I have 14 cows and two heifers to AI. I started Thanksgiving Day. As of this morning, I have serviced 13.
I have been documenting their cycles all fall to prepare me for when to suspect the onset of estrus.
OBSERVATIONS:
1. The estrus cycles have tended to be long. Many have gone the full 24 days.
2. Activity has been suppressed. Almost reminiscent of a hot May-June breeding season.
3. All are chalked. I have had 4 of the 13 serviced to date come into estrus and show no sign of having been mounted enough to significantly erase their chalk. I observe my cows 6 to 7 times a day. In fact, I go out before bedtime and at 6 am in the morning.
4. If I observe a cow jumping beginning in the morning and jumping through the day but not standing, I have been breeding her late that night and again the next morning.
5. I observed that if more than one cow is close to their estrus, there is mounting activity. But if a lone cow comes in, she will mount others but the other cows may ignore her. Those are the ones that make difficult breeding decisions.
I have been documenting their cycles all fall to prepare me for when to suspect the onset of estrus.
OBSERVATIONS:
1. The estrus cycles have tended to be long. Many have gone the full 24 days.
2. Activity has been suppressed. Almost reminiscent of a hot May-June breeding season.
3. All are chalked. I have had 4 of the 13 serviced to date come into estrus and show no sign of having been mounted enough to significantly erase their chalk. I observe my cows 6 to 7 times a day. In fact, I go out before bedtime and at 6 am in the morning.
4. If I observe a cow jumping beginning in the morning and jumping through the day but not standing, I have been breeding her late that night and again the next morning.
5. I observed that if more than one cow is close to their estrus, there is mounting activity. But if a lone cow comes in, she will mount others but the other cows may ignore her. Those are the ones that make difficult breeding decisions.