Uses for ESTROTECT include:

• Determining cycling heifers prior to breeding

• Heat detection and confirming cycling cows for AI or natural service

• Identifying optimal timing for insemination during timed AI and standard AI breeding

• Quality control for synchronized breeding programs – confirms the cyclicity of animals at Fixed Time AI

• Informing breeding investment decisions based on estrus intensity implications – when to use high-value semen or sex-semen

• Confirming pregnancies with a high degree of accuracy

Cattle producers can improve pregnancy success with ESTROTECT Breeding Indicator patches based on whether a patch color is less than 50% visible or more than 50% visible.

For natural service or non-synchronized herds, if less than 50% of the patch color is visible, wait to breed and check again in 12 hours. When more than 50%, or the equivalent of the black Breeding Bullseye™, is rubbed off it’s time to breed.

For synchronized cattle, at the time of breeding, when less than 50% of the patch color is visible, use high-fertility semen or lower cost semen. Less than 50% visible patch color indicates low estrus activity and lower fertility. If more than 50% of the patch color is visible, breed with high-value semen, sexed semen, or implant an embryo. Cattle with more than 50% visible patch color have high estrus activity and are more likely to have a successful pregnancy.

The ESTROTECT Breeding Indicator is the industry standard for optimizing cattle breeding efficiency and economics. With millions of units sold around the world, ESTROTECT is the only breeding management tool tested in a multitude of university studies by industry researchers.