Recipient Cows

[CKC1586]

If you have embryo's then they should be better quality then what your current cows can produce. So instead of buying cows that may or may not be good in a reciept herd or using a calf raiser program, then using your current herd to put high quaility embryos in them makes a lot of financial sense. We have put embryos in what I thought was best cow, because the embryo calf would be better than what she could produce.

Matt

Okay, I probably havent' been clear enough. I am trying to build a small herd. I have been fortunate to have good cows. They do/will produce good offspring. I sold my best cow last year and have five of her embryos that I want to implant. What I was asking is for opinions on what folks were using for recipient cows. Thanks.

 

[Bullseye]

Regarding the size of the breed you are intending to ET, if you are near a dairy you could buy say Frisian X heifer calves, raise them, and that would be an inexpensive way around an expensive part of an artificial breeding program. Buy more than you need. When you are involved in your ET program and those recipients are synchronised about 75% of them will be suitable at the time of implanting embryos.

Of course you'll need to have enough feed in your paddocks to raise these dairy crosses (or what ever breed) otherwise if you have to supplement them all or part of that time (beyond calf age) it might not be economical.

Having recipients that are placid and well settled into your property will be of great benefit to the success of your ET program, because a stressed recipient is not a good recipient. Recipients (and donors) should be comfortable going into the yards, race and especially the crush (restraint equipment). So, if your recipients have spent considerable time at your property and you've accustomed them to the equipment that's of great benefit.

 

[slazyk]

We set aside some cows last year for recips. Never again.

Totally messed up our herd, and wanna see what one of the recip's offspring looks like?

This just shows that there are too many "breeders" out there who think a certain cow and a certain bull are the best. Without looking at familial genetics closely, some of these breeders just _________, because some of these people are "newbys" and think they know it all, but really don't.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

We set aside some cows last year for recips. Never again.

Totally messed up our herd, and wanna see what one of the recip's offspring looks like?

This just shows that there are too many "breeders" out there who think a certain cow and a certain bull are the best. Without looking at familial genetics closely, some of these breeders just _________, because some of these people are "newbys" and think they know it all, but really don't.

slazyk - Could you elaborate a little more on why you are opposed to Recipients? And is it the camera angle, or does that calf not have a tail?

DOC HARRIS

 

[Bullseye]

We set aside some cows last year for recips. Never again.

So what did you do, buy embryos and have someone implant them into your cows?

 

[slazyk]

DOC,

The calf has no tail. :roll:

Bullseye,

Someone came to put embryos in, the owners of the embryos basically "leased" some of our cows to put embryos in. We do not own the calves.

Looking at the ET calves compared to our own calves....man, no comparison! Ours are much thicker and growthier. I can't imagine spending the money these people did to put their embryos into our cows. The only reason we did it was it seemed like a good idea and paid well. There were repercussions we just did not foresee. I won't harp on anyone who thinks ET is great, we just won't do it again.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

DOC,

The calf has no tail. :roll:

Bullseye,

Someone came to put embryos in, the owners of the embryos basically "leased" some of our cows to put embryos in. We do not own the calves.

Looking at the ET calves compared to our own calves....man, no comparison! Ours are much thicker and growthier. I can't imagine spending the money these people did to put their embryos into our cows. The only reason we did it was it seemed like a good idea and paid well. There were repercussions we just did not foresee. I won't harp on anyone who thinks ET is great, we just won't do it again.

slazyk- :? :???: Perhaps I don't quite understand your reluctance to use ET. Is it because you are convinced that the process of inserting the embryo's was the reason that the calf has no tail - and/or the calves resulting did not look or perform up to your expectations because they were transfers? The inherited genetics derived from the bull and the cow to whom he was mated has EVERYTHING to do with the resulting calf. The recepient cow into whom the embryo was implanted has NO genetic effect on the calf! NONE! Insofar as the 'tail' problem is concerned, that COULD have been the result of a careless impregnation - or perhaps a genetic mal-formation. But it was NOT the fault of the recipient females.

Maybe I don't understand your reasoning. Help me out here, please.

DOC HARRIS

 

[milkmaid]

If you have embryo's then they should be better quality then what your current cows can produce. So instead of buying cows that may or may not be good in a reciept herd or using a calf raiser program, then using your current herd to put high quaility embryos in them makes a lot of financial sense. We have put embryos in what I thought was best cow, because the embryo calf would be better than what she could produce.

Matt

Okay, I probably havent' been clear enough. I am trying to build a small herd. I have been fortunate to have good cows. They do/will produce good offspring. I sold my best cow last year and have five of her embryos that I want to implant. What I was asking is for opinions on what folks were using for recipient cows. Thanks.

The main thing that really comes to mind for those that have mentioned using Holsteins or HolX cows -- is that they have lower fertility rates than a lot of your beef breeds. If you're going to spend the money to flush the donor, set up the recip, implant the embryos, etc, then you want a recipient cow that will actually settle so you're not wasting your money. Somehow I think fertility would be one of the top priorities on my list, followed by things like disposition, calving ease, milk production, etc.

 

[Brandonm2]

Holsteins aren't very fertile when milked. A Stein living the life of a pampered recip probably is almost as fertile as any large framed heavy milking beef cow.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Holsteins were the number one used recips when ET started. Now they are used less often, because they don't do well as a "grazing cow". First, they have way too much milk for the newborn, then they don't hold their weight on grass.
Now after saying that, there are a lot of dairies now that are aclimating their cows to become grazers, and they would possibly work. But, beef cows are best IMO.