Sexed Beef semen

[cowgirl_jenna]

Got a thought to try this year. I am thinking about AI'ing a few of my best cows with sexed semen, female. Thinking of doing this to get replacement heifers out of them- it seems the cows I would like a heifer, always have bulls lol. Maybe the only problem is there isn't a lot of sexed beef semen yet? I know the dairy side is becoming pretty norm. I also know they recommend using sexed semen on virgin heifers, but just a thought anyway.
Jenna

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Sounds like a plan to me.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

The reason there is not a lot of beef sexed semen is two fold, from what I understand. First, there needs to be a demand for that sire. Just about all dairy want heifers, from what I understand, that is why there is more of it. Not the case with beef sires.
Second, not every sire can freeze sexed semen. I took my class to Genex in Strafford, and they explained that some sires do not have a high enough quality to freeze with sexed.
I have used sexed a few times, and have yet to get a pregnancy. You can do it, but conception goes way down. I tried on some cows.

 

[Alan]

Same here, I have heard from multiple places that conception rate goes in the toilet, plus added expense. Although if things get better I would love to give it a try.

 

[Till-Hill]

I'm a herdsman on a dairy and run stock cows.
Rule one sexed semen use on VIRGIN HEIFERS
WITH NATURAL HEATS. In that situation you
will not notice much conception loss. If you have
it stuck in your head to use sexed on cows
I'd advise to use Genex's 75% sorted one. Little
less stress on the semen. Two year ago 2/3 spring heifers
stuck. 2/2 cows in fall 1/1 heifer. Last year
2/2 cows 2/5 heifers. All heifers were boughten.
Use with caution on perfect heats and perfect
condition cattle and you will have some success.

Our dairy herd average 75% heifer crop from heifers
and still maintain under 25 month age at first calving.

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

Thanks,Interesting thoughts everyone, this would be only a small experiment with a couple cows and I would breed on natural heats. Prob. try it on there first cycle only. Also had the idea to breed them twice, once a little earlier, then later in the cycle perhaps 12 hours a part. I've had some luck on tough breeders doing it this way with regular semen. I know this isn't price conscientious with the higher $ semen, but if I could get a heifer out of these select cows, it would be gold. We'll see what happens...
Jenna

 

[cow pollinater]

I use it on milking jersey cows and get okay results. I would never recommend that anyone sync up a bunch of cows and breed them all and expect good results but you can get cows pregnant with it. If you pick out a handfull and cherry pick at them you can get an extra heifer or two out of it... The downside is that your best cows will stay open longer on average because of the poor fertility and there is alot more early embryonic death so you may have your best cows show up open or bull bred later in the season.

I tried the second insemenation for awhile when we first started using it and didn't really see enough improvement to justify the cost. In fact, there wasn't a whole lot of improvement at all.

 

[Luckiamute]

We have had pretty good success using sexed semen from Genex. We have a small herd of five Registered Black Angus cows plus one baldie commercial cow, so we're only breeding six head per year right now. We have had a high conception rate; only one heifer in 2011 missed multiple times while everyone else conceived on the first try. We used sexed semen (I think it was the Genex GenChoice 90 from S A V 004 Density 4336, Conneally Right Answer 746 and S A V Bismark 5682) on five of the six cows that year. We bred four of the six using sexed semen in 2012 and only one miss and that cow conceived on the second try. Those cows start calving next week. One of the keys is natural heat, not syncronized or induced. Cows also need to be in good body condition -- not too fat or not too thin. If you're willing to risk a cow missing, I think it's a great way to go to get the calf -- male or female -- you want out of a particular cow.

 

[Craig]

Ask your rep about the availability. We (Genex) have sexed options that are not shown in the catalog descriptions.

 

[brihop]

There is plenty of gender selected beef semen out there, Genex, Select Sires, etc. I think Genex is the most economical though.