Would you still AI if you had to hire it done?

[NonTypicalCPA]

I have 5 momma registered belted galloways. I started three years ago and decided early on to run a bull with them instead of AI, even though AI probably makes more sense. Now three years into it I'm seriously thinking about selling the bull and giving AI a try. My reasoning is twofold - one, even though the bull is nice he's got just enough attitude at times that I have to pay close attention to him when I'm in with the girls, thus taking some of the enjoyment out of it. And two, I'm limited on pasture so I have to be careful not to overstock, and the bull doesn't make me any money. If I were to elect to use a local cattle vet, who lives down the road from me, would AI end up being a PIA? It seems like relying on the vet to be available when you need them might cause some timing issues. Walk me through the typical process of hormonal heat cycling and breeding, and then pregnancy testing, and the follow up for any that didn't settle.

Another option would be to try to lease out my bull or find one to lease, however there aren't many beltie breeders in the area so it might be difficult to find a good bull and a willing partner in that type of venture.

 

[Bright Raven]

No. I will discontinue doing AI when I cannot or do not want to do it myself. Period!

 

[gizmom]

We do our own AI but would still do it if we had to hire it done. We always recommend AI to folks with just a few head. For the reasons you stated, a bull needs a job and five head isn't enough to keep him busy, in fact it's just enough to make him cranky. Check with your local livestock extension agent to see if they know of someone other than your vet to do the AI work. You can also check with some of the AI studs to find a rep in your area. You might find setting them up fortimed AI works real well for you, that way you can do all the set up work and have the vet or a rep do the actual AI. Good luck.

Gizmom

 

[SchenkAngusFarm]

We pay for help with AI all the time and I don't feel bad about it.

I think it depends on a lot of factors. When you're dealing with $250 straws in some cases, I'd rather have a vet or tech company put it in for me. Sometimes they pull a cow back that I would have used. It's worth it for the second eye sometimes.

Also, you have a pretty manageable number you are working. When it gets to working bigger numbers and you don't want to stress them out you are going to pay for help one way or another. Sometimes I'd rather just pay for the tech and be a hand.

 

[SchenkAngusFarm]

I have 5 momma registered belted galloways. I started three years ago and decided early on to run a bull with them instead of AI, even though AI probably makes more sense. Now three years into it I'm seriously thinking about selling the bull and giving AI a try. My reasoning is twofold - one, even though the bull is nice he's got just enough attitude at times that I have to pay close attention to him when I'm in with the girls, thus taking some of the enjoyment out of it. And two, I'm limited on pasture so I have to be careful not to overstock, and the bull doesn't make me any money. If I were to elect to use a local cattle vet, who lives down the road from me, would AI end up being a PIA? It seems like relying on the vet to be available when you need them might cause some timing issues. Walk me through the typical process of hormonal heat cycling and breeding, and then pregnancy testing, and the follow up for any that didn't settle.

Another option would be to try to lease out my bull or find one to lease, however there aren't many beltie breeders in the area so it might be difficult to find a good bull and a willing partner in that type of venture.

Also, I don't know about what you have around you but we regularly loan out our herd sire to trusted cattlemen for pretty cheap. It keeps him from causing trouble when he's not mating and they feed him well.

 

[wbvs58]

I would do 1 round of timed AI if I had to hire it done but then use a cleanup bull.

With a beltie bull you might be surprised with what off farm work there might be for him. Around here with a lot of small blocks there are many people with just a few cows like you that are looking out for a bull to use and the smaller breeds are very popular. You might be able to get a few herds for him to cover to keep him out of trouble. People in these situations don't really care when their cows calve, just want a calf.

Ken

 

[Midtenn]

Would, and do, twice a year. Did 19 this morning, I even had the tech come last week and set them up. I always pull the cidrs and give lute, then she comes back and breeds them. Last time I set them up myself I only got 40% conception. Last bunch she set up got 85%. I'll probably end up taking a class, but I know it will take a long time to get the results my tech gets.
We do timed AI once, then they get the clean up bull, and we're very selective about which cows get AI'd. They have to be easy to work, etc. and we only breed for replacement purposes in our commercial cows and for raising bulls/heifers in our registered cows. In your situation if you don't want to have a clean up bull, I would think you'd want to do it yourself on observed heats. It would be tough getting a tech to come there enough to insure they all get bred.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Basics: When cow is standing, you call the tech/vet and set him/her up to come. If standing in AM, breed PM. If stand PM, breed AM.
If you call ABS or Genex or any stud service in your area, they will give you name & number of a tech in your area.
You can AI 100%, but it does take commitment on your part.
You can set them all up to be bred through timed breeding, then watch close & re-breed anything that comes back into heat. Unless you are terrible at heat detection, or your tech is terrible, they should all get bred by 3rd time (generally by 2nd time). You can use the heat detection patches for a TOOL, but don't just rely on them. You have to eye-ball them.
You have to pick out the bull/bulls you want to AI to and get them ordered. If you don't have a tank, you have to know the tech or vet is/can store the semen for you.
You have to be around to catch the cow when they are coming to breed her.
It is a big commitment, but definitely do-able.

