Ai course

mahoney_j

Doing a DIY ai course next month over 5 days(3 days in a factory and 2 days practical).course is costing 500 and they'll set me up with a tank and kit to start for 550 so 1050 all in.it sounds good to me what dove think??.ai man I use round here gone very busy in last few years andvit could be 11 or 12 o clock in morning before it gets to me.hate having cows hanging around that long in am having been finished milking around 8.adds to stress on cow which ain't needed at that time

49801

mahoney_j wrote: »

Doing a DIY ai course next month over 5 days(3 days in a factory and 2 days practical).course is costing 500 and they'll set me up with a tank and kit to start for 550 so 1050 all in.it sounds good to me what dove think??.ai man I use round here gone very busy in last few years andvit could be 11 or 12 o clock in morning before it gets to me.hate having cows hanging around that long in am having been finished milking around 8.adds to stress on cow which ain't needed at that time

DIY supposed to be a great job.
That is about the price of the course all right and does not sound like your being ripped off.
Only thing I'd say is stick to inexpensive straws for the first year or 2 till you build confidence. Also means if the straw does hold you won't feel too bad about having to give a repeat straw. And ou can also decide to admin again 12hrs later if you feel you went a bit early with the heat detection.

mahoney_j

49801 wrote: »

DIY supposed to be a great job.
That is about the price of the course all right and does not sound like your being ripped off.
Only thing I'd say is stick to inexpensive straws for the first year or 2 till you build confidence. Also means if the straw does hold you won't feel too bad about having to give a repeat straw. And ou can also decide to admin again 12hrs later if you feel you went a bit early with the heat detection.

It's the one thing that was always turning me off DIY.id hate it if I had a load of repeats which were down to something I was doin.ill have 70 cows next summer and 26 heifers to do and course facilitator says I can do a I day refresher Igbo want so ill proab do that.as regards cheap straws I use mostly high ebi hol freisan so wether what I pick is cheap or dear that's what I'll be using

delaval

mahoney_j wrote: »

Doing a DIY ai course next month over 5 days(3 days in a factory and 2 days practical).course is costing 500 and they'll set me up with a tank and kit to start for 550 so 1050 all in.it sounds good to me what dove think??.ai man I use round here gone very busy in last few years andvit could be 11 or 12 o clock in morning before it gets to me.hate having cows hanging around that long in am having been finished milking around 8.adds to stress on cow which ain't needed at that time

Don't know about price. We do ourselves two of us mostly herdsman with me as relief/backup.
You will never go back to ai man. If you have a large number you can always get ai man to help

C0N0R

Sorry to jump on the thread but got a quick question. I know over here ai companies are crying out for people, they train you and in return you have to do one season with them so about six weeks. Are there any any opportunities like this in ireland? We do all our own ai at home so ive no experience with using an ai man.

grassroot1

You would want to be serving a lot of cows to keep in practice though its a bit like riding a bike when you get the knack. an ai man would serve more in a week than you will in a year. Still I would not go back either. service charge on flask nitrogen will be about 200 per year. GOOD LUCK

49801

mahoney_j wrote: »

It's the one thing that was always turning me off DIY.id hate it if I had a load of repeats which were down to something I was doin.ill have 70 cows next summer and 26 heifers to do and course facilitator says I can do a I day refresher Igbo want so ill proab do that.as regards cheap straws I use mostly high ebi hol freisan so wether what I pick is cheap or dear that's what I'll be using

Hiefers supposed to be quite tricky even for an ai man. You might what to think about a bull?

mahoney_j

49801 wrote: »

Hiefers supposed to be quite tricky even for an ai man. You might what to think about a bull?

Heard that bout heifers ,heifers contain my best genetics so I definitely won't be putting a stock bull in them,maby for weeks 8 to 11 but by that stage I'd be hopeing most are in calf.might chicken out of heifers and get ai man to serve them,I'll see

mahoney_j

grassroot1 wrote: »

You would want to be serving a lot of cows to keep in practice though its a bit like riding a bike when you get the knack. an ai man would serve more in a week than you will in a year. Still I would not go back either. service charge on flask nitrogen will be about 200 per year. GOOD LUCK

Guy organising course told me 180 max

mahoney_j

grassroot1 wrote: »

You would want to be serving a lot of cows to keep in practice though its a bit like riding a bike when you get the knack. an ai man would serve more in a week than you will in a year. Still I would not go back either. service charge on flask nitrogen will be about 200 per year. GOOD LUCK

Guy organising course told me 180 max

mahoney_j

49801 wrote: »

Hiefers supposed to be quite tricky even for an ai man. You might what to think about a bull?

