Flush

[RankeCattleCo]

Never flushed before, what does it cost for someone to come in and do it?  How do you store and how long is it normally between flushing and then implanting.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

 

[Bulldaddy]

It runs me about $900 per flush depending on how many eggs are recovered and whether they are implanted fresh or frozen for later use.  The eggs can be stored in Liquid Nitrogen just as you would  store semen.  They can be implanted when recovered provided you have recipient cows that are syncronized with your donor.  The results are usually better if implanted fresh.  Frozen embryos can be thawed and implanted at a later date in recipient cows seven days after they were in heat.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

So can you put CIDR's in your cows that will be recips so they are in heat the day you want to implant the embryos?  And is there a 100% rate of a growing calf?

 

[kfacres]

So can you put CIDR's in your cows that will be recips so they are in heat the day you want to implant the embryos?  And is there a 100% rate of a growing calf?

nothing in life is 100%, accept hand gernades, horse shoes, death, and taxes...

 

[vcsf]

You flush a cow seven days after you breed here so therefore you need your recipient cows to be in heat seven days before you implant the embryo.  Conception rates can very greatly some days you may hit 100% some days you will get 0%.  If you notice when people are selling embryos it is rare to see them guarantee more than 50% conception and often it is only a 1 in 3 guarantee.  Long term I think most people would be quite satisfied with anything over 60-65% conception rate especially on frozen embryos.  The cost can very greatly depending on who does the work.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

Thanks for all the comments, would you reccomend flushing a heifer?  She's not AMAZING but she defanitly has potential.  I'm not breeding solely for showable/saleable calves but more to increase or herd size as this is our first pair of heifers.  Considering the price would flushing her to I-80 to increase our herd be worth the money and hassle?  We would use cull dairy cows for recips.  (implanted and raised by a cull cow mom who would be sent to the yards after the calf is weaned.)

 

[dimebag]

I would not flush a heifer , let her have a few of her own calves and prove herself first .

 

[kfacres]

We would use cull dairy cows for recips. 

Being raised on a dairy farm-- and currently involved with it. 

I would not gamble on implanting cull dairy cows.  I'm guessing that 90% of our culls-- are culled from the standpoint of being hard breeders- or not being able to stick at all (sometimes up to a year if they're still milking good). 

If we cull a cow for some other reason- good chance she's not going to live long enough to carry a pregnacy full term. 

Flushing a heifer is almost as crazy of an idea... but not as bad.. it's done all the time...

 

[RankeCattleCo]

If we cull a cow for some other reason- good chance she's not going to live long enough to carry a pregnacy full term. 

We would use cull cows that were predetermined not to be bred again because of lack of milk, between 5 and 8 years old.

 

[kfacres]

maybe your dairy is different than ours-- but by the time they are of that age, if they don't milk.. they're already gone... heck, come to think of it-- by the time they reach their 2nd month into lactation as a 2 year old.. and they dont' milk-- they're gone....

It's going to be pretty hard to find this type of cow-- no reason I can find, that a cow would make it to 4 years old, and then bam.. stop milking...

I hate to tell you, but whoever is telling you this.. is screwing you over (or planning on it)

8 year old dairy cow, is pretty uncommon...  By this time, they're udders are shot- and would be unable to raise a calf on their own, without TONS of supervision during the first 3 days.  Not only that, but most have been culled ruthlessly for repro..

Do you realize, the turnover rates for dairys?  and that repro is the number 1 culling factor by 80%?

 

[Till-Hill]

I agree with ya Cut the BS, we milk 150 cows and have a high voluntary cull rate and we cull almost 50% of the herd every year and I just looked we have 25 cows over 5 years old, 2 of which are 8. 13 of the 25 are pregnant. 6 of them being bred by clean up Angus bull.  The vet is not at our place but more than 2x a year cept for herd health so we keep an pretty healthy herd around but they just don't last anymore.

If you need recips buy some holstein heifers, 60-95 cents will buy alot of good ones!

