Sexed Female Semen

[Dixie2542]

Has anyone had an experience (positive or negative) with sexed female semen? Wanting to do some replacements that isnt kin to my bull but not sure of results and what to look out for. Thoughts? Suggestions? Any bulls to stay away from? This would be for sexed angus semen.

 

[farmerjan]

In the dairy industry, most farmers do not get as good a result from using sexed semen, but alot use it. If normal conception is say 60% then sexed semen is often 40 to maybe 50%. Other than that, you will get a 10% chance of a bull using sexed female semen... if you are like me then you will be Murphy's Law and get 75% bulls from sexed female semen....
Being more sure of the stage of heat is important, so as to inseminate at the very best timing for conception. It costs more than straight run semen too...
Not trying to be negative, just some things that I have thought of and observed...

 

[wbvs58]

I've never used it but in a small herd of 35 cows like mine I have never seen the need to flush a cow but if I have a good cow I want to get a heifer from then I think sexed female semen would be the way to go. I have about 5 different cow families that I like to keep going and I generally have no trouble getting the replacement heifers I want just using normal semen.

Ken

 

[Buck Randall]

I've never used it but in a small herd of 35 cows like mine I have never seen the need to flush a cow but if I have a good cow I want to get a heifer from then I think sexed female semen would be the way to go. I have about 5 different cow families that I like to keep going and I generally have no trouble getting the replacement heifers I want just using normal semen.

Ken

Speaking from experience, sexed semen doesn't perform well on traditional flushes. You can do IVF with it successfully, though.

 

[Buck Randall]

Has anyone had an experience (positive or negative) with sexed female semen? Wanting to do some replacements that isnt kin to my bull but not sure of results and what to look out for. Thoughts? Suggestions? Any bulls to stay away from? This would be for sexed angus semen.

I agree with everything Jan said. Sexed semen does work a little better on heifers. Some dairies are now breeding all of their heifers with sexed semen to make replacements, and only using beef semen on the cow herd. I think a similar model could probably be done in beef herds, with most of the replacements coming out of your heifers and using terminal bulls on the cows.

One subtle advantage to breeding all of your heifers to sexed semen is that heifer calves tend to be better for calving ease.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Competitive cow herd owners like the idea of reducing the amount of time between breed able calves.

Many bulls are not in big demand, and some bulls sort much better than others, so your bull selection is narrower.

Bull studs used to resist sorting beef bulls because they had too much sorted dairy business. Not sure where sorting capacity is now.

 

[Double R Ranch]

I have used angus sexed semen a fair amount. It pays off for us when we choose to use it. Especially for replacements. Breeding timing is definitely key to good conception rates with sexed. Always seem to have some of both sexes in the tank. Not as available as stated above for a lot of beef bulls but there are some good bulls available at times.

 

[Luckiamute]

I have had very good success over the years with female sexed semen. Strongly recommend it. I've had my best conception rates when breeding off naturally observed standing heats instead of using some sort of timed synchronized protocol. My conception rates have rivaled those of when using conventional semen. Suggest closely following the recommendations that ST Genetics has made available in its semen catalog or likely available via their website. I believe they recommend insemination 16 to 20 hours after observing standing heat rather than the standard 12-hour protocol with regular semen. Also, look for bulls that have high fertility rates.

 

[wbvs58]

Speaking from experience, sexed semen doesn't perform well on traditional flushes. You can do IVF with it successfully, though.

Buck, my idea would be to just use sexed semen with normal AI, not flushes to produce my replacement heifer though so far I haven't needed to.

Ken

 

[bigbluegrass]

I bought 10 straws of female sexed. Resulted in 4 heifers. Not my best results, but I was able to increase my chances at replacement heifers. Used 1 straw on a first time heifer and took the first time. Used the other 9 straws on older cows to get three heifers. I would do it again if I wanted a better chance of replacement heifers from a particular mating or cow family.