Diy ai

I did the course twenty years ago, bought a flask, it’s still going strong (touch wood), never move it. I found it tricky the first year or two and kept a bull on but once i got the hang of it and a bit of confidence i find it easy enough now, find the alpha sheaths very good, only do 25-30 cows and heifers, don’t let anyone say it’s not worth it for a small number like that, it is. Had 28 calved in 46 days last year, it was too compact a calving season really, would average three repeats a year and 85-90% of cows Ai’ed go in calf on average, being able to do them at the right time whether 6 in the morning or 10 at night is a big plus i think. On a hundred cow herd the saving would be more like two grand i’d say. There’s a knack to it, once you master it, it’s like riding a bike you do it without thinking about what you’re doing.

You do have to be careful not to buy too many straws, just buy enough to do the year but sometimes i would stock a bit up on a good bull i that might not be available soon.

There’s any amount of good beef straws available for €10 - €20, but you’re paying about €20 per cow for the Ai tech putting the straw in the cow, so a DIY operator is saving €20 per cow before costs of liquid nitrogen (€200/year) and the initial cost of the course and flask spread out over whatever number of years. Both systems have pros and cons. It’s probably only a matter of time until NCBC are charging 30 yo-yos plus the straw cost per cow cause you know Covid and Brexit.

Depends on where you are though too. The AI tech for this area only lives a couple of miles away. But he covers a massive area and when he is busy, he'd only be calling at about 7am or after 8pm (on his way home). Actually some times he might be even later than that. So I can well imagine lads doing it if they have difficulty getting one out when they need him

(Although it probably still wouldn't be worth the bother of doing the DIY course for here)

Would you be better off ringing or texting him when you see the cow bulling. That gives him 12 ish hours notice then.

I disagree. Give him all the information so that he can plan his route.

If you don't get good service after that then fair enough.

Why the delay in getting the call or message to him?

When I used to be breeding heifers I always left him know when I'd see them coming on. Always got great service and a word of thanks for letting him know so that he could plan his route.

It's a bit much if you see a cow bulling this evening and go out tomorrow morning and ring the tech and expect him in the yard straight away when he already has calls lined up.

My AI man has a defined route. The arrangement would be the same as Patsy, see a cow night before & ring him in the morning around 8. If he's busy be 12 or not so much would be 10ish. He'd have a lot of dairy lads in-between which take the time.

I'm tempted to do the course myself as I can AI before or after work for flexibility & not caught with one companies straws.

A friend of mine who is in an isolated part of West cork who'd be in an area of part-time suckler farmers have it rough regards AI or even getting a vet out. His AI man is like Patsy's man just an awkward individual .

On the other hand my brother who started dairy last year lives next door to his ai man and is his second call in the morning's. You couldn't faze this young lad and has an encyclopedic knowledge of bulls.