DIY or hire a pro?

[MillennialRancher]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

 

[ez14.]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

You'll have to find an AI tech in your area to find out exactly what it would cost. But I'd expect to pay $200-300 for for the tech to breed your herd (a single service not counting semen (because you will have that cost whether you breed them or have a tech do it)

Do you have a clean up bull? Would you AI them once and put with a bull or AI tell they stick? How much time do you have for heat detection?

With a herd your size personally I'd do it myself but you need to think about how much time you have and all the other factors that play into that

 

[T & B farms]

I just send a my deposite for a class yesterday actually. It was 1200$, pretty steep but supposed to be very good. Your looking at 5-600$ for a good tank, 300-350 for a thawer and a breeding kit. (Box,gun,gloves,etc) I already have everything I needed, but the know how. I have bred a handful of cows, but was very slow and tedious. I'll know here in the next couple weeks if any of them took. I'm hoping the class will get me over the hump. sure I'm forgetting something.
I have a very good local tec that did my breeding.he only charged 10$ a head, and would come for single cows.
still going to have him breed for me when I'm doing a large quantity, but hoping to get good enough to breed on the days I only have 1-3 head ready.

I'm not sure of your background on ai, by my tec helped me greatly. I was pretty overwhelmed the first couple years on protocols and heat detection, but he helped me understand it.

 

[True Grit Farms]

$1200 is 3 times what it cost me for a 3 day course. Learning how to AI was very easy for me, and I was the worst in our the class. Heat detection is the hardest and most time consuming part of AI.

 

[ez14.]

I just send a my deposite for a class yesterday actually. It was 1200$, pretty steep but supposed to be very good. Your looking at 5-600$ for a good tank, 300-350 for a thawer and a breeding kit. (Box,gun,gloves,etc) I already have everything I needed, but the know how. I have bred a handful of cows, but was very slow and tedious. I'll know here in the next couple weeks if any of them took. I'm hoping the class will get me over the hump. sure I'm forgetting something.
I have a very good local tec that did my breeding.he only charged 10$ a head, and would come for single cows.
still going to have him breed for me when I'm doing a large quantity, but hoping to get good enough to breed on the days I only have 1-3 head ready.

I'm not sure of your background on ai, by my tec helped me greatly. I was pretty overwhelmed the first couple years on protocols and heat detection, but he helped me understand it.

where are you going for AI classes?

 

[T & B farms]

$1200 is 3 times what it cost me for a 3 day course. Learning how to AI was very easy for me, and I was the worst in our the class. Heat detection is the hardest and most time consuming part of AI.

I think I have a very strong feel on heat detection. When I can, I spend quite a bit of time watching the breeding group. Normally I can predict which ones are coming into heat several hours before they stand based on their behavior. I'm sure hoping I pick up on it quick.
This is the only class I could find within about 300 miles. It's 4 days 8am-5pm. Breakfast and lunch included. I agree, it's plenty high.

 

[True Grit Farms]

$1200 is 3 times what it cost me for a 3 day course. Learning how to AI was very easy for me, and I was the worst in our the class. Heat detection is the hardest and most time consuming part of AI.

I think I have a very strong feel on heat detection. When I can, I spend quite a bit of time watching the breeding group. Normally I can predict which ones are coming into heat several hours before they stand based on their behavior. I'm sure hoping I pick up on it quick.
This is the only class I could find within about 300 miles. It's 4 days 8am-5pm. Breakfast and lunch included. I agree, it's plenty high.

You'll enjoy it, besides mandatory rubber boots, forceps to hold your glove up and a rubberized apron isn't a bad idea.

 

[Son of Butch]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

You'll have to find an AI tech in your area to find out exactly what it would cost. But I'd expect to pay $200-300 for for the tech to breed your herd (a single service not counting semen (because you will have that cost whether you breed them or have a tech do it)

Do you have a clean up bull? Would you AI them once and put with a bull or AI tell they stick? How much time do you have for heat detection?

With a herd your size personally I'd do it myself but you need to think about how much time you have and all the other factors that play into that

Don't forget it will cost you $200-300 every year for liquid nitrogen refills and A.I. related supplies after your initial investment. Plus a lot of guys find it pretty easy to tie up $1,000+ in semen inventory because I want some of this and
that..... and then comes the day why did I ever buy this bull... do I use it or throw it and buy another?

 

[ez14.]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

You'll have to find an AI tech in your area to find out exactly what it would cost. But I'd expect to pay $200-300 for for the tech to breed your herd (a single service not counting semen (because you will have that cost whether you breed them or have a tech do it)

Do you have a clean up bull? Would you AI them once and put with a bull or AI tell they stick? How much time do you have for heat detection?

With a herd your size personally I'd do it myself but you need to think about how much time you have and all the other factors that play into that

Don't forget it will cost you $200-300 every year for liquid nitrogen refills and A.I. related supplies after your initial investment.

yeah. Besides the initial investment I'd expect to break even on the annual cost on that number of cows. (Which I believe would be worth it for me personally)

 

[Son of Butch]

How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows?
This is for 20-30 head.

I'd expect to pay $12-15 hd ($240-450) plus semen and expect 66% conception (2 pregnancies per every 3 cows bred)
Obvious that you have not done A.I. before.
I'd suggest hiring it done for a year or 2 so that you understand the rigga-ma-role that goes with A.I. before jumping
into DIY investment.

 

[ez14.]

How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows?
This is for 20-30 head.

