novaman":g0nc5yo4 said:Are you asking what percentage of a given sex you can expect? If so it is +-90%.
Sounds like all the rest of my profit making ideas.cow pollinater":3gle4q1w said:It's a roll of the dice and sometimes you get the same number over and over even though the odds are against it.
upfrombottom":3p49exym said:Sounds like all the rest of my profit making ideas.cow pollinater":3p49exym said:It's a roll of the dice and sometimes you get the same number over and over even though the odds are against it.
Is sexed semen only available on a few choice bulls or can it be ordered from any bull?
cow pollinater":5unobqjo said:Very few,
Sort machine time is prescious so the studs have to balance genetic improvement, mate-ability within the respective breed, sortability of the semen, and fertility of the final product before they make a decision on which bulls are available to sort. It makes for a short list.
Odds are the sexed semen comes from genetics on the lower end. Semen from top end bulls is expensive. Sort out and throw away half of that expensive semen and you have a very expensive final product. Most studs seem choose not to sex top sires.upfrombottom":j85yyraz said:So there is a chance that some sexed semen will come from bulls that are not at the top of heap in genetics simply because of its sortability?
Not exactly... but in a way, yes... If average amongst the breed is zero, then all of the sires offered by the stud offer improvement in most traits beyond what a breed average bull would produce with the addition of the calves being of the desired sex. However, if you compare the bulls to the rest of the lineup (which is suposed to represent some of the best genetics of the breed) then those above average bulls tend to look sub-par when in comparison to the rest of the line-up. They are not sub-par when compared to breed average. Since we have alot of customers who demand heifer calves at a low cost, average bulls meet the sorters needs while our best bulls meet the constand demand for the best genetics. We try to offer sorted genetics that fit all levels of the market but most of the market is for desired sex rather than genetics.upfrombottom":1s62wgk4 said:So there is a chance that some sexed semen will come from bulls that are not at the top of heap in genetics simply because of its sortability?
Are you planning to use it on cows or just heifers (besides your flush cows)? If so, have you already used it on cows? What kind of conception are you getting first service and how does that compare to your normal rate?Double R Ranch":2juwo8h0 said:In the black angus breed I know that it is becoming more available almost daily. Its not as expensive atleast for us as it would seem. Ive decided to use it on my commercial cattle this coming breeding season.
I am also thinking of using it on my flush cows. Will definitly mean lower embryo numbers but if it comes out it would be worth it for us. Still working the numbers on the embryo bit. Doing it all here it will be easier for me to run the numbers (for our ranch anyways).
I know that the sexing machines that were working overtime for the dairy industry are now being used with the beef breeds (at least in angus) in the dairy crunch. I haven't talked to many dairymen recently who are using sexed semen where a year (or so) ago it was big. So in turn the beef breeds are getting more of a priority now. Everytime I look at the sires more are offering sexed semen now.
I know that the furtility rate of the sexed semen is lower but I feel that if you do things right you should still get pregnancies. Maybe not quite as many first time bred preg. but still preg.
Will be interested to see more numbers on it in the time to come.
Double R
I wish you the best. There is a reason sexed semen is falling out of favor in the dairy industry.Double R Ranch":8uqnjp09 said:In the black angus breed I know that it is becoming more available almost daily. Its not as expensive atleast for us as it would seem. Ive decided to use it on my commercial cattle this coming breeding season.
I am also thinking of using it on my flush cows. Will definitly mean lower embryo numbers but if it comes out it would be worth it for us. Still working the numbers on the embryo bit. Doing it all here it will be easier for me to run the numbers (for our ranch anyways).
I know that the sexing machines that were working overtime for the dairy industry are now being used with the beef breeds (at least in angus) in the dairy crunch. I haven't talked to many dairymen recently who are using sexed semen where a year (or so) ago it was big. So in turn the beef breeds are getting more of a priority now. Everytime I look at the sires more are offering sexed semen now.
I know that the furtility rate of the sexed semen is lower but I feel that if you do things right you should still get pregnancies. Maybe not quite as many first time bred preg. but still preg.
Will be interested to see more numbers on it in the time to come.
Double R
Probably cost based on conception rate. Typically dairys don;t have that high of a first service settle ratehereford":lb3i316y said:So why is sexed semen falling out of favor with the dairy industry?
I don't know what kind of semen you use but $28 won't get you sexed semen, unless we are talking very low end bulls. I breed with only the best sires available. If I were to use comparable sires in a sexed version I would be spending $50-$80 a straw. I don't care how wide of a margin that exists between bulls and heifers, you can't pencil that out. I would rather have fewer heifers of better genetics than more heifers with lesser genetic gain.hereford":22qfxg42 said:Yeah, but with a average conception rate of sexed semen on dairy heifers only being 10% - 15% off of conventional and dairy heifer calves being worth hundreds more than dairy bull calves, it should be a no brainer. The average price of Holstein sexed semen is just $28.00. The cost of the straw of sexed semen is very low compared to the value of the calf it creates.