Ai????

[Petercoates87]

Hey everyone. Sorry if this is a stupid question. But what would you have to do to get setup to do any AI? Being a small farm it hardly seems smart to have breeding bull in cost anyways. What do you need to get set up? I'm sure it might pay for itself if it didn't cost an arm and a leg. We use to have a tech here but no one has taken it up after they retired.

 

[M-5]

I have 2grand invested in school , travel, tank, kit and accessories and about 60 units of semen.

 

[Petercoates87]

Interesting. That's what I'm wondering. I'm in newfoundland Canada. So just to buy a bull probably out of province and have him shipped here is going to cost me in the range of 3 grand. But if ya had the equipment and set up it could probably pay for itself. There is a lot of small farmers here with probably 6 cows or less. Our only way to breed is our local pastures for the summer and then your just getting whatever is on pasture. Ya don't get a chance to pick your bull. Or even the ability to breed in late fall or winter if you have a heifer that's just coming into season.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Contact your local semen rep, Genex, ABS, Select Sires.... they always have reps out running around breeding cows.
It is not cheap, but in the end worth it. We have never bought a bull, so how much have we saved over the years? Everything is AI'd or embryos put in here.
School: Runs about $350 to $400 around here, takes a few evenings/days
Supplies: Tanks depend on size, but can run from $250 to ?????. Then the kit (i suggest the kit, it comes with everything you need to get started- gloves, gun, cutter, thermos, tweezers, covers for the gun, and a nice box to put it all in) runs about $250 if I remember correctly. Then your semen supplies, which can run from $20 to hundreds depending on the bull. Most people stay in the $20 to $30 range (per straw). Figure 50% conception, you need to make sure you have enough semen (so breeding 10 cows, you might want 20 straws to be safe).
You need to find out how tanks are filled around you. We have our semen rep fill it for us, and we buy most of our semen from him. There are also places you can take it to get it filled. But that is something you need to know before getting semen.

Another option is to lease a good bull. That way, you have him for 45 to 60 days and your breeding problem is solved.

 

[Supa Dexta]

You guys prob arent familiar with nfld, but its a rock island in the atlantic ocean basically, with very litte farming.

I know there's a few dairies over there, track down what they are doing - I assume Ai'ing for themselves? Otherwise it may be worth while to find a young bull every yr or 2 and share him with the locals, and butcher as wanted. Its not exactly cheap to AI either, just keeping the tank filled would likely run a few hundred a year. You can pick up a nice young bull for under 2k in NS. Find a dozen, or 2 cows to breed and charge 40 or 50 a piece if theres a demand for him. Sell/eat the meat and he's made you money

Closest sale to you is Truro NS I'm guessing, but not sure who trucks back and forth. Otherwise go all in on the AI and BE the new tech.

 

[Petercoates87]

Thanks guys for your ideas. But it's nothing but a struggle here. It really shouldn't be but we produce only 5% of what beef we purchase. We do have a few dairies but they are doing both AI and owning breeding bulls. And I only know of one beef producer here. It's rough situation there are very few raising beef cattle which is why I'm trying to break away from our vegetable farm to raising cattle. But getting started there is lots of up hill battles. We have always had a family cow. Having anymore than that calf to butcher is something we have never done. I actually agree about buying the breeder bull. Any suggestion on what age to look for? I was thinking about a year, being able to handle this guy matters to me.

 

[Supa Dexta]

If it were last fall I could have put you in touch with a guy that sells PB simmental bulls in NS, just weaned, quiet and priced right. That would be ready to breed this spring, but they're all sold now. This time of year you're limited to kijiji, what ever runs thru the ring in truro, and the napan test station sale in a few months, but those on test will be higher dollar bulls than what you need.

If you just need any old bull to get cows bred, a crossbred would suit you fine.