Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Bulling Heifers

  • 12-04-2013 2:28pm
    #1
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭


    Hope to AI the heifers in early may so should I be watching them these days for signs of bulling because where they will be bulled has only a few acres and a yard with crush so don't want to be putting them in too late and having to wait 2 3 weeks for them to come bulling again as there wont be grass there for them.


«1

Comments

  • #2
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    quadboy wrote: »
    Hope to AI the heifers in early may so should I be watching them these days for signs of bulling because where they will be bulled has only a few acres and a yard with crush so don't want to be putting them in too late and having to wait 2 3 weeks for them to come bulling again as there wont be grass there for them.

    You should be watching and recording each heifer. Give yourself plenty of wriggle room and take repeats into account.
    We're you goin to sync them or AI as they come around?


  • #3
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    What do you mean by sync them, last year we just stuck scratchcards on them and checked them in the morning and then ring the AI crowd.


  • #4
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    quadboy wrote: »
    What do you mean by sync them, last year we just stuck scratchcards on them and checked them in the morning and then ring the AI crowd.

    Heat synchronisation.


  • #5
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    You mean get them all bulled in a short time space


  • #6
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    2 ways to do it.
    1. Day 1 and day 11 estrumate. Day 11 scratch cards or kmar and ai as bulling once a day.

    2. Day 1 scratch card/kmar and ai as bulling. Day 7 estrumate remainder and ai as bulling

    Option 1 takes 4-5 days
    Option 2 takes 10-13 days

    With each option you remove as ai'd taking pressure off your small area of ground.

    This means that all your repeats should come at the same time so return them to this paddock at about 18 days after ai and scratch card and ai.


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Last year most of them bulled in a short space of time with rest going to the bull but no bull this year. Im just worried about putting them in to the field at the right time. never did the estrumate thing that makes them come bulling does it


  • #8
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    quadboy wrote: »
    What do you mean by sync them, last year we just stuck scratchcards on them and checked them in the morning and then ring the AI crowd.
    You should be checking them 3 times a day for 20 minutes each time. I check them at 7am 2pm and 9pm. The same when watching for repeats. I Ai for seven days then I estrumate the heifers that didn't come bulling they will be bulling in 3-4 days any that don't come bulling after that get a second injection. I have 100% heifers incalf using this method the last two years.


  • #9
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Yeah I wont have much else to do so I can spend plenty of time watching them and the scratchcards are a great job as long as you know they havnt been scratched by briars and things, I hear the whole card must be completely scratched off. Should I put a new card on a heifer after shes bulled the first time, the cards are expensive like


  • #10
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    If you don't put in the effort you will end up with empty heifers. Did many of your heifers hold to ai last year. When you are depending on 100% ai you need to put in the effort.


  • #11
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    I think a good few of them did, we sold them after Christmas and will be doing the same with this lot so getting them in calf is number 1 priority. Still have them inside feeding them up iv been told they look great my a neighbour, last year we bulled them in late may but I was told the earlier the better


  • Advertisement
  • #12
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    Are they beef heifers for suckling?


  • #13
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    No their dairy


  • #14
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    Only buyers buying incalf dairy heifers before Christmas around here were exporters. They were offering 11-1200 for export to Russia.


  • #15
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    sh1tstirrer wrote: »
    Only buyers buying incalf dairy heifers before Christmas around here were exporters. They were offering 11-1200 for export to Russia.
    No we sell ours after Christmas as close to calving as possible, a few of ours made 1300


  • #16
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    2 ways to do it.
    1. Day 1 and day 11 estrumate. Day 11 scratch cards or kmar and ai as bulling once a day.

    2. Day 1 scratch card/kmar and ai as bulling. Day 7 estrumate remainder and ai as bulling

    Option 1 takes 4-5 days
    Option 2 takes 10-13 days

    With each option you remove as ai'd taking pressure off your small area of ground.

    This means that all your repeats should come at the same time so return them to this paddock at about 18 days after ai and scratch card and ai.
    Could I just estrumate and stick scratchcards on them on day one and estrumate anything not bulled again a week after


  • #17
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    Could I just estrumate and stick scratchcards on them on day one and estrumate anything not bulled again a week after
    Yes, you will get a lot bulling on days 2 and 3 then est remainder on day7. Don't be disappointed if they all don't come as they may be prepubesent


  • #18
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Planning on estrumating the heifers this week, was wondering is early feb too early for heifers to be calving,wouldn't buyers prefer an early calving heifer.


