Which is better

[forbes family farms]

I am wanting to AI some heifers and i was wondering is it better to have them come into heat natural or the artifical way? Does it matter? Which one are the likely to concieve to? I am new at AI so i just had a few questions.

 

[Sparty-On]

I don't have nearly as much experience as most on here, but natural heats are the way to go in my opinion. 

 

[simtal]

generall you will see decreasing conception rate going from natural heats to synching, although some will see no difference.

some of the timed ai deals can really knock down preg rate, but you need to consider what is good enough, 80%? 50%?

 

[BadgerFan]

First, I'm of the opinion that a heat is a heat, whether it's induced naturally or via a synch protocol is irrelevant.

beyond that both natural heats and synch deals have their advantages and disadvantages. 

 

[CMAHerefords]

What we like to do with breeding our heifers is give them a shot of lutalyse and let them go through that heat and breed them on their first natural heat after the shot. Not sure if it makes a difference whether its natural or sync. That's just what we do. We've had okay luck with conception. I think that depends more on the genetics than the animal but I'm just guessing.

Also we have used ciders to sync heifers.

 

[Show Heifer]

Natural is always better.  But it also take HUGE amounts of time
Sync'ing decreases time to heat check, but I think you can expect a 5-15% decrease in conception.
Time'd AI will decrease time dramatically, but also will decrease conception the most. Depending on who ya talk to, and luck, expect conception of 40-70% (more likely 40-50%).

So, if you have lots of time to heat check (21 days minimum for 8-12 hours a day), then I would definately go natural. If not, do the figuring and weigh the pro's and con's of price, conception, and time.

 

[SHAGGY]

It does take a little more time but Natural heats give much better conception rates. IMO the extra time catching them natural and not losing the cost of the wasted semen is worth it to me.

 

[KMJCC]

I am also new and I just took an AI class and the instructor said that he liked to do it natural and the AI tech they had there helping said he liked to use cidrs and synch them.  I have asked other buddies how they like to do it and they all have given me different opions.  Like others have said depending on how much time you have available and how good of heat detection you do will probably determine which way you go.  I did have one guy that runs about 50 cows tell em that he wouldn't use cidrs on first calf heifers but just watch them for 5 days and if you don't see any signs of heat give them a shot of lutalyse and they would be in heat within 5 days.  I am currently in the process of this on my last heifer that I had to breed this year.  Had her coming in heat for a few cycles then when the cycle came when I wanted to breed her on I haven't been able to see any signs so I gave her a shot of lut over the weekend so I am hoping she comes in any day know.  Good Luck!