we are going to lease a bull

[jbzdad]

we have about 30 head of heifers that we saved back... some to keep and some to sell as breds... rather than plan to AI them we are going to lease a bull for 2 months ... we are going to be able to lease I-80 full brother

I know there have been some reported troubles with I-80 but we have used him without difficulty and we would have used him AI on this group

I think this should give us a pretty good chance to get them bred and I think they will be pretty marketable as bred heifers.. they are Maine, shorthorn and some cross heifers..cost will be about 100 per heifer... It costs us about 50 to set up and AI with 20-25 dollar  semen... no labor or yardage cost in that 50

are those bred  heifers going to be marketable?

 

[Quick fire]

Seems like a good idea to me. The most marketable thing on a bred heifer is what their genetics are and what they look like, not so much what they are bred to. But it will save you tons of time

 

[Till-Hill]

Still sync them and get them ultrasounded for calf sex? Seen alot of these commercial heifers where it looked as they were paying about $100/hd for AI and $100/hd for knowing what the calf was.......Sync'ing them would make sure they were all ready to go and get even more for your money......just a thought.

 

[jbzdad]

probably won't sync them... to save on expense and to save a little labor... we have used biopryn test to confirm pregnancy and will probably do that again about a month after the bull is shipped back...opens will either get sold or maybe tried again .. maybe someone with a fall calving group will want them

the breds will be kept or sold... I think it would be interesting to ultrasound them... would we get better due dates?  sex of fetus?  when in gestation is best time to do ultrasound for those data.. ?cost?

 

[Top Knot]

If you want the sex of the fetuses they should be less than 110 days. I'm not sure how early they can tell sex. Check with your vet regarding his equipment and what kind of range he's comfortable with. Due dates will be very close, especially at 30-60 days. Nice to know about twins as well.

 

[CAB]

If you decide to ultrasound for sex make sure that you get someone with a bunch of experience B/C if not I can be as close as 50% correct.
I would also want to ask if the bull has ran with females B4 and had exceptable preg. rates.

 

[firesweepranch]

We have sexed lots of calves, ideal time is 70 days. Our vet has sexed as early as 60 days, and usually up to 85 days. He has only been wrong one time, and that was a cow sexed late in her pregnancy (she was 86 days). Further along and the calf slips down into the abdomen making it hard to get access. Our vet charges a normal ultrasound charge, $10 a head. We haul them into his place so no farm call. He enjoys doing it and getting the feedback on how he did.

 

[CAB]

Had a friend do 93 head of heifers a year ago. The vet told him that they would be over 95% accurate and he sold the bred heifers accordingly. The vet was right around 50% right. He didn't sex the fetus' this year.

 

[jbzdad]

heck... if they can ultrasound at 60-90 days then we should just ultrasound them all 90 days after bull turn in...any that are questionable or to early to sex could just have a repeat exam in 30  more days... if test is 10. per head ... if more than that need to reconsider

 

[Till-Hill]

My vet sexes from 55 to 90 maybe little more. Depends on the cow. I would go for 60 days after bull pulled if he was in for 45 days..

CAB I'd tell your friend to fire his a** and write a letter to head of vet medicine. I'd say on the milk cows (250 head yr with heifers) and beef cows 25 or so he is about 95% with sex and twins. Most of the time tho it is a paper work error or we were pushing days to close.