  • #19
    doyleshill
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85 ✭✭doyleshill


    Do you AI as bulling if they are showing no sign of heat


  • #20
    dar31
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,701 ✭✭✭dar31


    delaval wrote: »
    2 ways to do it.
    1. Day 1 and day 11 estrumate. Day 11 scratch cards or kmar and ai as bulling once a day.

    2. Day 1 scratch card/kmar and ai as bulling. Day 7 estrumate remainder and ai as bulling

    Option 1 takes 4-5 days
    Option 2 takes 10-13 days

    With each option you remove as ai'd taking pressure off your small area of ground.

    This means that all your repeats should come at the same time so return them to this paddock at about 18 days after ai and scratch card and ai.

    in option 2 is there any importance to estrumate on day 7 or can it be at anytime during the first round of breeding

    i ask as this is my first year ai'ing heifers, and there arent as many as i would like around, so was going to sync once then let the bulls in, at the moment im 10 days into breeding, and about 45% of them have been served


  • #21
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    doyleshill wrote: »
    Do you AI as bulling if they are showing no sign of heat
    How can you ai them if they arnt showing signs of bulling


  • Advertisement
  • #22
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    quadboy wrote: »
    How can you ai them if they arnt showing signs of bulling

    Get them drunk. :-)

    Ah no, it's called fixed time insemination.


  • #23
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Blind luck, and just AI them at a fixed time following injection (I can't remember the timeframe, maybe 48hours?).

    But unless your heat detection methods are brutal, having to resort to this seems abit counter productive as the heifer could well just either show very poor signs of being in heat, or have problems inside her, and would be likely to continue to have problems down the road. We must have spend a fortune on afew cows last year trying to get them back in calf, coils/estrumate/recepitol, eventually got them in calf but on hindsight would have been way less hassle to have just flogged them on while the cull cow prices were good.


  • #24
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Bizzum wrote: »
    Get them drunk. :-)

    Ah no, it's called fixed time insemination.
    Oh right never heard of it


  • #25
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    quadboy wrote: »
    How can you ai them if they arnt showing signs of bulling
    Fixed time AI it's called. AI them twice 72 and 96 hours after second injection. I know a farmer that did it and only two went incalf out of twenty.


  • #26
    Timmaay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    sh1tstirrer wrote: »
    Fixed time AI it's called. AI them twice 72 and 96 hours after second injection. I know a farmer that did it and only two went incalf out of twenty.

    Owch, that must have been an expensive exercise, surely it's only be worth while if you did yourown AI, and had a load of cheap straws.


  • #27
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    Planning on estrumating the heifers this week, was wondering is early feb too early for heifers to be calving,wouldn't buyers prefer an early calving heifer.
    Early Feb is perfect time for heifers. If I were buying I would only buy Feb calving


  • #28
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    Fixed time Ai only about 20% effective.


  • #29
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    Fixed time Ai only about 20% effective.
    I hope fixed time Ai is different to estrumating


  • #30
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    Timmaay wrote: »
    Owch, that must have been an expensive exercise, surely it's only be worth while if you did yourown AI, and had a load of cheap straws.

    What made it even more expensive for him is that he had to AI the heifers that didn't go incalf a third time and later in the season as he presumed that they were all incalf until he scanned them.


  • Advertisement
  • #31
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    quadboy wrote: »
    I hope fixed time Ai is different to estrumating

    You inject with estrumate then you can watch them for signs of heat or use fixed time AI.


  • #32
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    I hope fixed time Ai is different to estrumating
    Very different.
    We started Ai the heifers last Monday and Ai'd 60% in 7 days. We then estrumated the remaining heifers on Monday and only had 3 today but expect to be busy tomorrow and Thursday, bulls will then clean up.

    We are tailpainting the cows in am and starting ai tomorrow, so busy 2 mths ahead.


  • #33
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    Planning on estrumating the heifers this week, was wondering is early feb too early for heifers to be calving,wouldn't buyers prefer an early calving heifer.
    Have you started ai yet?


