How To Nourish Fertility
Avoid Negative Energy Balance (Maintain Healthy BCS)
Negative energy balance occurs when an animal’s energy intake is not enough to meet their demands. Their bodies naturally assign energy and nutrients to the most important biological systems first, to keep them alive (cardiovascular system, central nervous system, digestive tract, etc.) If enough energy remains, it can be assigned to other functions like immune health, milk production, and reproductive systems. If an animal’s requirements are not being met, these other systems will not operate at top efficiency.
According to Michigan State University (MSU) Ag Extension, “negative energy balance is a major nutritional factor affecting reproductive performance.” They found that negative energy balances greatly delayed ovulation, reduced body condition scores (BCS), and made it much more difficult for cows to become pregnant.
It is important to apply this goal for all members of the herd in order to improve fertility, not just sires and dams...calves too! Healthy weaning weights in the new calf generation helps them move on from nursing in a timely manner so their mothers’ can breed back faster.
- 4 areas of nutrition to help energy balance: protein, energy (carbohydrates), fat, and minerals
Reduce Heat Stress
Heat stress can significantly lower reproduction rates from reducing conception success to harming developing embryos.
Here are a few simple tips to reduce heat stress in your herd:
- Keep an eye on your temperature humidity index
- Reduce activity during peak and evening hours
- Increase mineral intake, replenish electrolytes, switch from block to loose minerals, and offer more mineral stations
- Provide shady locations for your animals to use during peak hours
- Increase water stations, move water to shady lounging areas, and spray down resting areas
- Make sure animals have access to breeze and proper ventilation
- Animals naturally want to reduce their feed intake when it is hot (which harms rumen health), so offer rumen buffers like Redmond Conditioner to keep their digestive system working well during the summer months
Offer Trace Minerals
Making sure your herd has access to trace minerals is a simple but effective step to improve fertility. Researchers have found that ingesting trace minerals improves fertility in cows, sperm motility in bulls, and helps calves achieve healthier weaning weights.
Here are a few tips to help your herd benefit from your mineral program:
- Offer higher salt to mineral ratios: Low salt/heavy mineral mixes are not very palatable and your animals will be reluctant to consume what they need. A higher salt to mineral ratio not only tastes delicious, it also reduces heat stress, replenishes electrolytes, and powers the rumen “pump” more efficiently.
- Increase mineral access: Watch your herd’s pecking order to make sure each animal has equal access to minerals. Add more mineral stations and consider switching from blocks to loose minerals if needed.
Support Rumen Health
For ruminants, healthy rumens can resolve a lot of the nutritional problems behind low conception rates (negative energy balance, poor BCS, mineral deficiencies, heat stress symptoms). Nutrient and energy absorption improves when you:
- Buffer rumen pH
- Maintain healthy ammonia levels
- Nourish rumen microbe colonies
Click to see a side by side, rumen health comparison between sodium bicarbonate vs Redmond Conditioner.
Improving Conception Rates with Redmond Conditioner
Founded by farmers over 50 years ago, Redmond Minerals is proud of our legacy of helping farming operations thrive. All our products are harvested from a Jurassic Era mineral and volcanic clay deposit in central Utah, with proven health benefits for all classes of livestock.
For decades, farmers have found that switching to Redmond simplified their lives, increased productivity, and made their animals happier and healthier.
Redmond’s enriching Mineral Conditioner can help nourish the fertility of your entire herd.
- Contains over 60 trace minerals perfectly balanced by nature (including electrolytes and minerals needed to reduce heat stress)
- Provides complete rumen health: bentonite clay particles bind to toxins in the rumen, buffer rumen pH, improve fiber digestion, maintain healthy ammonia levels, and support rumen microbe colonies
- Improved nutrient absorption helps your herd maintain healthier body condition scores and energy balances
Farms across the country and beyond have enjoyed stronger heats, improved pregnancy rates, successful pregnancies in problem animals, and considerable savings after switching to Redmond. Check out a few of their experiences below!
Give Redmond a call today at 
to see how we can help improve conception rates in your herd!
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