A.I. Problems

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jsuhr

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Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
89
Location
Wisconsin
I've been having a lot of trouble catching a few cows and heifers in heat to breed and now my breeding season has been winding down. What would you suggest to see better heat?
 

firesweepranch

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Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
1,685
Location
SW MO
How are you heat detecting? Once a day? Twice a day? Are you using tail chalk or a patch? Give us more detail.
We AI everything, and use natural heats. We had one heifer, a May, that we never saw in heat but would see her with a little sting of blood every 21 days. We could not use tail chalk because she is my daughter's show heifer. We ended up putting a CIDR in her after Nationals (mid-July - used the 7 day protocol). We pulled the CIDR on a Tuesday at 2:30PM, she was jumping other heifers on Wednesday evening, and standing good by morning. We bred her that night (to Built Right  ;D), and she passed over her 21 day cycle last week. We are now done showing, so I put some chalk on her tail to keep a close eye on her since she has a history of not being seen in heat.
My point is, some are hard to catch, so use every resource you can to watch and catch! Checking three times a day really helped us narrow down when to AI, since we caught them coming in at a little more specific time frame..
 

jsuhr

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
89
Location
Wisconsin
I'm just going by natural heat. We tried syncing them and the conception rate was terrible. I check on the cows and heifers when ever i'm outside, but that's a good point it may just be more obvious at a certain time.
 

Simmgal

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Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
931
Location
Virginia
Is it REALLY hot where you are? When it gets hot it is almost impossible to be successful with A.I. We even have trouble getting them to catch naturally during the summer months. I am not sure if this is your problem or not, but the weather plays a big role in conception rates.
 

jsuhr

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Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
89
Location
Wisconsin
We had a few good periods of heat, but now the weather has been good. even if I did breed them the chances of them sticking are low in the heat!
 

Simmgal

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Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
931
Location
Virginia
jsuhr said:
We had a few good periods of heat, but now the weather has been good. even if I did breed them the chances of them sticking are low in the heat!
I agree. Also semen quality can be an issue. I bred about 8 to a bull a few years back and none stuck. Turns out that NONE of the cattle bred to him did..
 

firesweepranch

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Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
1,685
Location
SW MO
jsuhr said:
I'm just going by natural heat. We tried syncing them and the conception rate was terrible. I check on the cows and heifers when ever i'm outside, but that's a good point it may just be more obvious at a certain time.
Cattle are most active in the early mornings and late evenings, nights. Most of my heats are caught at that time, with a few during the middle of the day (only in cool weather though). Using tail chalk REALLY helps! I did this when I bred tons of dairy cows, and just carried it over to our beef herd. If they come in when you are not around, you will know because the tail chalk will be completely gone in most cases. We use a bright color (fluorescent yellow or orange on black cows) so it is obvious from far away. When I walk through the herd, I just carry the chalk with me and mark them as I am walking by. It works good for us, we have NO BULL, just strictly AI.
I can tell you what has really helped this year is the baby bull calves. They sniff one out way before I know she is in! Usually the day before she comes in heat, the baby bull calves have their noses in the rear of that cow just about all day. It has been kind of nice  ;) A big help on heat detection!
 
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