We just finished AI'ing mature cows this weekend. We bred 77 head. Synchronized using GnRH, CIDRs, and Lutalyse. We didn't get as many showing good heat as I expected, but we had some really nasty weather that may have hampered things. Cows were in very good condition so that shouldn't have been a problem. We had about 14 (18%) clearly in heat at 48 hours, about 3/4 of the rest were in heat at 72 hours. I usually have more at 48 hours. We cranked 63 through the chute on the second day in about four hours, but we had lots of people helping and a really good tech.
What are most of you paying for AI services on a large group? We paid $17 a head this time, which feels pretty steep for about 8 hours work. We have finally got our facilities the way we want them and can move animals through quietly in a hurry. It came out to over $200 an hour for him. He was very good, but that hurt.
I broke down and bred a bunch to Heat Wave. Used Golden Child again and tried Jimmy the Greek for the first time. We'll have some heifers to test next year.
Also used Rocky Balboa, Tyson, Yellow Jacket, Picasso, and Salute on some.
Got my first good look at our babies separated off from their mommas. Golden Child really worked well for us. We have some good steers and a great looking heifer calf out of him. My best steers look to be an Almost Famous calf out of a Smithbilt cow and a red Kadabra calf that is going to be good if he stays sound on his front end (he's fine now, but I'm paranoid about Kadabras on their fronts).
We are starting to synchronize 72 head of virgin heifers this weekend. Most of them will be AI'd to a PB Angus (Sitz Alliance son), but I'll breed a few to Tyson and Rocky Balboa. We are just time AI'ing them.
What are most of you paying for AI services on a large group? We paid $17 a head this time, which feels pretty steep for about 8 hours work. We have finally got our facilities the way we want them and can move animals through quietly in a hurry. It came out to over $200 an hour for him. He was very good, but that hurt.
I broke down and bred a bunch to Heat Wave. Used Golden Child again and tried Jimmy the Greek for the first time. We'll have some heifers to test next year.
Also used Rocky Balboa, Tyson, Yellow Jacket, Picasso, and Salute on some.
Got my first good look at our babies separated off from their mommas. Golden Child really worked well for us. We have some good steers and a great looking heifer calf out of him. My best steers look to be an Almost Famous calf out of a Smithbilt cow and a red Kadabra calf that is going to be good if he stays sound on his front end (he's fine now, but I'm paranoid about Kadabras on their fronts).
We are starting to synchronize 72 head of virgin heifers this weekend. Most of them will be AI'd to a PB Angus (Sitz Alliance son), but I'll breed a few to Tyson and Rocky Balboa. We are just time AI'ing them.