Who Does Your AI'ing?

[cowgirl_jenna]

Thought this would be a kind of neat spin-off of the "who uses AI" thread. (sorry if this has been discussed before :hide: ) Those of you that do use AI, Do you do it yourself, have a family member certified, AI tech from a semen co., or... ?
At our place, I have been doing it myself, and of course our daughter learned this past Fall. If we did not AI ourselves, it is unlikely we could make it work since most of our beef cattle are ai'd in the evenings or early mornings after or before our "day" jobs, and it would be tough to schedule a AI tech.

I think many people are getting certified to ai themselves. In the ai class this fall my daughter took, there were 16 people, and the instructor said they have 8 classes a year and they are always at least this many people in each.
Jenna

 

[dun]

I do it. AI isn;t as popular as you might think. When I took my calls in the 70s there were 13 in the class 2 of which didn;t graduate. Of the other 11 I and 2 others kept up with it. For the classes they hold here, 2 each year, the rep that puts them on says maybe 1 from each class will still be doing it in 3 years.

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

Of the other 11 I and 2 others kept up with it. For the classes they hold here, 2 each year, the rep that puts them on says maybe 1 from each class will still be doing it in 3 years.

Dunn, I know what you mean, I took this class as a good "refresher" with my daughter, and I really saw the individuals that really wanted to learn, if that makes any sense. They seemed to take in all info they could, and I know a few got frustrated and I bet wont be trying much if any ai. Frustration and impatience claims quite a few I think.
Jenna

 

[branguscowgirl]

I have access to some really great AI Techs. in my area. But I also have an Embryologist down the street that does not charge me any more than the AI Tech.. Usually I have something else for him to do or look at while he is here. So it works out well for me, with only a few cows to do. If I had a big herd, I would definitely get Certified and do my own.

 

[suzorse]

I have a great AI tec that I call as soon as I see a cow standing , he will come by either 9 AM or 5 PM
to AI what I have, I would love to take the class but with only 3 cows and a great AI tec I do not need to, I do AI my own pig tho no tecs for that
Suzanne

 

[Bigfoot]

Little ol me.

 

[shortybreeder]

We have our A.I. tech do it for us, he is very good at it! He is usually here by 8:30 a.m. if we call the night before, or if I have a cow standing in the morning then he will be here sometime around 2:00. He also lets us use his tank for storing semen purchased from sources other than the company he works for :secret: and he has inspired me to pursue a job as an A.I. tech, which is my plan for post-college work-- alongside raising some beef cows. Our A.I. tech does a really good job and is very dedicated to his work, I have even had a few instances where I have had heifers go into heat on one of his weekends off and he will take time out of his day to come and breed the heifer for me because he is the only one with the right semen in the tank (I spend hours looking through catalogs while I am at school and tend to order bulls that nobody else in our area uses, sometimes I pick a bull that our A.I. tech's boss says I'm crazy for using, but it usually works out better than anyone expected). I would like to become certified and start practicing with my own heifers/cows, but I don't have the money for a semen tank yet and if I am going to store it in the A.I. tech's tank then I may as well have him do the breeding... :roll:

 

[Alan]

I try to do as much as I can, I have a good friend help me every year. He AI's for most of the locals and 4-H, ect. So while I may be able to fumble through it I'm very glad to have him there.

I'll add, I do timed AI, and I do all the work except for, I will try to insert the straw and have him as back up if i get that "puzzled look" on my face. Glad to have him.

 

[inyati13]

I took the class in March 2013. It was put on by Select Sires and they did an excellent job giving us the basics and providing two full days of practice at the Maysville Stockyards where they had access to 45 cows for a class of ten. For me, I was not immediately drawn to the practice of entering, whole arm, a cow's rectum. I was not sure during practice that I would overcome the distaste for that practice. The cows were bleeding and many were handled rough by virtue of our inexperience. With my own cows, I control what is done to them and I handle them carefully. My cows are easy to work and I have personal knowledge of their nature and behavior. Artificial Insemenation is an art and a science, that combination is appealing to me.

The experience I had having someone else AI my cows is that it just does not make a good fit. I didn't like how they handled my cows, they were not there at the right time, they had poor success, etc. I have been successful in my first year and enjoy the timing, tracking their cycle and performing the AI.

 

[cow pollinater]

Of the other 11 I and 2 others kept up with it. For the classes they hold here, 2 each year, the rep that puts them on says maybe 1 from each class will still be doing it in 3 years.