 

[Mueller Show Cattle]

If you need recips buy some holstein heifers, 60-95 cents will buy alot of good ones!
[/quote]

I am the first to say I don't know much about dairy cattle but interested in stock to buy at a inexpensive price for recips. I was always under the impression the Holstein heifers were worth good money. My friend works on a dairy farm up by Green Bay Wisconsin and use to buy calves from farmers to raise as beef cows. He said the Holstein bull calves were dam there being given away but the heifers calves bring good money for replacements in dairy operations. But like I said I don't know much about dairy operations but if I can find Holstein heifers for 60 to 90 cents a pound, I want to know where to go buy them cause I think Holsteins make good recips and don't want any run down dairy cow that it's udder is shot to raise a calf. But would like to know as next year if I can get Holstein heifers that cheap, I would take a trip and buy 10 to 12 of them at an auction where ever going rate is that cheap and use them for recips a year later.

 

[kfacres]

as of a year ago, I had over 20 of them which I would have sold at that price- and advertised the shit out of them on here for sale- for recips...  couldn't get any takers, and sent them all the united reducers... They were all sired by a Red Angus bull, and about 75% of them were dammed by Milking Shorthorn heifers (making them basically 3/4 beef).  The remainder were out of Jersey or Holstein first calf heifers...

We breed all of our dairy heifers to a red angus bull- however, he just hit the road in Oct (was a 5 year old bull), and so I'm guessing that we won't have any more of that kind available after a while...

 

[vc]

Do dairy cows even know how to mother a calf anymore? Not really a trait that is required in them.

BS I bet those heifers would have been able to raise a ET calf, milk would not have been a problem for the calf.

 

[Till-Hill]

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If I didn't have recips I know what I would be using! Them black and white ones look cheap! And like BS said he tried selling some x-bred ones and no takers. Me and him talked about that last fall. I been using mine too as recips and stock cows, sure they take more feed but half price of colored cattle!

 

[RankeCattleCo]

Were milking 70 head/day and i think we have 12 cows over 8 cause they still produce, we havent imported a single animal into our holstein herd since its origins in 1845.  It's a damn nice herd but we get those nice looking, nice footed and uddered cows who cant touch 60 lbs./ day in their peak.  Those would be our recips, hell we could put two calves on them.

 

[kfacres]

sounds like you need to modernize your dairy...  holsteins that can't give 60 lb a day in a normal 305 day lactation.. need some AI work done to them... Maybe it's time for an outcross???

Our jersey's smoke the piss out of that.. I bet we've got some pushing the 100 lb mark...Don't get me started on the 120 plus Holsteins....

I'm going to guess, and say that out of our 100-120 that we milk on any given day.. About 2 are over 10, about 10 are over 6, and about 20% are b/w 4 and 5...  without a doubt, half are first calf, 2 yo heifers...

 

[RankeCattleCo]

What Im saying is we have 3 or 4 around like that and since were small scale we dont cull them out cause we go in and out of calving spurts.  I dont make any of the culling or A.I. decisions around the place so it's not my choice when and when not to cull and who we cull. We also have some "Lighter in the head cattle" **SWISS** (They really are brainless) That would make a beautiful recip.  Trust me lol

 

[kfacres]

lighter/???  ha!, I wouldn't call them that.. I'd call them 'harder' for sure...

Brown swiss, would be my last choice for a recip.. seriously.. We've had tons of them over the years (ran 3 consecutive bulls for about 5 years),

those are the hardest milking, hardest breeding, longest lactation damn things on the place.. it's not uncommon for one to be in production for nearly 2 years before sticking AI...  One thing about them.. they'll hold up production pretty good for being run through the parlor 2x a day for 20 months...

If I wanted recips.. I'd use Jerseys'.. We've bred plenty of jersey cows to HOl bulls over the years, with minimal calving difficulty...  They're the easiest to breed ones of the bunch...  Just point a straw at them, and they're bred.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

If I wanted recips.. I'd use Jerseys'.. We've bred plenty of jersey cows to HOl bulls over the years, with minimal calving difficulty...  They're the easiest to breed ones of the bunch...  Just point a straw at them, and they're bred.

I know whatcha mean bout the Jerseys  ;D

Yeah these damn swiss won't get bred or milk lol