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<blockquote data-quote="regolith" data-source="post: 727821" data-attributes="member: 9267"><p>Without going right back to the records, I couldn't tell you exactly how the numbers played out. There's always about another 5% loss with late returns - cows not cycling within 24 days of mating may well have been mated again by 50 or 60 days. It was a drought year - I know I sent at least three low producers for slaughter who were in-calf to AI. Again, I don't remember but I wouldn't have mated all 155 cows to dairy AI - probably the bottom 10% went to beef AI and a few late calvers didn't cycle in time.</p><p>I know the bull/heifer ratio overall was 50/50 - some years there are big discrepancies or you get a run of one then a run of the other, not that year.</p><p>At a guess it would have been something like - 1st three weeks 140 cows to dairy AI, second three weeks 40-odd returns to dairy AI, then turn the bull out.</p><p>Most years cow numbers would drop by 10% that fail to breed, replaced by heifers. That was the year I ran a subfertile bull and restarted AI - the bull plus me got 100% conception in weeks 10- 13 and I leased out almost all the in-calf heifers to another farmer to milk. So of that 155 cows about 140 were still there, and calved the following season. If I knew where that calving record was I could tell you how many calved in the first six weeks</p><p></p><p>4:1 is a very simple ratio to use because, for example, the contract I'm on now says I can rear 65 heifers - no more, and I must bring that number into the herd to maintain numbers so no less. Knowing what to expects lets me calculate how much semen to order, what proportion of the herd i can get away with *not* trying to breed heifers from (to concentrate only on the best cows) and during AI I can keep a running total and stop using the more expensive dairy semen once I've done the required number of matings and a few extra for surety.</p><p></p><p>LLL (long last liquid) is a secret recipe devised by the main breeding company out here (LIC) to support the most common method of obtaining dairy replacements.</p><p>(I think it's crazy because I learned farming in the UK and letting someone else make your mating decisions has never made sense to me).</p><p>LIC has a team of bulls which they rate as the best in the country, and from the start of mating (early October) these bulls are collected and the semen immediately packed into straws with the liquid extender and put in boxes for the AI technicians to take round the farms with them. They can be used for three days, don't even need to be refrigerated - and anything left over is discarded. The company rotates bulls so that a different bull is used each day, but the technician can choose from a previous day's bull to avoid an in-bred mating (and they carry frozen straws for back-up as well). I've seen the boxes they pack them in - they have nine drawers, three days each of Holstein-Friesian, Jersey and Crossbred.</p><p>The farmer only drafts his on-heat cows and specifies what breed he wants them mated to.</p><p>I think LLL straws have only a third of the semen in them that a frozen straw does. Don't think there's any difference in conception rate between the two - I was told at AI course to only thaw as much semen as I could use within twenty minutes. Five hours sounds exceptional.</p><p></p><p>Probably doesn't make much more sense but I think LIC have an explanation as well if I can find the link.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="regolith, post: 727821, member: 9267"] Without going right back to the records, I couldn't tell you exactly how the numbers played out. There's always about another 5% loss with late returns - cows not cycling within 24 days of mating may well have been mated again by 50 or 60 days. It was a drought year - I know I sent at least three low producers for slaughter who were in-calf to AI. Again, I don't remember but I wouldn't have mated all 155 cows to dairy AI - probably the bottom 10% went to beef AI and a few late calvers didn't cycle in time. I know the bull/heifer ratio overall was 50/50 - some years there are big discrepancies or you get a run of one then a run of the other, not that year. At a guess it would have been something like - 1st three weeks 140 cows to dairy AI, second three weeks 40-odd returns to dairy AI, then turn the bull out. Most years cow numbers would drop by 10% that fail to breed, replaced by heifers. That was the year I ran a subfertile bull and restarted AI - the bull plus me got 100% conception in weeks 10- 13 and I leased out almost all the in-calf heifers to another farmer to milk. So of that 155 cows about 140 were still there, and calved the following season. If I knew where that calving record was I could tell you how many calved in the first six weeks 4:1 is a very simple ratio to use because, for example, the contract I'm on now says I can rear 65 heifers - no more, and I must bring that number into the herd to maintain numbers so no less. Knowing what to expects lets me calculate how much semen to order, what proportion of the herd i can get away with *not* trying to breed heifers from (to concentrate only on the best cows) and during AI I can keep a running total and stop using the more expensive dairy semen once I've done the required number of matings and a few extra for surety. LLL (long last liquid) is a secret recipe devised by the main breeding company out here (LIC) to support the most common method of obtaining dairy replacements. (I think it's crazy because I learned farming in the UK and letting someone else make your mating decisions has never made sense to me). LIC has a team of bulls which they rate as the best in the country, and from the start of mating (early October) these bulls are collected and the semen immediately packed into straws with the liquid extender and put in boxes for the AI technicians to take round the farms with them. They can be used for three days, don't even need to be refrigerated - and anything left over is discarded. The company rotates bulls so that a different bull is used each day, but the technician can choose from a previous day's bull to avoid an in-bred mating (and they carry frozen straws for back-up as well). I've seen the boxes they pack them in - they have nine drawers, three days each of Holstein-Friesian, Jersey and Crossbred. The farmer only drafts his on-heat cows and specifies what breed he wants them mated to. I think LLL straws have only a third of the semen in them that a frozen straw does. Don't think there's any difference in conception rate between the two - I was told at AI course to only thaw as much semen as I could use within twenty minutes. Five hours sounds exceptional. Probably doesn't make much more sense but I think LIC have an explanation as well if I can find the link. [/QUOTE]
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