Heard that bout heifers ,heifers contain my best genetics so I definitely won't be putting a stock bull in them,maby for weeks 8 to 11 but by that stage I'd be hopeing most are in calf.might chicken out of heifers and get ai man to serve them,I'll see

funny man

I did the coarse over 20 years ago and all the advice i'll give ya is if your a good cow man with a bit of patients you will have no bother, use your normal straws and serve the heifers too, but try do them on standing heat as they are much easier when they are full of slime. i used a scale of 1-5 to score myself when i started and found it had no relavance as some cows i didn't get in full through the cervix still kept and others that were scored 5 repeated. i served my cull cows before i started just for target practice and as usual they all kept.

jersey101

C0N0R wrote: »

Sorry to jump on the thread but got a quick question. I know over here ai companies are crying out for people, they train you and in return you have to do one season with them so about six weeks. Are there any any opportunities like this in ireland? We do all our own ai at home so ive no experience with using an ai man.

i know in my area in mid wexford dovea are looking for lads, ive no time to to that though, otherwise id be at it. There looking for people in other areas too

farmerjack

Heifers are a lot trickier than cows alright, patience is key and if you are in a hurry you are better off letting the bull in.

vanderbadger

bought 2nd hand ai flask recently, havent done course or anything but thought it would be handy keep a few straws, would like to do the course going forward though

delaval

Just goes to show that we are all different. I find heifers impossible but herdsman finds easy. If you are finding a cow difficult go to the next one and come back to her. You have tall cows you will need to get a bit of height for your owm comfort for the first season till you get used to it

Brown Podzol

Did the AI course over 20 years ago. Do all the cows and the heifers. Heifers can be trickey, but with a bit of patients you'll be alright. Standing heat is much easier. I think the care with which you thaw and handle the straw has a big influence. When I'm finished with AI for the season I get the company I purchased the most straws from to empty the tank and store the straws until the start of next season. As they put nitrogen into the tank when they deliver the straws I have no yearly cost. If your tank springs a leak between topups you could loose what straws are in the tank. Best of luck.

grassroot1

Make sure you crush is 100% and the cow is well held, almost impossible to ai a cow that is not fully secure and calm.

mahoney_j

Thanks for all that folks.its something I've been meaning to do for yearsbutvalways put on long finger.it will give me a lot more choice in what bulls I use as I currently use all pg bulls but have often come across some dovea or euro gene etc bulls but it'd involve another ai man or else getting my pg ai man to store them in his tank which would be costly and he really dosnt want to do it.handling facilities are pretty good at home and outside farm so ok there and I'd be pretty patient and like my cows so I should be ok.if I've a heap of repeats il be back giving out that no one talked me out of it!!

funny man

vanderbadger wrote: »

bought 2nd hand ai flask recently, havent done course or anything but thought it would be handy keep a few straws, would like to do the course going forward though

really need to know what your buying in second hand flasks

49801

On the heifers... You could always take the advice on the estrumate thread and sync them 3 weeks before your target insemination date. Would ease the management of them for you.

awaywithyou

delaval wrote: »

Just goes to show that we are all different. I find heifers impossible but herdsman finds easy. If you are finding a cow difficult go to the next one and come back to her. You have tall cows you will need to get a bit of height for your owm comfort for the first season till you get used to it

Did you use the sexed semen on the heifers???

Ai man or yourselves doing it??

Heating the sexed semen straws.. Do they have to be heated to 37degrees rather than the 35 for the conventional straws....??

I'm doing a small bit of DIY ai... But I wonder bout how successful I'd be ai-ing heifers with the sexed straws.... Appears to be a very precise exercise to get it right...

delaval

awaywithyou wrote: »

Did you use the sexed semen on the heifers???

Ai man or yourselves doing it??

Heating the sexed semen straws.. Do they have to be heated to 37degrees rather than the 35 for the conventional straws....??

I'm doing a small bit of DIY ai... But I wonder bout how successful I'd be ai-ing heifers with the sexed straws.... Appears to be a very precise exercise to get it right...

We were part of a trial so ai man did heifers with sexed we did the rest ourselves.

We have never heated or thawed a straw since the early days of ai

TEAT SQUEEZER

delaval wrote: »

We were part of a trial so ai man did heifers with sexed we did the rest ourselves.

We have never heated or thawed a straw since the early days of ai

heard that said by lic rep before .. tap water at room temp... technicians use same container of water first to last..

heifers are a challenge sometimes ..best to do when they`re red hot

the vas bull will have left a "present" for you which assures you she is actually bulling .. handy

mahoney such are the pressures with getting stock in calf on time that its fair to say theres a bit of phsycology involved when a run of cows dont go in calf..

it can be frustrating when things are`nt going to plan..
went through a period where ibr was messing my con rates but had myself convinced i was to blame.. went back to tech for a spell with no improvement so was happy doing them again with things sorted and the probs solved... no harm in stepping back is what i`m saying..

could you do the course a little closer to the breding season ...

awaywithyou

delaval wrote: »

We were part of a trial so ai man did heifers with sexed we did the rest ourselves.

