Wish us luck!?

[2/B or not 2/B]

In a few weeks, we'll be AI'ing for the first time. Gonna use our herd bull as clean up. Wasn't gonna say anything just yet. You know, not wanting to jinx it or count our eggs before they're hatched and all. I don't have anyone else who understands why this would be even remotely exciting though, and I'm nervous! The tech is certified but has only been practicing since March so I don't know what to expect. He's sending us the drugs and CIDR's this week and I'm having the semen shipped to him to hold in his tank. It's timed AI and we're only doing 5 head. 60% would be 3 and I'd be thrilled. More than 3 and I'd be ecstatic. If we get something dismal like 2 or worse, I'll be :cry2: . Going with 3 Brown Vacation, 1 Saskvalley Bonanza and 1 DR World Class. I know I probably should have stuck with just one bull or at least one breed but I couldn't help it! Finally getting to shop for AI sires was like being a kid in a candy store. They weren't all my first choices, but to save on shipping we needed to get them all from one company. Fingers crossed for a successful venture.

 

[pdfangus]

I wish you luck....
the beauty of AI is the ability to individually mate each cow to the bull you think best compliments her.
practicing since March may be plenty of experience if he has really been practicing.

I stepped out of AI school, bred two cows in about six months while a student herdsman at the university and then went to work as a herdsman breeding a herd of 400 head. A hundred head into the season I was as good as guys who had been working ten years. When we started doing preg checks the boss was real happy.

timed AI works pretty well. no you may not get them all.....but over the last few years of timed AI I have run 70 to 75 percent.

I now use the syncpro system and in fact gave prostaglandin to five cows last night, and I think the syncpro system gives me another five percent conception.

syncpro is a couple more trips thru the chute but I think it is worth it, and my cows are not hard to work and I now have a small herd.

best of luck to you.

 

[kerley]

I wish you lots of luck. I know you spent alot of time researching Bulls. After the cows are preg the wait begins...

 

[slick4591]

Best of luck!

 

[dun]

If you think this is exciting, just wait till the AI calves start to hit the ground!

 

[MistyMorning]

Good luck! It is exciting, I started AIing a few years ago and I was like a kid in a candy shop looking at bulls, remember that dun? I must have drove the old fart insane with all the questions! When they came due, I spent every available minute of time out there watching the ladies. Must have drove them mental too!

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

Good Luck !!!!!. My daughter and I both went to AI school and came out and bred 5 to start. 4 took and we never could get the 5th one bred. Had to ship her. I think once you get some experence and are doing your own females you can get more like 85% sucess instead of 60-65%.
One thing to consider when selecting AI sires is the more sires you use the more deversified your herd will be. I made that mistake, and I do consider it a mistake !!! I am now picking one or two sires that I like and breeding only to them.

 

[2/B or not 2/B]

Thanks for the well wishes and extra luck! Today we inserted the CIDR's and gave GnRH. Doing both those things was easy. The hard part is getting all the cows in, particularly one old girl who's decided she's totally onto us and quits the herd every time we need to get anything done It all worked out and we got her in. We've been doing a lot of 'training' leading up to this and it's made things much smoother in the holding pen when it's time to go thru the chute. Several more steps to go. Also have to reroute the semen shipment which was incorrectly sent to me instead of our tech. He's the one with a tank :?

 

[2/B or not 2/B]

FOLLOW UP

Just to follow up, our breeding day was back on 12/19/11 and since it was a first, I have nothing to compare it to. The tech was a nice guy and very professional, but he's still green and practicing which seemed evident by the way he struggled to get good placement on almost everyone. Maybe that's normal, not sure. Still, it made me nervous. After 18 days, I began to see some heats and we drew blood on day 33. Results are in and 2 stuck out of 5, 40% :cry2: One bred heifer and one 10 yo cow. Two open heifers and one open 3 yo cow. Was it the protocol, something we did wrong, the tech, the girls? I was hoping for better luck! Now, my fingers are crossed that the two pregnant ones truly are pregnant and stay that way until healthy delivery in September. Hey, at least the two that stuck were the two most expensive straws. AI is torture!

 

[pdfangus]

sounds like the tech to me....
I think my last bunch went 5 for 5.....
start setting up a couple more tonight for my neighbor.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Sounds like the luck i have with timed AI.