First Time w/ AI....

[bevkel]

I have five cows and am going to AI the girls. They received their bring-it-on shots Monday morning.

Two of the girls were in standing heat earlier this afternoon and will be AI'd tomorrow at 8 am. Two other girls have elicited some interest from the other cows, so I expect they will come into heat pretty quickly. They have the tail tag to indicate riding activity.

I noticed that there is a pecking order regarding which cow mounts the cow in standing heat. Boss cow can ride whenever she wishes. Others butt each other for the privilege.

Tonight I'll pen them up for tomorrow's activities. One cow, in whom there has been shown some interest, rubbed the tail tag indicator on the cattle rub, so it's useless.

I will check the girls in about 3 hours and pen them up for the night.

My questions: 1) When Boss cow comes into heat, will the other cows still try to ride her? Or does her being Boss affect the behavior. 2) Even if I don't see riding activity, do I assume that the cow with the useless tail tag, but yet interests other cows, has gone through standing heat overnight and AI her tomorrow?

Overall this sucks, however it is a whole lot easier and less stressful than having a bull on the premises for two months.

Thanks for your input.

 

[dun]

If one cow is riding everyone else even if they aren;t in heat, she's either coming in or is in. We breed 12 hours after the behaviour is seen as long as it has stopped by the 12 hour time frame. Don;t know if I explained that so it makes sense

dun

 

[bevkel]

Thanks for your info Dun. I got the girls penned up for the evening - no new activity, so I'll wait to see what tomorrow brings. The AI tech told me they have an 80% conception rate, my vet said not to expect more than 3 to get bred. Didn't I read somewhere that you get 70-80%?

 

[Brandonm2]

AI conception rate varies wildly based on the skill of the technician. With 5 heifers he should be able to get 3 settled. MAYBE you get lucky with that small a number and he gets all five.