We have never heated or thawed a straw since the early days of ai

thawed was the word i was looking for there!! couldnt think of it..!!

whats your procedure to thaw straws?? will you do the same for sexed straws?

i have a proper flask for the job... wouldnt be comfortable with any homemade way of thawing....

but im just wondering if flask(35degrees) will do for sexed straws...

loveta

Done the ai course in 09 biggest mistake i done was not doing it years earlier i done it through genexl was E100/Day be it theory or in the factorys IMO one day theory is more than enough and it would be money better spent on the factory side of things but "for me" i picked up the insemanation end of things easy so two days in the factory was enough but heard of guys taking 5. On the flask side of things pick a good one and one with not to tight an opening cause they can be hard getting the goblets out when not being used often. Best of luck

Brown Podzol

awaywithyou wrote: »

thawed was the word i was looking for there!! couldnt think of it..!!

whats your procedure to thaw straws?? will you do the same for sexed straws?

i have a proper flask for the job... wouldnt be comfortable with any homemade way of thawing....

but im just wondering if flask(35degrees) will do for sexed straws...

I thaw them at the normal temp. 35 in the electric thaw flask. 80% conception.

Brown Podzol

awaywithyou wrote: »

thawed was the word i was looking for there!! couldnt think of it..!!

whats your procedure to thaw straws?? will you do the same for sexed straws?

i have a proper flask for the job... wouldnt be comfortable with any homemade way of thawing....

but im just wondering if flask(35degrees) will do for sexed straws...

Thaw at 35 in the electric thaw flask. 80% conception.

delaval

awaywithyou wrote: »

thawed was the word i was looking for there!! couldnt think of it..!!

whats your procedure to thaw straws?? will you do the same for sexed straws?

i have a proper flask for the job... wouldnt be comfortable with any homemade way of thawing....

but im just wondering if flask(35degrees) will do for sexed straws...

In the gun into the cow no fore play

We have a proper electric thawer used for 1 season made no differ

iverjohnston

Vander
Secondhand flasks, area to watch is the neck, which purports the entire weight of nitrogen and straws, try not to get one which spent time bouncing around in
a car or jeep.

Handy to have, and the companies Will be delighted to sell you straws, but the Dept. take an active interest in people without a licence buying and holding straws. They claim that they are trying to ensure the integrity of the national herd , which is a bulls%it response, as no body one is going to carry out strange in-breeding experiments just because they foot have a licence. All about control.

Milked out

DIY here too, AI all heifers and cows to friesan until bull goes in to mop up. If you have a few culls no harm on having a go with them for a bit of practice. The first year I was worrying a bit was it me when cows didn't hold an that but quickly found out like most things in life when you stop fretting over it and drive on you'll be grand. Heifers can be tricky sometimes but when you relax and remember the training you should be fine. Everyone comes across some hoors that just don't play ball so don't worry too much about it. As you already know the most important part of breeding is getting the cow right, calving ok, if not sorting her out asap with washout (another advantage of doing the course, not having to get the vet out for this) etc, having them in good condition and on the rising plane of nutrition during the season and heat detection, having these right will have you getting results as good as any AI man
On the AI flask go for a new one as previously said a second hand one may not last as you don't know its history, also wouldn't advise emptying it of nitrogen as the inner vessel would be contracting and expanding and this could cause it to leak, or so I'm told. safest thing to do is keep it out of harms way and dip it regularly.

vanderbadger

funny man wrote: »

really need to know what your buying in second hand flasks

bit of a gamble i suppose alright, hoping to get them filled soon and see if they are ok

joejobrien

Done the course over 26 years ago.;)
Best job was ever. Started on hefiers and cows on day one. Hefiers definitely tricky, but just relax and suddenly your thro and having them hot on heat is a big help. I do cows in the milking palour just after been milked but not the line let off, then she is leaving with her mates ,never gets excited. Need to be skillful at that stage though.Never required a refresher and still hitting good results. Highly recommend it.

C0N0R

jersey101 wrote: »

i know in my area in mid wexford dovea are looking for lads, ive no time to to that though, otherwise id be at it. There looking for people in other areas too

Cheers jersey, must check that out, do they put you through the course or what way does it work?

John_F

mahoney_j wrote: »

Doing a DIY ai course next month over 5 days(3 days in a factory and 2 days practical).course is costing 500 and they'll set me up with a tank and kit to start for 550 so 1050 all in.it sounds good to me what dove think??.ai man I use round here gone very busy in last few years andvit could be 11 or 12 o clock in morning before it gets to me.hate having cows hanging around that long in am having been finished milking around 8.adds to stress on cow which ain't needed at that time

who are you doing it with & is it true only certain factorys allow it, abp apparently don't

maxxuumman

Being meaning to do the course for the last few yrs. cows dried off early this yr so have a bit of time. Rang them this morning, going to do it in December.

jersey101

C0N0R wrote: »

Cheers jersey, must check that out, do they put you through the course or what way does it work?

i did the course in college with them, they came to talk to us about bulls then in college and said they are looking for AI lads in certain areas. I dont know much more than that. Miight be best to give them a ring