I'd expect to pay $12-15 hd ($240-450) plus semen and expect 66% conception (2 pregnancies per every 3 cows bred)
Obvious that you have not done A.I. before.
I'd suggest hiring it done for a year or 2 so that you understand the rigga-ma-role that goes with A.I. before jumping
into DIY investment.

good advice here

The tech I use only charges 8.50 per cow but there is a stopping charge (Not much for me because he drives right passed my house everyday)

 

[MillennialRancher]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

You'll have to find an AI tech in your area to find out exactly what it would cost. But I'd expect to pay $200-300 for for the tech to breed your herd (a single service not counting semen (because you will have that cost whether you breed them or have a tech do it)

Do you have a clean up bull? Would you AI them once and put with a bull or AI tell they stick? How much time do you have for heat detection?

With a herd your size personally I'd do it myself but you need to think about how much time you have and all the other factors that play into that

Thanks for the response, that's not too bad. I want to stick them once (registered Herf) and then turn out the bull (commercial angus) and then see who stuck and who didn't. Do it this way the first year or two until I get more familiar. I'm no expert on heat detection so I definitely need help with that end.

 

[MillennialRancher]

How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows?
This is for 20-30 head.

I'd expect to pay $12-15 hd ($240-450) plus semen and expect 66% conception (2 pregnancies per every 3 cows bred)
Obvious that you have not done A.I. before.
I'd suggest hiring it done for a year or 2 so that you understand the rigga-ma-role that goes with A.I. before jumping
into DIY investment.

I think I can live with that price. This is the first year for AI. Definitely paying someone the first go round. Sounds like it's worth paying for it to save the hassle.

 

[MillennialRancher]

Any tips on heat detection? Best way to sync the herds cycles?

 

[Till-Hill]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

You'll have to find an AI tech in your area to find out exactly what it would cost. But I'd expect to pay $200-300 for for the tech to breed your herd (a single service not counting semen (because you will have that cost whether you breed them or have a tech do it)

Do you have a clean up bull? Would you AI them once and put with a bull or AI tell they stick? How much time do you have for heat detection?

With a herd your size personally I'd do it myself but you need to think about how much time you have and all the other factors that play into that

Don't forget it will cost you $200-300 every year for liquid nitrogen refills and A.I. related supplies after your initial investment. Plus a lot of guys find it pretty easy to tie up $1,000+ in semen inventory because I want some of this and
that..... and then comes the day why did I ever buy this bull... do I use it or throw it and buy another?

I'd expect that to double in the next few years. And like everything in life if your not buying something everytime they show up to fill the tank it will go higher and higher. I'm lucky that we have a dairy also so I do buy something everytime they are here and buy a lot at breeding time for beef cows to get volume discounts. Also try to keep 1 company at a time happy. Works better to buy 30-40 units at 1 place then to buy at 3-5 different companies.

 

[Dsth]

I started AI when I had my dairy herd 35 years ago. I took an AI class when I started and we used repo tracts to practice on from a local butcher shop. that seemed to work really well. You could get a great feel for maneuvering the cervix. I found that there is no better teacher than experience. I bred many cows late at light when no one was around and I felt more relaxed. My AI class cost me $100 and that was to cover the cost of cull cows at the sale barn where the class was held. The instructor bought cows before the class and sold them the following week after me practiced on live cows after the reproductive tracts from the locker. I now have a herd of 20-30 beef cows that I only AI with no clean up bull. I feel that the time of breeding is the most important factor to get cattle settled. I used to have my AI tech breed if I had trouble getting through the cervix, but had VERY bad conception rates when I hired it done. I feel mostly because he didn't show up when I would have bred them. sometimes 5-8 hours later than I would have liked. If you plan on synchronizing your cattle and breeding with one trip from your AI tech, Good luck. When I remove CYDRs and inject with Estroplan on Wednesday night, they start standing Friday morning and some Sunday night. Long story short. Breed your cattle yourself.
One important thing I remembered from my class is that a cow should have a bloody show 36 hours after breeding, so I always try to watch for that so if they come back into heat, I adjust my breeding time accordingly. Good luck

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Your first thing is to find out who in your area will breed for you and will they come AM and PM for 1 cow.
Here in NY, there are lots of techs because it is a huge dairy state (3rd largest state). Cost $7/cow, no stop charge.
What company does he work for? ABS - Genex - Select Sire - or independent. He will only order semen from his company (they can't store semen from other companies, but I think if you have your own tank to store your own, they will breed with it.)
Get used to heat detection first. That is the success of AI. You have to know your cattle. Write down heats so that when you are ready to start AI, you have "expected" due dates. I would use Estrotech patches (or similar product) to "help" you. They are a TOOL, not final word.

 

[Bright Raven]

What's more cost effective when it comes to A.I.? How much initial investment on classes and equipment for diy? How much per head would it cost to hire someone to AI your cows.
This is for 20-30 head. Personal experiences welcomed, thanks!

On a herd that size, you could synchronize them and maybe get 50 % of them bred on timed AI. Then you could turn the rest out to a clean-up bull. You could hire a technician to come in and do that.

If you intend to breed the entire herd AI, you are going to have to learn the art of AI and do it yourself.

It is really inexpensive to learn and buy the equipment. Under $1000 for sure.

 

[wbvs58]

Not everyone hits the ground running after an AI course. It is something you get a feel for over time. I would do the course asap but for the first few years hire someone to do them on timed AI and then put your new skills to work by doing the rebreeds for a cycle or two.

Ken

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I had my 1 week class at Genex in Wisconsin, it was $300 5 or so years ago. Thanks cows were at a slaughterhouse about 2 miles from the Packers stadium.

Estrotech patches are a great help.

I have an AI tech that lives real close he does the heifers that I can't. He charges me $20 and when he's in town he can be there in 15 minutes.

I hope to by some straws from him and save the shipping.