How old is too old?

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Whoa....she's not fat she's puffy...lol...We had a cow who didnt calve a couple years and ended up that fat. She weighed around 2000 and we got 900 pounds of meat out of her. We are still eating on her and that was 2010..lol I call her steaks, Fred Flintstone steaks..
 
Nesikep":15bm361o said:
WOW, that is FAT! I think that takes the cake for fattest cow I've ever seen... should have sent her for a vacation in texas for a while to shape her back up! (I know, round is a shape)
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I have really good pasture, but this is my genetics too! I have a new type of black Hippo I believe! :lol:
Yes, some of my cows really should live in Texas! That's what they are bred for, they get too fat here!
 
I think she passed "Hippo" stage... she's become more walrus or something like that! I have good pasture too but none that look like that. I do have "big bellies", just not that much fat. Take the 3 generations starting with my Tizia, who was a round barrel, then Mega, and Sofa is looking like more of the same. They're not actually fat, they just have a lot of storage space, and as far as I can tell they sure can turn grass into milk and meat, Sofa's brother is somewhere around 350 now (I might weigh tape him tomorrow) and not yet 2 months old... He's looking like he's going to be really tender eats!
 
Did the embryologist look at the semen before using it? If you sent her to a clinic, that is what they should do! Then you know the semen is good before you put it in. We had a flush with 12 UFO (unfertilized objects, or eggs... Common term out here). Vet blamed it on the fact that the donor came up with accessed feet right in the middle of the flush cycle, so she was in pain. I'm not so sure the semen was not bad. Next time that gal gets flushed she will go to the clinic (this flush was done in house, so we bred her and could not look at the semen). If she gave you unfertilized eggs, she is doing her part in the flush, unless there was a problem with the eggs.
Regardless, good luck. If you do not try to flush again, you will likely regret it when you lose her. We flushed a cow in October, and she calved in June that year. Our vet wanted to wait till it cooled down, because he said we get better results. California is a lot hotter than Missouri!!!
 
Fire sweep, thanks for the reply.
Yes, she was sent down to a reputable Embryologist for the whole process at his clinic.
He said, "it was a bull issue." When questioned further, he said, "the semen was probably fine for a single AI, but not good for hyper ovulation fertilization."
I also questioned whether he looked at it with a microscope. He did not, and said that he does not do that routinely.
He flushed her twice. The first time she produced too many eggs, therefore of lower quality. He basically gave her too much Lute? He decreased the amount and flushed her again, and that's when he said it was the bull. :bang:
This guy was very reputable and suppose to be good, but it does not sound right to me. Plus he had poor communication skills. I was always trying to drag information out of him about what was going on. I was not happy with the whole experience.
 
Thumbs up.

************

I'm not sure of the logic for how semen could work fine for a regular ol' AI, but not for super ovulation. Either it swims forward and has normal structure and speed ... or it doesn't. If it does, it should work in either scenario ... and if it doesn't, it won't work in any scenario. Or, at least that's what I remember from HS biology (and subsequent life experiences).

Anyone else have a different story?
 
WalnutCrest, the whole thing didn't sound right to me either. I contacted the semen sales and asked them about it. They in turn called the vet and asked for the specifics on the semen. He got real snotty with them and me both. Said that "there was no use persueing it, nothing ever becomes of reporting poor semen quality. That it was a waste of his time" :shock: It sure felt fishy to me.
Sad thing was, he was my very favorite bull. I had raised two phenomenal calves from this cross already. Now I am afraid to use anymore of his semen, yet not sure if the vet was totally on the up and up. :???:
So I guess this time, new vet and new bull.
 
Get some semen to a good lab and let them tell you if it is any good.

Note that quality can vary quite a bit from collection to collection ... and also if handled improperly at any time before being used. Good luck!
 
On the topic of semen working for A.I. but not for Super Ovulation, it is possible... Typically they will use different size straws for super ovulation vs. A.I.. I may be wrong, but I believe they like to use 5 mL straws for flushing and 2 mL straws for A.I. They also should use more than 1 unit... If he only put in 1 unit then I think it's kind of on him because I've seen protocols where they will use 2 or 3 units, depending on how long the cow continues to show signs of heat.
 
Things do come of reporting low semen quality... at least they did for me, the company is replacing the ones that didn't result in pregnancy with the reassurance that only the first two collections of the bull were poor. Of course, this is because several people have reported back about conception failure on those batches.
As I'm seeing differences in conception rate between companies (some pack more semen per straw than others) when doing AI I would imagine those differences would be magnified further using it for MOET, and using the better straws or two straws would be in order.

That's a cute li'l heifer.
 
shortybreeder":2czcd2bp said:
On the topic of semen working for A.I. but not for Super Ovulation, it is possible... Typically they will use different size straws for super ovulation vs. A.I.. I may be wrong, but I believe they like to use 5 mL straws for flushing and 2 mL straws for A.I. They also should use more than 1 unit... If he only put in 1 unit then I think it's kind of on him because I've seen protocols where they will use 2 or 3 units, depending on how long the cow continues to show signs of heat.
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Every time we have flushed we use normal straws, and the cow is bred three times over 36 hours. I have always understood the 5 ml straws are if you are using heifer sexed semen on a flush.
Branguscowgirl I agree something does not sound right. We got some bad semen, and the bull owner replaced it. We bought 15 straws, used 13 (3 on a flush), and got zero pregnancies. The flush ended with 4 unfertilized eggs. The bull owner replaced it with 10 new straws, and I had to pay shipping! I lost out on the expense of the flush, and the time lost on the cycles. With the new batch, we AI'd 4 head on the same day. Guess what? The only one that came is was the ONE cow we used that replacement semen on! Now I am really gun shy to use it. A fellow breeder told me they always use two straws when they breed with that sire, and at $50 a straw now, that can get expensive! So I understand your frustration. I think sometimes the semen just does not handle the freeze-thaw cycle very well, and for those of us that breed at home without a microscope, we are just guessing that it is good.
I would try a different embryologist. We have a guy that comes to our place, and I love the convenience, but when I have a problem cow I will take them to dr. Bob in OK, who is the best.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! :D The more that I can learn about other peoples experiences, the better!
Yes, he did use several straws of semen. Either 2 or 3 each time. I can't remember. He had her at his clinic and flushed her twice.
The embryologist that I have now is just right down the street here, so I can be involved ever step of the way. He prefers that I bring her and the calf there as opposed to doing it here.
She will be showing in July, so it is going to have to be after it starts to cool off, maybe in Oct..
But she is Brangus, so maybe the heat is not too big of a factor.......
 
Son of Butch":1s43wgo4 said:
How dumb an idea would it be to use 2 different bulls to increase chance of conception and dna test to see what's what?
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There's an AI company doing exactly that with their 'dairybeef' straws. They pack three different bulls with different capacitation rates in one straw and claim a likely increase in conception rate of a few percent.
I used a few straws and won't do it again, could just be chance but the conception rate to those straws was very poor.

So it's not a dumb idea at all... in theory.
 
Son of Butch":3nnjqj53 said:
How dumb an idea would it be to use 2 different bulls to increase chance of conception and dna test to see what's what?
Click to expand...
People who flush to clubby bulls do this all the time.
 

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