 

[Logar]

Absolutely - because we do hire it done.

Cheap and effective and they store the semen as well.

Works for us and more than a few neighbors.

Cheers

 

[Ebenezer]

Are you making money on the cows now? If not, don't spend more money. The only reason I ask is because of the local bias against the breed here.

Can you make more money from the calves if they are out of AI bulls? If not, then why spend the money and effort?

Can you AI your best cow(s) occasionally to get a new herd sire or replacement heifers? Best money you will ever spend.

Some of the best AI results will come from crossbred calves that grow better or sell better in most herds. Or you can pay for the promotion and sell more purebred with extra overhead. Without a lot of knowledge and experience on bloodlines, breeders, lines and individual bulls in a breed there is a lot of chaff in AI work at first. Folks and companies oversell and over promote their cattle; sometime naively and sometimes on purpose. After almost 40 years of AI, there are less than 5 bulls that I am sure that should have been used and dozens that were valuable for educational purposes and not ones that left their mark here. And in retrospect, the best bulls ever used here were home raised and still are that way. Gestational programming sets that up whether we like it or not. We use AI to set up lines and align types and then let the bulls and cows prove good or bad.

 

[NonTypicalCPA]

Thanks folks! These girls are right out my front door and I visit them a couple times a day at least, so heat detection should be doable. I'm leaning towards a timed AI so to cut down on the number of vet visits. My vet is one of my clients and lives down the road with a couple hundred head of Simmentals and is a great resource for me (she recommended AI right from the start but I didn't listen). She also has a tank for storage that I could use.

I'm not so much worried about the costs with only 5 head. Crossbreeding doesn't interest me either at this point. I mostly just enjoy the breed - their disposition, appearance, and they taste great too! As for loaning out my bull that is an option I'm looking into.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Sounds like you should be able to take care of 100% AI. Now, it's time to pick out your bulls. That is a lot of fun and very challenging.
Sounds like you have a very smart vet (Simmental breeder LOL)

 

[bse]

To A I 5 head you will be way cheaper than buying a bull, I think someone just posted something that it was around $400 to maintain a cow for a year, at least that maybe a bit higher for a bull, so you can get those 5 done for about that much money, should be a little less but repeats.
If the vet is that close I sure wouldn't time AI, id breed them twice and call it done, id sync them, patch them so I don't miss the ones during the night. breed in AM then PM or vice versa depending on how they respond. Then in 17 days repatch and have her come breed as needed.
If she is willing and will breed on natural heat, then a patch and some semen her arm time, way cheap

 

[Midtenn]

Thanks folks! These girls are right out my front door and I visit them a couple times a day at least, so heat detection should be doable. I'm leaning towards a timed AI so to cut down on the number of vet visits. My vet is one of my clients and lives down the road with a couple hundred head of Simmentals and is a great resource for me (she recommended AI right from the start but I didn't listen). She also has a tank for storage that I could use.

I'm not so much worried about the costs with only 5 head. Crossbreeding doesn't interest me either at this point. I mostly just enjoy the breed - their disposition, appearance, and they taste great too! As for loaning out my bull that is an option I'm looking into.

If my Vet was that close and willing, I'd let her do it. Even if she comes 4 or 5 times should be cheaper than keeping a bull.

 

[SPH]

We hire out ours. Our guy manages the cattle operation a quarter mile down the road and has his own tank so its really convenient to have him do it. We're about 15 miles out from Hawkeye Breeders too so we have a good long term place for storage and most of the time and good place to get semen shipped to and add to our inventory. Also is a convenient place for us to collect one of our own bulls to have on inventory as we've gone back and used some AI to former herd bulls once in awhile too.

Plus when we AI we only sync up about a dozen females and do AI for 1 heat cycle before we turn them out with the bull so he only has to stop by either in the morning or evening for a few days when they are coming in heat. We don't mess around with AI too much, if they stick to the AI service great and if not we do our AI only with heifers and early calvers and breed for around Feb 20th due date so if they were to come back in heat they'd still be an early March calver with the possibility to try them AI again next year. Obviously not everyone is setup to do things the way we do or knows someone that they can do AI if they can't so it's really all a preference and convenience thing for most people to do it 1 way or another.

 

[Son of Butch]

Belted semen averages about $30 and I'd suggest ordering 10 straws (5 each of 2 unrelated sires)
7 straws should = 5 pg cows = $210 semen plus $90 shipping = $300
cidrs, drugs and 7 arm services @ $30+/cow = $210

A.I. for 5 cows = $510+ per season so, Cost wise it's about a wash vs keeping a bull.
A.I. advantage = mating flexibility and higher quality sires than you could otherwise afford = better genetics.
Herd bull advantage is less labor.