3 Straws

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Scotty

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Is it worth using 3 straws? I had 45% conception this year as compaird to 60% last year. Same cows and same AI technician. Semen is getting high on some bulls. I wanted to use Crossover 14509685. Semen 60 and 40 dollar certs.
 
What's the point? As long as the semen is form a reputable supplier and hasn;t been mishandled, there is plenty of swimmers in each straw. If the techs technique has slipped or the cow isn;t at the right stage, you can pump a gallon into her and it isn;t going to change the outcome.
 
Red Bull Breeder":h59ts4gv said:
Are you doing fixed time AI maybe??

That is what I am thinking as well.
Timed breeding can be an easy way to throw your money away.

If you breed on a seen heat sometimes if one really knows what they are doing you can use 1/2 a straw on each animal (preferably heifers) and they will conceive.
 
Red Bull Breeder":3o6n68uy said:
Are you doing fixed time AI maybe??

Still doesn;t matter. If the timing isn;t right a gallon won;t get the job done.
 
Hey Dun did you notice the question mark at the end of my post. The point is with fixed time AI you are shooting craps. You are 100% right she ain't right a gallon won't do it.
 
I have seen people use more than one straw. They do not do it at the same time. They use one early and the next later. This is on bos indicus cattle. Their has been some research that shows that they ovulate earlier in the cycle. Or they did not know exactly when the cow started standing.
 
novatech":1n7gqxyq said:
I have seen people use more than one straw. They do not do it at the same time. They use one early and the next later. This is on bos indicus cattle. Their has been some research that shows that they ovulate earlier in the cycle. Or they did not know exactly when the cow started standing.

I do this depending on whether I'm sure when she started standing. If I'm not sure, I'll do one early and one later. I won't do that with $60 semen though.
 
angus9259":2geq31tf said:
novatech":2geq31tf said:
I have seen people use more than one straw. They do not do it at the same time. They use one early and the next later. This is on bos indicus cattle. Their has been some research that shows that they ovulate earlier in the cycle. Or they did not know exactly when the cow started standing.

I do this depending on whether I'm sure when she started standing. If I'm not sure, I'll do one early and one later. I won't do that with $60 semen though.

When she started standing isn;t as important as when she stopped. You still have a roughly 8 hour window to get the semen in and still be on time. The only time I use more then 1 straw is if I breed her at the normal interval and she's still staniong 4-5 hours later, then I'll breed her again either in the am or pm from when she was bred before.
 
I have had several that are not standing as dark approaches. By morning, day light, they are no longer standing. I cannot tell wither they were standing before midnight or if they just finished up before day light. So I hit them around 8:00 AM and again around 3:00 or 4:00 PM. I am very fortunate in that my semen costs are 0 dollars at this time.
Dun, You have brought up another interesting point. I have always started my timing from when they started standing. During the cooler months the cattle seem to stand longer than the warmer months. When the temps reach 95 plus degrees I will hardly ever even notice them coming in. In the 80's to mid 90's it is pretty easy as the spotter will start working them a couple of days before. When the temps drop way down they skip heats.
 

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