Would do you charge?

[mainegirl]

I'm just starting to AI and some of my local farmers are interested in me AIing their cows. Our fair ends tomorrow and one of the exhibitors wants me to AI her heifer for her. I'm planning on bringing her home with my heifers and taking care of her until I'm done breeding her. I was just wondering what other people charge for boarding and what to charge if they also wanted me to kick her out with my bull. Thanks for the help!

 

[leanbeef]

That's kind of a tough one. I think you need to decide how much service you are willing to provide and CAN provide. Is this a friend of yours you want to help out? Or is this somebody you just met? There needs to be a clear understanding of expectations, guarantees, risk, liability, etc. Most AI techs prob go to the client's farm to breed cows & charge by the head. You may have to add something for mileage or the trip, and you might give a discount for breeding multiple cows at one time. I'm not sure there's much precedent for boarding the heifer & then turning her out with you bull, but I could be wrong. And that's not to say there isn't a need for that type of service...I'm sure there are folks with just a few females who would prefer to do all AI & not invest in a clean up bull. And that gets to be a problem pretty quickly for some.

Not really answering your question, but I think it all depends on what you think you can provide this service for.

 

[blackcows]

Agree with lean beef, that is a tough one.  As I see it the biggest issue is that your breeding percentage is either going to be 100% or 0%...I would make sure you both agree on expectations before you start.

 

[sj0515]

I just had a heifer bred this week. I dropped her off on Sat and picked her up on Wed. I paid $75 but that included buying a straw of semen from him.

 

[maineanjou87]

My AI tech charges $20 a cow that doesnt include semen and Ive boarded cows for friends for $25 a cow and they pay for hay or I just charged $1 a day for pasture and no guarantees.  I usually kept them 6 weeks after ai just to be sure. 

 

[vc]

20 for AI they pay for the cost of semen, include shipping. Charge them what it cost for feed each day, if it cost you 2.50 a day to feed them charge 3 . As far as turning it out with the bull, I would not charge for that, you would have to weight until she calved to know if the bull was needed. Best practice is to figure out what you would pay and then charge close to that.

 

[mainegirl]

Thank you all very much for the help!

 

[Belties R Us]

I would say be careful. I know of a person in our county who got in trouble for doing this because he was "acting as a vet" and providing animal care advice and had to go to court for it. His vet turned him in. I would bet the laws vary by state though

 

[knabe]

maybe get an ai certificate, see what local ordinances say about the cert and charging.

vets charge whether they stick or not.

 

[CAB]

I would say be careful. I know of a person in our county who got in trouble for doing this because he was "acting as a vet" and providing animal care advice and had to go to court for it. His vet turned him in. I would bet the laws vary by state though

That sounds about right!!

 

[knabe]

i can see both sides of the issue.  on the other hand, maybe the vet industry needs to change and offer some sort of masters degree certification similar to the clinical laboratory scientist industry.

yes, there is a shortage of vets, but perhaps they could have these people working out of there offices for the more routine type of tasks and be more available in emergencies.  perhaps people would use vet services more if there was more customer service.

of course the vet industry probably won't like it.  any industry that has regulation on it's side rarely gives it up.  perhaps we should get certified to have a baby, or even breed ourselves.  oops, we do, it's called a marriage license.  oops, it's not required.  don't hear any vets, doctors, legislators (except religious types) complaining about that.

 

[ZNT]

I would say be careful. I know of a person in our county who got in trouble for doing this because he was "acting as a vet" and providing animal care advice and had to go to court for it. His vet turned him in. I would bet the laws vary by state though

My how things vary between locations.  My vet actually refers all of his A.I. requests to me, because he does not have time to deal with it.  He has actually sent me quite a bit of business.

 

[ZNT]

My rates are:

$30 for A.I.ing with discounts for groups, depending on the number of head and amount of help provided
$25 set up fee for on farm visits, and sometimes additional mileage for jobs over 30 miles
Cost of synchronizations supplies
$4-5 per day for feed and yardage of cattle at my facility.  Additional $.50-.75 per day if calf at side.
First re-breed if animal comes back into heat at my facility is Free.  
Semen is cost plus any shipping
No guarantee on conception

 

[leanbeef]

I would say be careful. I know of a person in our county who got in trouble for doing this because he was "acting as a vet" and providing animal care advice and had to go to court for it. His vet turned him in. I would bet the laws vary by state though

This is absurd! Nobody requires anybody to have a vet degree to AI cows! That vet had some nerve. Surely that was dismissed by the court?...

 

[cowman 52]

You sat with a fee for this and a fee for that and you won't A I many cows.
Shoot them a straight deal, it cost you 1.50 for the sleeve, sheath, lube, maybe 6 a day for feed, take the hit , get GOOD at getting cows bred and your customers, will take care of you.
When you get to the vet like charges, you sound just like Your fee is more important than a preg cow.