Cost of AI

[regolith]

Tail paint will catch 95% or more and can be refreshed every two to three weeks - cp can explain why he prefers chalk but paint is what we use out here.
*Provided* you don't have low hanging branches... most dairy farms don't.
When you bring them in for AI repaint them another colour and following the 12 hour rule most of them will be off heat so the paint will stay on.

I think I'd start panicking if I saw a cow with a white or dry vulva - what's wrong with those US cows cp? They sound anaemic.
Final deciding factor for me is temperature, if I'm uncertain. Usually the skin temperature of the one on heat is noticably warmer.

 

[Lawson Farms]

CP, what type of tail chalk do you use? We've used Paint Stik's before, but that's it.

 

[pdfangus]

BACK IN THE DAY ....I use to get on my horse and go set on a hill and light a cigar and just watch cows. often used a binocular so that I did not have to interfere with what I was watching just to read an ear tag. When the cigar was done if it was morning I would gather....if it was evening I would go to the stable and tend the horse.

always tried to give em a good look at mid day as well. If I had the space I might keep em up til noon then look again and turn out all that did not need pm breeding.

for me when I learned how to spot the submissive cows that were not hotly bulling and determine when they were in heat was a key. Some of that is learning the cows individual personalities. I have seen cows that only stood to be mounted one time.

In later years I checked cows six or eight times a day. but then I had used synchrony drugs and was breeding the whole herd in one week.

you cannot check heat while you are doing something else. you must be watching the cows.

Naturally for me....timed AI was a great time saver. But a lot of timed AI cows show no or little heat.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one "peaking' in the vulvas!!
As said, the "hot ones" are easy. The timid cows will lurk around the outskirts of activity.
As I'm approaching our herd, I like to observe from a distance. Look for MOVEMENT - any quick movements. A cow in heat TRAVELS a lot.
Look for groups. When one is standing, ignore her - watch the rest. Who's really interested in riding? Check for swolen vulva's - they will appear full & shiny. Of course, for me, we have lots of mud, so the telltale stripes down their flanks is a sure sign.
Look for a cow with her head up high looking/staring off in the distance. If you have groups of cows, check out the ones hanging around the fenceline close to the other group. They think there might be a "bull" over there to take care of their needs.
If I find a cow showing "little signs" and we don't breed on those signs & she doesn't come "in" hot & heavy - then I'll wait 8 days & Lut them into heat again. Of course, I write everything down & KNOW my cows.
But, all in all, I am a GREAT heat checker!!! :banana:
I'm being sexist - but I think women "generally" do a better job than men. Sounds like you (cow pollinator) watches for the little things. And that's what it takes to catch all of them.

 

[regolith]

One of these cows is on heat. The other is pregnant.
Jeanne pretty much covered what I look for approaching the herd. The day I took these photos only one was cycling, and because I know her history I knew she was on when I saw her standing by the fence.

I'll post some more of that series of photos in another thread later. The part you can't see is what they are watching: one of the calves across the fence is on heat and was being ridden.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=77362&p=922838#p922838

I usually breed on early signs - learned that with the 'timid' ones you'll see something, wait for more and it never happens. It's better to waste a straw of semen than wait twentyfour hours and either decide you were mistaken or realise you've missed the chance.

 

[S&S Farms]

It is priceless when you stick over 75 percent and your calf crop hits the ground in a ten to fourteen day period. Nice uniform group of calves to market at a premium.

 

[Cross breeder #1]

i would like the idea of timed AI but that would raise the cost and I still dont know