synchronizing heifers

[Limiman12]

We are planningon synching some heifers to Ai to power2change this spring.  Most were mid march tomid april calves and we want tosynch for around march 20.  Not worried about them but will we be able tosynch the 5 or so May borns with them orwould we be betteroff synching them a month later.  thanks

 

[CAB]

The may calves will be 13 months old by that time, sync them together if thet are big enough & have been cycling.

 

[leanbeef]

I agree. Sexual maturity in heifers is a function of weight...If the heifers are heavy enough, they should be cycling by then. And the more cycles they have before time to breed, the better chance you have of them getting bred early in the breeding season. I don't have a problem calving at 22 months if the heifers are bred right, grown out like they oughta be and bred to easy calving bulls. And I would vote for March calves over May calves ANY DAY! Hate summer babies!

 

[ChristaCheatham]

I had some questions regarding to heat synchronization as well.  What is the most efficient process? Is it expensive? We are going to AI (for the first time) a heifer born in April( I think she has gone inot heat at least once) a cow (she was in standing heat a couple weeks ago) and another cow who is having a calf in march/april.  We plan to breed all three this June/July.  Is there a process that can be used on cows and heifers?  Is there a drug that just causes the cows/heifers to come into heat and then you breed them? Can you administer the drugs yourself? Or can your AI tech do it?  I want to be able to give the drugs to the cows all at the same time and for them to come into heat a week later?? I am very confused with this process? Someone told me that you give them a shot and then they come into heat 21 days later??

 

[leanbeef]

There are several different protocols for synchronizing heat in cattle, each using some different products that I guess can all work. The most simple method which is the least expensive and the one we use the most is just Lutalyse which is injectable prostaglandin:

http://animalhealth.pfizer.com/sites/pahweb/us/en/Products/Pages/Lutalyse.aspx

You can buy it in 100 ml bottles from your vet or AI tech, and you give 5cc regardless of weight. Your cow should show standing heat in about 3 days. The catches are a cow or heifer has to be cycling already - it won't make one START cycling - and it won't work unless she's somewhere between day 6 and day 17 or so of her cycle. If she's late in the cycle, then she'll be in within a few days anyway, so no time lost. If she's earlier than day 6, you won't get a heat. So if you don't see heat within 7-10 days, you can give another shot and that one should work. We never breed unless we see one in standing heat...that's just me.

Some protocols don't produce standing heats in all cattle that cycle, and they recommend a timed breeding. I guess the cattle are supposed to be cycling on the inside whether or not the show signs on the outside. I'm not real familiar, so I can't tell you much about those. There are several protocols to choose from. I would suggest you visit with your AI tech about his/her recommendations for your program. Some are more intensive programs and require more labor and will be more expensive to use. For only a few cows, I would use the one you think is the most likely to help get your cows bred. You may have heard of CIDRs (pronounced SEE-dur, like the tree) which involves inserting a plastic device into the cow that you leave in and pull out a week later. You also give some shots in conjunction with that protocol. A lot of people use these...we've used them only a little, and it means more handling of the cattle, more times through the chute, and more $ per cow to set them up.

The important thing is that you understand the method you choose so you're not disappointed if you don't get the results you want. The added expense and labor only add to the disappointment and frustration if things don't go as planned. The better you understand the hows and whens and whys, the less chance you'll end up in that situation. None of these are 100% fool proof or work on every cow every time, so understand that in the beginning. If the cattle are cycling, I would start with just the shot of Lutalyse and see how you get along.

Check out this Google search:
http://www.google.com/search?q=heat+synchronization&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a

Good luck!

 

[WJ Farms]

If you go to www.bovine-elite.com they have pages that show you different protocols.......and it usually cost about 50 dollars a head to set up plus semen cost

 

[ChristaCheatham]

Thanks! So you would suggest heat synchronization for just three cows.  And cycling cows are just cattle that have heat every 21 to 24 days? At least two of the cows In know have had heat and the one will be calving in March/April so she should be cycling in June/July.  She's in good condition.

 

[ChristaCheatham]

How do you know if your cow or heifer is in day 6 - 17 of their cycle? when you see them in heat do you start counting the days??

 

[CAB]

How do you know if your cow or heifer is in day 6 - 17 of their cycle? when you see them in heat do you start counting the days??

I think the best thing for you to do is find the AI tech. that you are going to work with and sit down and develope a plan that will work well for both you and him/her.

 

[leanbeef]

If you want the cows to calve together, then synchronization isn't a bad idea. For three head, I would just use Lutalyse and see how things went. That's the most simple and least expensive, and the benefit of syncing three isn't like the benefit you would realize from having 30 grouped together.

Obviously, we don't always know what day of the cycle a cow is on, but yes...Day 0 is standing heat. The next day is day 1... Textbook is 18-24 days with the average being 21, but my experience has been most will be 18-21 days. We occasionally have one go 24 days but not very often. When you get ready to breed, heat detection is very important. AI about 12 hours after the onset of standing heat. If you'll watch them for 15-20 minutes at least twice a day (morning & night), and assuming they show normal heat, you'll see when they're standing and should be able to guess about when they started. Good rule of thumb if you don't know exactly: If they're standing at the a.m. check, breed that evening. If they're standing at the p.m. check, breed the next morning.

I'm curious why you want to wait until June/July to breed these females. There aren't a lot of convincing arguments for late spring calves where I'm from. And I'll tell you this...the hotter the days when you're trying to breed, the more difficult it can be to catch them in heat. It can be very frustrating. If you're set on summer breeding, you'll wanna plan to check for heat early in the morning for best results...like 5-6 a.m.

 

[ChristaCheatham]

Alright we might try that.  The reason I want to breed them in the summer is so that they have spring calves.  That way everything is on track for breeding and showing purposes at shows.  If I wanted to market the calf, I could market it in the fall, that way it would be weaning and I could sell it for others for showing purposes.  It all works out if the females are bred in the summer... it's always how we do it here in Indiana.... everyone around here sets their bull into the herds in the summer.

 

[kfacres]

When I was in college, we decided to synch the cows and heifers all at the same time- using the protocal that leanbeef mentioned above (two shot method with lut).  Throughout the years, we've also used CIDRs on the odd and end cow to try and get them bumped back up with the group, as well...  I use tons of CIDRs and sponges on our sheep however,- as a side note

We would schedule the (2 rounds of) shots- so the cows should start cycling on a Friday morning that I was coming home to visit- My parent's would heat watch all day that day- and any cows that would cycle- I would breed when I got home Friday after dark.  I would then heat watch on Saturday- breed accordingly, and do the same on Sunday.  However Sunday evening before I would leave- I would go through and timed AI those remaining cows that I had not seen in heat (or bred AI).  We would then wait one day, and turn the bulls in. 

This worked really well for the 3 of my 4 years in college- the first year we didn't do this, we just bull bred everything.  I think without looking it up, the first year we had about 70% conception, and the next two we had about 80% on both-- this was anywhere from 9-12 cows/ heifers getting bred at a time (for the year).  In all honesty, the cows that were getting timed AI bred on Sunday before I left- I believe had a better conception/ calving rate to that AI-- than those who I saw in good standing heat-- for sure just as good.

For a group of 10- it sure makes it nice to calve them all in about 5 days-- and have that one odd straggler left to hang dry than spread it over a month's time.