Know your heifer program

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Well we pulled cidrs had 21 of 32 ready to Breed between 53 and 54 hours after pulling the cidr. 4 more at 66 hours then another 2 at 76 so 5 have not shown any sign of heat as of this afternoon. We pulled cidrs and gave shots to Another 38 yesterday then put cidrs in another 19. We have a group to pull cidrs on tomorrow I am beginning to feel like I'm running in circles for sure. We should be breeding the 38 on Monday the group we put cidrs in yesterday morning will be used as recipes and I planted on the 9th of January. The schedule was tweaked a bit since I posted the protocol at that point we were using the 7 day sync but now are using the 14 day sync. are calendar is packed and we're praying we dont mess up 😝
 
the team fro UF was at the farm yesterday to ultrasound the heifers. We AI'd 31 of the 32 heifers one did not show a heat. We had a 53% conception rate to the AI. We had two AI techs our herdsman Mike and I split up the breeding his conception rate on his group was 51% while my success was 50% I confess I was tickled with 50% I am not a great tech but I am showing improvement.
We have never found a sync program for heifers that we are in love with. This program worked the best of any time program we have used with heifers. We have found so far our highest conception rates are achieved breeding on observed natural heats.
It is more time consuming but the cost is in time, but you also factor in no drug cost and only once through the chute.
 
Well done gizmon, I'd be happy with that, I too am not the greatest but I seem to get most of them done, I don't know about showing improvement though. One thing I did last year that helped me a bit was to use a platform about 4" high to stand on behind the mature cows, just let me get above them a bit and better rotate my wrist and grasp the bigger cervix better in the mature cows. My poor old arms are getting weaker.
You might want to check your mathematics again, you might have done better, overall conception 53%, Mike 51%, you 50%, I would not think combined together your rate would come up to 53%?????

Ken
 
I have been 85% to as low as 20% on heifers. Have always used the MGA-Lutelyze protocol. The 2021 calf crop (AI'ed 2020) was the 20% year and that was the year I was jammed for time and time bred them all with GnRH and kicked them out with the bull a couple days later. I think we had some problems with some ineffective drugs or how they were administered, plus not having the time to devote to it. I had calves born starting at 278 days post-AI and the 280-day calves sure looked like the clean up bull. DNA said they were. This tells me that they may have been loosely synced, but the GnRH shot with the time breeding did not work and some still conceived over the next week.

In 2021, I bred only on solid observed heats, did not AI the non-responders and turned them all out with the bull after 5 days. My hope there is that non-responders will have bred up early and calve within a week or two of the AI breds and for sure by the second heat cycle. And I won't have to parentage test between AI sire and natural sire.
 
wbvs58 said:
Well done gizmon, I'd be happy with that, I too am not the greatest but I seem to get most of them done, I don't know about showing improvement though. One thing I did last year that helped me a bit was to use a platform about 4" high to stand on behind the mature cows, just let me get above them a bit and better rotate my wrist and grasp the bigger cervix better in the mature cows. My poor old arms are getting weaker.
You might want to check your mathematics again, you might have done better, overall conception 53%, Mike 51%, you 50%, I would not think combined together your rate would come up to 53%?????

Ken
Click to expand...
54% is the total % for each of us I bred 12 got 6 bred so I did 50% of the # I bred Mike got 51% on the group he bred. Overall we AI'd 31 and 17 were ultrasounded safe. My math said 54% but UF is calling it 53% I figure for the study 53% would be correct one heifer didn't cycle so was not AI serviced if you add her the number is 53%
 
wbvs58 said:
6 from 12 I'm OK with 50% but that means Mike AI'd 19 and he got the remaining 11 safe (17-6) so 11/19x100 =57.895% so well done Mike. And overall average 54%.

Ken
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I trust your math better than mine and Mike is a far better tech than me, I didn't do any AI for years because Mike is so good I hated to lose the % safe. Then Mike got laid up one year during breeding season and I figured I better start doing some, so now I breed some every year but my conception rate is not near as good as what Mike can do. Mike is an awesome cattleman we're blessed to have him on our operation for sure.
 
I think you do very well Gizmon, I admire your efforts to stay in tune, very handy to have yourself as the fall back if something crops up with Mike.

Ken
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Good job Gizmom
@GoWyo if you turn a bull out 5 days after AI breeding, I don't see how you won't have to DNA test for sire on many if not most of your calves? Cattle can easily calve 2 weeks early or late.
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Agreed. Calves I register get DNA parentage tested. The steers and cull heifers I do not spend the $18 for parentage.
 
GoWyo said:
I assume sire 0256 is Charlo? He was 0/6. Is your semen bad?
Click to expand...
Don't think so just bad luck, been using that batch for several years so thinking it Wasn't the semen, haven't had any issues with the tank and we are careful with handling. Now if the cows bred to Charlo all show up open when we check them then I will be testing a straw.
 
My program is simple 1. Any heifer retained must have been born in the 1st 30 days of the calving cycle. (absolutely no exception)
2. Once a cow is in the herd never keep a calf from her again if she calves in 2nd 30 days of calving cycle, but keep cow.
(If she repeats, sell!)
3. Any cow that calves past 60 days in calving cycle is sold. Calf to market as yearling.

Adequate Bull power is a prerequisite to the success of the program. (I like a bull from an old cow)
The best so far is 8 calves in a row from a cow born in the 1st 30 days . Others will if I last long enough!
Cows are in condition 5 when calving. First calf heifers are more prone to wash out. None last 5 years...
 
Lee VanRoss said:
My program is simple 1. Any heifer retained must have been born in the 1st 30 days of the calving cycle. (absolutely no exception)
2. Once a cow is in the herd never keep a calf from her again if she calves in 2nd 30 days of calving cycle, but keep cow.
(If she repeats, sell!)
3. Any cow that calves past 60 days in calving cycle is sold. Calf to market as yearling.

Adequate Bull power is a prerequisite to the success of the program. (I like a bull from an old cow)
The best so far is 8 calves in a row from a cow born in the 1st 30 days . Others will if I last long enough!
Cows are in condition 5 when calving. First calf heifers are more prone to wash out. None last 5 years...
Click to expand...
That makes for a very productive herd, I can see where it also keeps your herd young.
 
gizmom> True, especially in the early part of the program. As the percentage of calves coming in the first 30 days increases the cows
remaining in production will increase as well. As you may guess the number of cow families will decrease diametrically as the
slow breeders weed themselves. Another surprise to me is having one or more of your very best producers having 5 or 6
bull calves in a row! Makes for a great cow but hard to incorporate the bloodline into the herd. Actually I think the program
would work better in a multi sire herd as it might make it easier to maintain a higher percentage of cow families and thus
avoid any genetic abnormalities. Thus far there has been no problem as I have a 3 breed base and trade bulls probably
sooner than necessary. LVR
 

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