Dunn, I know what you mean, I took this class as a good "refresher" with my daughter, and I really saw the individuals that really wanted to learn, if that makes any sense. They seemed to take in all info they could, and I know a few got frustrated and I bet wont be trying much if any ai. Frustration and impatience claims quite a few I think.
Jenna

I've taught around twenty people how to breed over the last twelve years and have probably had thirty that wanted to learn and showed up on day one and said it was not for them. Out of all of them, ONE guy does it for a living now. Of the twenty that did want to learn beyond day one only about five really had a knack for it. Most of them had already been through the class as that's usually the first step for anyone interested. The one that does it for a living now never took the class, neither have I.

 

[cow pollinater]

All of my repeat beef customers breed their own. I'll breed one for someone every once in a while as a favor but usually that's a backyard deal or an FFA project. The last big beef herd that bought semen from me asked for help so I went and wound up horseback all afternoon while the owner bred the cows.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I use to have the BEST AI tech.! (I won't post a name or location, because he is still working that area.) If you called and told him that a cow was standing, he would be there in 14hrs.. It did not matter what time of day or night that it landed on! I could just tie the cow to a post, he would walk out bare foot with a flash light, and breed her! His success rate was high. But the bare feet is what cracked me up! He always had cow crap between his toes!

 

[Dega Moo]

We TAI some pretty good numbers, upwards of 120 at a time, we try to do it "in the field" in field corrals using a breeding barn provided by ABS. We almost always have three people trading off at the breeding barn. One is prepping straws and guns, one is in the cow and the third takes a break. They switch places every 10 or so girls. We have a local AI tech who's nearing 80 and tires pretty quickly and I'm committed to keeping him working as long as he is healthy enough and wants. I have a lady who works for us and is pretty good and the ABS rep seems to enjoy these 'parties' and has joined in gratis every time the past three years. In the meantime there are two others trained and certified on our team but I really don't trust them to know when to pull the trigger. I"m one of those two of course.

Essentially it's a long hard day, sometimes in horrible weather, for everyone involved so we try our hardest to make it a fun time for the humans and a reasonable time for the girls. We try to get food delivered to or cooked at the site along with hot coffee or cold drinks. We get quite a few volunteers, humans including young folks along with horses. Now I wouldn't call it fun but I would say it makes for a gratifying day.

 

[regolith]

I do it myself, and we have a really good system making technicians available for seasonal calving dairy farmers - I worked with technicians on herds I managed and for the first year that I milked my own cows.
You can call the breeding company at breakfast time and tell them your bull's gone lame or you've got too many cows on heat for him to cope with and they'll get you someone there by lunchtime to breed your cows.

I do my own because it's easier to fit myself into my work routine, I get to focus on my breeding plan without confusing a second person who then either complains or makes mistakes, and the cows are more relaxed and better handled - no tail twitching or bleeding when I'm done, no reluctance on their part three weeks later or a year later.
There were eight on my course and I was the only one training to do my cows rather than as a tech... some of the others had been doing their own cows for years and now wanted to work for the breeding companies. I know a lot of guys who have trained and don't do it any more.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

Do you have to take a class or could you work with an AI tech that could teach you out in the field?
One of the local vets is really good and AI's our cows.

 

[Alan]

Do you have to take a class or could you work with an AI tech that could teach you out in the field?
One of the local vets is really good and AI's our cows.

The key is practice, I took a AI class from select sires, and it was good, I know what I'm looking for when AI'ing. My problem is when I AI I try to AI 12 to 15 head a day on the same day. So my AI time is one or two days a year. I'm glad to have a friend to help that does it year around.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Of the twenty that did want to learn beyond day one only about five really had a knack for it.

What traits give one the "knack for it" ?

 

[Alan]

Of the twenty that did want to learn beyond day one only about five really had a knack for it.

What traits give one the "knack for it" ?

Practice

 

[dun]

Of the twenty that did want to learn beyond day one only about five really had a knack for it.

What traits give one the "knack for it" ?

Practice

Practice helps if you have the "knack" doesn;t do squat if you don;t. There are those that just don;t have the mind and hand coordination, they can;t interpret what they are feeling with what they think they are feeling. A local lady that I AIed for at one time had attened 3 schools and still couldn;t tell when she had the cervix in her hand. Most times she couldn;t even find the cervix.

 

[TexasBred]

Wife does our AI and is pretty darn awesome at it. Of course I realize I am very biased. She also determines the matings.