AI Costs

[bigbull338]

the thing with sexed semen is this theres no where near the amount of semen in the sexed semen.as there is unsexed semen/

So what would make the difference between a virgin heifer and a cow? The sperm doesn;t check for age when it's trying to do it's job

the reason the AI reps say use on virgin heifers is because they claim you can settle them quicker.like on the 1st breeding.the ave AI services is like 1.8 to settle cows or higher.

 

[Angus In Texas]

Sexed semen has a lower conception rate because it is dilluted more so than non-sexed. You have fewer sperm per straw. The reason it is reccomended for use in virgin heifers is due to the fact that heifers are typically more fertile and thus the conception rate loss due to sexed semen is somewhat offset by the increased fertility of the heifer. Also you can breed virgin heifers to have heifers which are typically lighter at birth than their bull counterparts. This is the info I got from my repro classes at A&M.

 

[milkmaid]

Angus - Basically the same thing my vet told me. Also that the reproductive tract is much smaller in heifers, so the sperm don't have to go as far, a good thing when you consider that they're much more fragile due to sorting and everything else. My AI rep (Select Sires) will only sell sexed semen in lots of 10, and my vet has me bring my heifers to the clinic when they're ready to breed, because he's concerned the sperm won't even last the 5 minute drive to my house. That's how fragile they're considered to be.

 

[Angus In Texas]

The actual sexing process is pretty neat to see. I have been to the Genetic Resources Internationl collection facility and watched the sexing in progress. It is amazing what technology can do.

 

[milkmaid]

That sounds neat. What method do they use? I've heard several different companies do it several different ways.

Reminds me... I thought I'd heard something once about how Monsanto was working on some technology for sexing semen; anyone know how that's coming?

 

[Northern Rancher]

Most A"I service outfits will have tanks to lease out for breeding programs. if your just doing your own herd and don't have much semen to store most studs will store it for you. A'I tanks are expensive to keep charged and every year I have a customer forget and run one dry. Your arm service rates are a bit higher than I charge for synchronization jobs but most people are buying the semen fromme also.

 

[sedrick_hall]

Is it worth it to spend the extra money to sync and breed than it is to heat detect naturally and then breed?

 

[dun]

Is it worth it to spend the extra money to sync and breed than it is to heat detect naturally and then breed?

That's where the time constraints deal comes in. If you can;t heat detect, the propaganda says to synch them and time breed and save the heat detection time.
Each producer haas to determine if the time is worth more then the money and the opens that will have to be bred later or cleaned up with a bull.

 

[Angus In Texas]

You can always sync them up but not for timed AI and still check for heats and breed off of heats. The economic advantage to syncronization is that you give every cow in the herd a chance at conceiving on the first day of your breeding season which means theoretically you are giving them up to an extra 21 days to conceive.

If you breed on natural heats a cow might not come into heat until day 17 or 18 of your breeding season where as if you sync them she is coming back in a second time at day 21 of the breeding season. Syncronization tightens up your calving season giving you a more uniform set of calves at market time as well as giving cows more opportunities to conceive a calf which should mean a lower cull for open rate. Now economically you have to do the calculations for yourself as I don't know how many head you have, how you market your cattle, and how strict you are on calving seasons and culling open cows.

If you market through outlets like superior or retained ownership where uniformity within the group drives premiums it might be better to sync or for seedstock operators they might look at when their production sale is or consignemt sale as well as when their commercial customers will be needing service age bulls to turn out to pasture.

 

[C HOLLAND]

What does it approximately cost to AI heifers in texas? I have never done this, not even sure if my vet can do it , but I am curious to see if its cheaper to AI than it is to just buy a bull.
I was thinking about semen running about $20 a straw and I am not real sure about what other costs are involved.(which is why I am asking)

The biggest cost in my opinion is your TIME, it is really tough if you work a full time job. The heat detection and timing has been my biggest obstacle.

I was talking to my AI rep last night when he came by to fill my tank and mentioned to him that I wasn't sure if I would continue doing AI after this fall and coming spring.

Best of luck to you.

With TIME being one of the biggest obstacles, how do big time Seedstock operations AI so many cows in a short period of time?

They have hired help.They have a system. They have the facilities. A thousand calves will hit the ground at GAR within a 45 day fall calving season. Every one of them is an AI or embryo calf. They have a remarkable facility on the ranch for AI and ET.

Frankie, I couldn't have answered it better.

 

[C HOLLAND]

the thing with sexed semen is this theres no where near the amount of semen in the sexed semen.as there is unsexed semen/

So what would make the difference between a virgin heifer and a cow? The sperm doesn;t check for age when it's trying to do it's job

The is a bouncer at the door and he cards all the little semen.