AI help

[gertfan]

I thought my son's gert heifer was in heat last night and we took her to be AI'd this am, the guy doing it has lots of experience but said he couldn't tell for sure if she was in or not. Said her cervix was really soft and if she shows any signs of heat let him know and we'll do it again
Any ideas ???? We really want a purebred calf out of her, she aborted at 6 months last time.

 

[milkmaid]

Why did you think she was in heat? was she standing? If so -- have her AI'd and be done with it. Besides, if she was standing last night you wouldn't normally expect her to still be "in" this morning.

 

[dun]

Why did you think she was in heat? was she standing? If so -- have her AI'd and be done with it. Besides, if she was standing last night you wouldn't normally expect her to still be "in" this morning.

In addtion, the tone of the cervix while a decent indicator doesn;t really tell you much until you've be3en in the cow a number of times over the years. With ours I make a note of any irregularity of the "feel" of the cervix. We have some that have cervixes that alwasy feel limp and floppy, others that are firm and solid. Depends on the cow. Onceshe's out of standing heat, the cervix will remain pen for a while, but if she was going out when you spotted her last night and had gone completely out by this morning it's hard to tell. If they were in heat or not.

dun

 

[gertfan]

well we went ahead and AI'd her this am. Will turn her out with the bull in a few days. I hate this AI crap sometimes. You do it so get quality stock but sometimes it is such a pain. THe guy that AI'd said that he has had them have silent heats so we are hoping that was the case. She had mucous but no other signs. So I guess if this doesn't stick the bull will.
Our timing is everything, we want an april or may calf, don't want late summer.
Thanks for all your help

 

[dun]

well we went ahead and AI'd her this am. Will turn her out with the bull in a few days. I hate this AI crap sometimes. You do it so get quality stock but sometimes it is such a pain. THe guy that AI'd said that he has had them have silent heats so we are hoping that was the case. She had mucous but no other signs. So I guess if this doesn't stick the bull will.
Our timing is everything, we want an april or may calf, don't want late summer.
Thanks for all your help

If she had mucous and it hadn;t started getting mily and sticky the timing sounds like it's right.

dun

 

[Horticattleman]

Just curious....Why have her AI'd and then turn her out with the bull. Shouldn't you just let Big Boy do his thing from the beginning? Maybe dumb question, but....

 

[msscamp]

Just curious....Why have her AI'd and then turn her out with the bull. Shouldn't you just let Big Boy do his thing from the beginning? Maybe dumb question, but....

The purpose of AI'ing is to match specific traits of the bull with specific traits of the cow in order to produce a high-quality calf (hopefully), and to achieve new bloodlines at a lesser cost that buying the bull. We haven't AI'd for years, but we would AI an animal twice, then put a 'clean-up' bull with any that didn't settle to ensure a calf.

PS No such thing as a dumb question if it's an honest question.

 

[C HOLLAND]

I can't wait for November to get here, my first and only AI so for is due then. I am like a kid on the way to the candy store. )

I hope to AI all my cows next time and plan to do them twice if need be before I turn them in with my bull. I am very lucky since I work in an office all day, that my wife is at home and can watch for signs and I feel that will help us catch the heat cycle better.

 

[dun]

I can't wait for November to get here, my first and only AI so for is due then. I am like a kid on the way to the candy store. )

I hope to AI all my cows next time and plan to do them twice if need be before I turn them in with my bull. I am very lucky since I work in an office all day, that my wife is at home and can watch for signs and I feel that will help us catch the heat cycle better.

If they won;t settle to 2 AI breedings you'll be money ahead in the long run to breed them and ship them. First it stretches out your calving season so you have more variation in weaning weights oryou have to wean at different times. Second, you'll be breeding in possible fertility problems if you should decide to retain any heifers.

dun

 

[gertfan]

Dun, you explained it perfectly for me. We wanted her bred to a very nice Santa Gertrudis sire, but it is getting late enough in the season that we can't wait around much longer.
Thanks!

 

[bobrammer]

Are any of you gives giving a shot to put your cows in heat? We are planning to shoot ours this evening. Hopefully they will be ready to AI on Saturday. Any thoughts? Thanks, Bob