  • #34
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Im planning on using estrumate then use scratchcards to know whats bulling, gona stick a bullock in with them too, does this sound good


  • #35
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    Have you started ai yet?
    Not yet their being moved tomorrow and hopefully injected tomorrow evening or Thursday


  • #36
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    Im planning on using estrumate then use scratchcards to know whats bulling, gona stick a bullock in with them too, does this sound good
    Not a good idea. If a heifer was bulling in the last week est useless and will have to be done again.
    I suggest ai for 7 days and est on day 7 bullock may be a help


  • Advertisement
  • #37
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Yeah I suppose, ill try them for the week so and see what gets done, the main reason why I wanted to est was to get em done quick cos small enough field but I can move them to a field closer to home if I move things around and use crush in the shed


  • #38
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    Yeah I suppose, ill try them for the week so and see what gets done, the main reason why I wanted to est was to get em done quick cos small enough field but I can move them to a field closer to home if I move things around and use crush in the shed
    Your numbers will be dropping daily. Move all ai'd animals away as you serve. If you are really short of feed give them nuts, feed them well and all will be well. You need to watch well or use kmar/scratchcard not paint as it doesn't work on heifers. Our heifers are 20 miles away and we find scratch cards ok perhaps not as good as kmar. I will post picture tomorrow when we get there to do ai.


  • #39
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    20 miles jesus mine are only goin a mile out the road and to be fair theres two fields side by side with a nice bit of grass. used the scratchcards last year so will be using them again and theres only 12 to do, they should get at least two weeks out there


  • #40
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    20 miles jesus mine are only goin a mile out the road and to be fair theres two fields side by side with a nice bit of grass. used the scratchcards last year so will be using them again and theres only 12 to do, they should get at least two weeks out there
    You'll be well finished by then. Are you going to ai repeats?


  • #41
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    Yeah don't have any bull, do you stick new cards on ones served to c if they repeat or just stick them in with the bull


  • Advertisement
  • #42
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    We put with bull 2 days after ai so they have cooled down and in case we had a false heat(our mistake)
    You should return heifers to these paddocks in 18 days after you ai first one and repeats will come together. Some of the ones you inject may not come bulling as they may not be fully mature so maybe keep near yard with bullock and watch well.


  • #43
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    We put with bull 2 days after ai so they have cooled down and in case we had a false heat(our mistake)
    You should return heifers to these paddocks in 18 days after you ai first one and repeats will come together. Some of the ones you inject may not come bulling as they may not be fully mature so maybe keep near yard with bullock and watch well.
    The youngest is 14 months old


  • #44
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    15 months


  • #45
    sh1tstirrer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,489 ✭✭✭sh1tstirrer


    delaval wrote: »
    We put with bull 2 days after ai so they have cooled down and in case we had a false heat(our mistake)
    You should return heifers to these paddocks in 18 days after you ai first one and repeats will come together. Some of the ones you inject may not come bulling as they may not be fully mature so maybe keep near yard with bullock and watch well.

    Repeats need to be checked between 15 to 27 days after first ai.


  • #46
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    Not a good idea. If a heifer was bulling in the last week est useless and will have to be done again.
    I suggest ai for 7 days and est on day 7 bullock may be a help
    The vet gave the same advice so ill let them work away on their own for a while


  • #47
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    The vet gave the same advice so ill let them work away on their own for a while

    I'm not as dear


  • #48
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    A fella told me that you can get a heifer repeating a lot if you estrumate, is that true


  • #49
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    quadboy wrote: »
    A fella told me that you can get a heifer repeating a lot if you estrumate, is that true
    I don't know TBH. Make a plan and follow and don't be worried what fellas tell you because a fella probably told him:rolleyes:


  • #50
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    delaval wrote: »
    I don't know TBH. Make a plan and follow and don't be worried what fellas tell you because a fella probably told him:rolleyes:
    Yeah he was going by what fellsa told him and he said he didn't like early calving heifers


  • #51
    1chippy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,716 ✭✭✭1chippy


    quadboy wrote: »
    Yeah he was going by what fellsa told him and he said he didn't like early calving heifers
    we would try and have the heifers calving down as early as possible. Main calving starts from christmas on and would aim to have them calving down end of nov to early december. it doesnt always work that way but.
    Never heard of heifers repeating a lot with estrumate, always seems to work alright with us. if it was me i would aim to have them calving down as early as possible.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement