Breeding season 2014

case 956

thought it be a good idea for people to dip in and share there experiences and pogress during the breeding. When are ye all hoping to start? Me I starting heifers from next Monday and cows the 26th April

knockmulliner

Started 7 days ago. 35 serves out of 100 animals. I will synchronise the balance of the heifers tomorrow. Happy enough with progress.

frazzledhome

case 956 wrote: »

thought it be a good idea for people to dip in and share there experiences and pogress during the breeding. When are ye all hoping to start? Me I starting heifers from next Monday and cows the 26th April

Ditto here, as going to start heifs tomorrow by will wait till Monday, burning bushes today

C4d78

Cows going well. Heifers are a nightmare so far. Really hard to tell if bulling. Scratch cards on and teaser running with them. All over 370/380 kgs so size not a problem. Anyone same experience or any suggestions ??

mahoney_j

C4d78 wrote: »

Cows going well. Heifers are a nightmare so far. Really hard to tell if bulling. Scratch cards on and teaser running with them. All over 370/380 kgs so size not a problem. Anyone same experience or any suggestions ??

Could they be lacking in minerals ???.at 370-380kg there in supper condition

C4d78

mahoney_j wrote: »

Could they be lacking in minerals ???.at 370-380kg there in supper condition

Ya probably better condition than any year. Was thinking it could be a mineral thing as well. Have gone in with Selinium and Iodine in the water in past few days. I'm guessing this would take a while to make any difference thou??

keep going

C4d78 wrote: »

Cows going well. Heifers are a nightmare so far. Really hard to tell if bulling. Scratch cards on and teaser running with them. All over 370/380 kgs so size not a problem. Anyone same experience or any suggestions ??

Dont see alot of activity in my own but its a bull going in any way but the cows are bulling like nuts this year

case 956

keep going wrote: »

Dont see alot of activity in my own but its a bull going in any way but the cows are bulling like nuts this year

see my own cows coming bulling 30 days after calving, next job is for them to hold the straw and not put back out on the ground :rolleyes: regarding heifers there all been round now, AI heifers for 10 days and the Hereford can go then allowing me time to concentrate on cows

Timmaay

Have being serving afew heifers and fertile cows the last few days with sexed straws, abit earlier incase they don't hold. With alot of short gestation bulls I don't see the reason to start too early in any case, on average our cows calved about a wk before their time.

jack o shea

anyone ever chance 2 bulls together with the cows?

frazzledhome

jack o shea wrote: »

anyone ever chance 2 bulls together with the cows?

Why would you chance one?

Greengrass1

Starting Monday.
Will have a nice break between autumn and spring calving now.
All Nov all dec and all Jan.
Will be a big difference compared to this year

jack o shea

i mean would they fight?

visatorro

a lad told me before if your running a bull have an odd number. if a cow is round two of them will fight leaving the smart fella to serve the cow. i work off farm so AI is very hard to do. started last autumn serving heifers with AI so at least i will have some good quality home grown replacements. freisan bull goes with cows then. im nearly at my max numbers wise so im toying with the idea of an angus or hereford bull and sell the calves. carry less stock.

scanning next week. will scan autumn and spring calvers. then bull back with cows

frazzledhome

jack o shea wrote: »

i mean would they fight?

They'll sort out who's boss in a few minutes. I always run more than one as I be worried one would not be working

jack o shea

let off a new young lad this evening with an older lad was worried il find a war zone in the morning, the older lad is a bit lame and worried he might not be working, was it the right thing to do?

frazzledhome

jack o shea wrote: »

let off a new young lad this evening with an older lad was worried il find a war zone in the morning, the older lad is a bit lame and worried he might not be working, was it the right thing to do?

Yes, most likely old guy not working. Are you going to remove and rest him

jack o shea

i tried get him in this evening but he was having none of it he was mad after a cow which is good i suppose. could try him with the heifers?no roadway to be walking on.

Greengrass1

jack o shea wrote: »

i tried get him in this evening but he was having none of it he was mad after a cow which is good i suppose. could try him with the heifers?no roadway to be walking on.

Test him to see.
Would you try AI a few?

jack o shea

was thinking of ai but im not really set up for it properly, never did it before.

Greengrass1

jack o shea wrote: »

was thinking of ai but im not really set up for it properly, never did it before.

All ye need is a crush and a phone to call AI man.
Even to do heifers would be a good job. You will very quickly see the return in 2-3 yrs

frazzledhome

jack o shea wrote: »

was thinking of ai but im not really set up for it properly, never did it before.

Jack, you wouldn't have any regrets. Even if you did first round with heifers and cows.

You could run heifers and cows together if you didn't have too many. Remove heifers as they're done. Some lads on their own do it

frazzledhome

Not to be smart
From other posts of yours you seem to be on heavy ground.

If so why are you serving cows so early? Would it not suit you to serve in two weeks time and calve closer to turnout?

case 956

Does anyone use the scratch cards on cows as well as heifers and also do you ai pm and am or just once daily cows and heifers

frazzledhome

case 956 wrote: »

Does anyone use the scratch cards on cows as well as heifers and also do you ai pm and am or just once daily cows and heifers

Used scratch cards on heifers last year, would prefer kmars TBH. Some think the opposite.

All ai once a day here, am only.

Greengrass1

Going to use kamars this year along with crayons and see how it goes.
Only ever AId once a day in the last 30 yrs

RightTurnClyde

+1 on the kamars. Have tried lots of alternatives on the heifers but the kamars are giving the best results by far. If they're put in right you'll need a vice grips to get them off. ( just thought of a good stag prank)
AI in the morning after milking.

awaywithyou

case 956 wrote: »

Does anyone use the scratch cards on cows as well as heifers and also do you ai pm and am or just once daily cows and heifers

I used to be an am and pm man for ai... But after doing a bit of reading into it over the winter and chatting to our ai man bout it..... Just going with once a dy this yr but it will be done at the same time every morning...

Deepsouthwest

case 956 wrote: »

Does anyone use the scratch cards on cows as well as heifers and also do you ai pm and am or just once daily cows and heifers

Scratch cards in heifers and cows for the second yr in a row. Really think the scratch are the business here. AM only for AI here as well

freedominacup

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

+1 on the kamars. Have tried lots of alternatives on the heifers but the kamars are giving the best results by far. If they're put in right you'll need a vice grips to get them off. ( just thought of a good stag prank)
AI in the morning after milking.

I'd have thought it would be more of a hen prank tbh.

Nick64

For those ai once a day if a cow is mad bulling at ai time do ye do her then or leave her till next morning?

Deepsouthwest

Nick64 wrote: »

For those ai once a day if a cow is mad bulling at ai time do ye do her then or leave her till next morning?

If she's well marked/worn on the back, and looks like she's been bulling a while, she's done that morning. Occasionally I'll get it wrong and she'll still be standing/bulling mad in the evening, she'll have to be served again the following morning

golodge

Let the last one from six heifer into the herd today. Others are there for one and a half month already. Finally all herd for this year are in one pasture. Heifers will be bred by easy calving Limousine bull. Sire of heifers are AngusxLimousinex homebred bull. Dams are Charx, BBx, Angusx.

trixi2011

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

If she's well marked/worn on the back, and looks like she's been bulling a while, she's done that morning. Occasionally I'll get it wrong and she'll still be standing/bulling mad in the evening, she'll have to be served again the following morning

does the seamen not live in the cow for 48 hours??? I always do them the morning I see them and if bulling the next day I wont put a straw in her. Better to be to early than to late

Deepsouthwest

trixi2011 wrote: »

does the seamen not live in the cow for 48 hours??? I always do them the morning I see them and if bulling the next day I wont put a straw in her. Better to be to early than to late

Ur probably right, but if a cow was still bulling the following day I'd definitely fire another straw into her. Getting the cow incalf is still my first priority, it doesn't happen too often that a cow will still be bulling hard 24hrs later. Ur point is still valid though

whelan2

just wondering if you text ai man that you have a call do you get a reply back from them?

Timmaay

whelan2 wrote: »

just wondering if you text ai man that you have a call do you get a reply back from them?

I'd put a please text back to confirm you got this at the end. I always just call the office, I asked them (pg) before if they would not consider a text service, it would be handy in my opinion.

whelan2

Timmaay wrote: »

I'd put a please text back to confirm you got this at the end. I always just call the office, I asked them (pg) before if they would not consider a text service, it would be handy in my opinion.

only on day 2 of breeding here and already i want to change to a different company, i text the ai man when i see cow/s in heat he doesnt bother to reply so i end up ringing call centre-which costs as its a lo call number off a mobile. Also this crap of having to give your herd number ffs when i ring the chinese they know my name and address before i say anything. I was on phone to ai when ai man drove in:mad: yes he did get my text just didnt bother to reply, manners cost nothing

freedominacup

whelan2 wrote: »

only on day 2 of breeding here and already i want to change to a different company, i text the ai man when i see cow/s in heat he doesnt bother to reply so i end up ringing call centre-which costs as its a lo call number off a mobile. Also this crap of having to give your herd number ffs when i ring the chinese they know my name and address before i say anything. I was on phone to ai when ai man drove in:mad: yes he did get my text just didnt bother to reply, manners cost nothing

Manners might cost nothing Whelan but texting everyone who texts him in a morning would surely cost him time. I'd imagine if there's a problem that has him stopped he'd have time to text that he wouldn't be coming. How many calls would he have? How long to reply to each text? Is he supposed to pull in each time to reply? Or do you want him in your yard as soon as possible each day?

Viewtodiefor

whelan2 wrote: »

only on day 2 of breeding here and already i want to change to a different company, i text the ai man when i see cow/s in heat he doesnt bother to reply so i end up ringing call centre-which costs as its a lo call number off a mobile. Also this crap of having to give your herd number ffs when i ring the chinese they know my name and address before i say anything. I was on phone to ai when ai man drove in:mad: yes he did get my text just didnt bother to reply, manners cost nothing

Always ring main number. Don't think it's a big deal calling out herd number for them being honest, have ai mans number but I think it keeps things right going through the proper channels for call outs at least they have record of call and you have some come back if any problems, not that we have any usually.

whelan2

freedominacup wrote: »

Manners might cost nothing Whelan but texting everyone who texts him in a morning would surely cost him time. I'd imagine if there's a problem that has him stopped he'd have time to text that he wouldn't be coming. How many calls would he have? How long to reply to each text? Is he supposed to pull in each time to reply? Or do you want him in your yard as soon as possible each day?

i text the night before, like i texted last night at 8pm, he had always asked to be texted the night before so he could plan his route, he always used to reply .as it is i will just call call centre from now on as it does my head in having to do both, edited to say i wouldnt text him while he is on the road, i would ring call centre then, and no i dont expect him to stop working to reply to me , even a blank reply to let it be known he got the text. It has been known to happen here that i forget to put in the call and cows are in crush all morning. I like to text when its in my head

bogman_bass

Much easier to call the call center I think.
If your AI man is off for whatever reason you'll have somebody out to you.

He could be doing 100 cows a day in a weeks time. I know If I was in his boat I wouldnt be taking the time to reply

freedominacup

whelan2 wrote: »

i text the night before, like i texted last night at 8pm, he had always asked to be texted the night before so he could plan his route, he always used to reply .as it is i will just call call centre from now on as it does my head in having to do both, edited to say i wouldnt text him while he is on the road, i would ring call centre then, and no i dont expect him to stop working to reply to me , even a blank reply to let it be known he got the text. It has been known to happen here that i forget to put in the call and cows are in crush all morning. I like to text when its in my head

If it's the night before as per an arrangement you had with the guy then I can understand you getting exasparated.

Greengrass1

Most of my cows are bulling in the morning very rarely have one the night before. So I don't how I would work it would if my AI man wanted to be texted this evening befire

frazzledhome

Could you not arrange for ai person to call daily at fixedish time, you text if you've nothing in heat

whelan2

frazzledhome wrote: »

Could you not arrange for ai person to call daily at fixedish time, you text if you've nothing in heat

i could but i do not know the days he is not on, i will just call the call centre from now on, there have been mornings he has been here at 7 am, as he has my text from night before. I would sometimes text him early in morning too if i see a cow on then, this would be before he started his run.

Greengrass1

Our lad lives 5 miles away and is in yard around 9 each morning. Very handy

jt65

whelan2 wrote: »

only on day 2 of breeding here and already i want to change to a different company, i text the ai man when i see cow/s in heat he doesnt bother to reply so i end up ringing call centre-which costs as its a lo call number off a mobile. Also this crap of having to give your herd number ffs when i ring the chinese they know my name and address before i say anything. I was on phone to ai when ai man drove in:mad: yes he did get my text just didnt bother to reply, manners cost nothing

expecting ai man to text back is a bit much TBH

whelan2

jt65 wrote: »

expecting ai man to text back is a bit much TBH

each to their own the other side is him expecting farmer to text him is a bit much. How am i supposed to know if he got the text or if he is working if he doesnt reply, anyway thats my last comment on it. He asked me to text if i have cows on-outside office hours- , i do that he doesnt reply , end of.

whelan2

is yad available?

Deepsouthwest

whelan2 wrote: »

is yad available?

Was told by local AI man he's a v young bull and won't be available until mid May at the earliest.