Crap Shoot (AI'ing cows)

[Wick]

Isn't it funny how you try and follow the AM - PM rule or try to hit the 10-12 hr. mark when you AI cows/Heifers and some seem good to go good while others well not so easy. I guess all are different but it seems some are easier to pass the gun through the cervix at 8 hrs. or much later as in 14-16 hrs. Some you can see standing then figure 10-12 hrs. but then that makes it middle of the night or the hottest part of the day and you think well 8 hr. will work or later 14-16 and everything goes well or not so well. Then you think well if I only could have gotten to them in the 10-12 hr. window maybe this would have worked out better. Like for example the cows who come into heat somewhere in between your bedtime and the time you check the the next morning. Well "ol bessy" looks like she might have came in at 1AM , but when you go to breed ol bessy its a crap shoot. Cause actually you don't really know when ol bessy came in wheather it was right at bedtime or just before you got up. Big window there. To all who feel my pain thanks for listening just had to get this out there. Wick

 

[dun]

The timing isn;t near as critical as you seem to think.
AM PM has worked well for us. AM is from first light till about 1 pm. PM is afer 1 pm until dark. If they're standing anytime between first light and 1 pm we breed in the evening, around 6-7. If they;'re standing from 1 pm til dark we breed in the morning usually around 5-6. But we've only been doing AI (100% AI until 3 yerars ago) for 30 years or so.

 

[Wick]

Thanks there DUN for the only reply, I was just letting off just agravation I guess. I use the old heat watch system most of the time and its a real help espesially when your the only one doing all the checking, breeding, other farm work and working full time. I have some of neighbors heifers over at my place and synched them and AI them this week. I did not have enough heatwatch patches and used the estro-tech scratch off patches. Which work well but you really don't know exactly what time they come in unless you are there all day. I am trying to get his heifers bred for him but kinda hate the thought of missing them or him sort of wasting all that money and they not end up bred. But he understands theres a lot to getting everything in line for them to come up bred.

 

[novaman]

Thanks there DUN for the only reply, I was just letting off just agravation I guess. I use the old heat watch system most of the time and its a real help espesially when your the only one doing all the checking, breeding, other farm work and working full time. I have some of neighbors heifers over at my place and synched them and AI them this week. I did not have enough heatwatch patches and used the estro-tech scratch off patches. Which work well but you really don't know exactly what time they come in unless you are there all day. I am trying to get his heifers bred for him but kinda hate the thought of missing them or him sort of wasting all that money and they not end up bred. But he understands theres a lot to getting everything in line for them to come up bred.

I'm not familiar with how heatwatch works, but all I use is the scratch off patches and I really like them. They take a bit to scratch off so if they are completely rubbed off they have definately been standing for awhile. If I find one that is completely rubbed I go ahead and breed her. I only have one season in but I had good results doing it this way. The thing that frustrates me is when they are only partially rubbed off between checks and they don't seem to be standing while you are there. Many times they are just rubbing on posts, fences, etc. to shed their winter coat and in the process rub the patch.

 

[Wick]

Novaman, the Heatwacth system is a transmitter placed inside of a patch you glue to the cow much like the scratch off types, but the best advantage is that once a cow is mounted it sends a signal to your computer telling you when that cow started standing, how many times she has been mounted and you can put lots of info. into that system. It is fairly costly, I have the old system that I purchased from a dairy I worked at that went out of business. We had great sucess with it at the dairy farm and it help me out a whole lot with working full time and trying to farm to. They phased out the old heatwatch but have a new wireless system out now. All in all it works great.

 

[novaman]

Any idea how much a system would cost? What kind of distance does the computer have to be within? Seems like something that may be worth looking into.

 

[dun]

Any idea how much a system would cost? What kind of distance does the computer have to be within? Seems like something that may be worth looking into.

http://www.cowchips.net/

http://www.jm-sales.com/questions.htm

 

[edrsimms]

Isn't it funny how you try and follow the AM - PM rule or try to hit the 10-12 hr. mark when you AI cows/Heifers and some seem good to go good while others well not so easy. I guess all are different but it seems some are easier to pass the gun through the cervix at 8 hrs. or much later as in 14-16 hrs. Some you can see standing then figure 10-12 hrs. but then that makes it middle of the night or the hottest part of the day and you think well 8 hr. will work or later 14-16 and everything goes well or not so well. Then you think well if I only could have gotten to them in the 10-12 hr. window maybe this would have worked out better. Like for example the cows who come into heat somewhere in between your bedtime and the time you check the the next morning. Well "ol bessy" looks like she might have came in at 1AM , but when you go to breed ol bessy its a crap shoot. Cause actually you don't really know when ol bessy came in wheather it was right at bedtime or just before you got up. Big window there. To all who feel my pain thanks for listening just had to get this out there. Wick

On one hand, this depends alot on whether or not you have sychronized your cows/ heifers???? You didn't state that --so we have no idea. If you have synchronized them with (e.g. CIDR's) then you should see standing heat and follow the am/pm rule then by hour 80 AI all who have not shown heat, but never, ever AI them on an 8 hour deal-- later is better than earlier.

If you are looking for a livelihood that is in tune with your 8-hour day--- Wal-mart is looking for help.

On the other hand if you are watching for natural heat and following the am/pm rule you should already know what their cycle is prior to breeding (e.g. is she a 17 day cycler or 18 or 19 or 20 or is she a 21?) You should already know this information between calving and your first AI attempt when normally a cow comes into heat around 55 days. Also some cows wont show heat if you are breeding during a warm spring-- cooler temps increase conception rates -- heat stress is a killer on heat detection.......
Hope this helps

 

[ArmyDoc]

Any idea how much a system would cost? What kind of distance does the computer have to be within? Seems like something that may be worth looking into.

http://www.cowchips.net/

http://www.jm-sales.com/questions.htm

Have you used this system Dun? What's your thinking about it?

 

[dun]

Any idea how much a system would cost? What kind of distance does the computer have to be within? Seems like something that may be worth looking into.

http://www.cowchips.net/

http://www.jm-sales.com/questions.htm

Have you used this system Dun? What's your thinking about it?

Nope. I talked to the vet about it the other day. He has one client that has used ot for 7-8 years. When he was doing actual heat observation he ran in the mid 80% range, since he's being relying strictly on the machine for his breeding time dcisions he's now into the 40% range.