DIY AI and buying semen

[organicguy]

I was disappointed with the lack of response to a genuine question!

Old fashioned friesians would fit the bill

 

[LTH]

Ours do let the side down theast 60/90 days each season. Not all, but a lot get fat and stop milking.
I'm more than happy to be at fault with how i feed them tho.

Depends what your after, what others may have in yield the Friesian beats on longevity and dual purpose ability.

 

[LTH]

I was disappointed with the lack of response to a genuine question!

British Friesian a your answer, choose a smaller stature high milk bull. GTW?

 

[Cowmansam]

Depends what your after, what others may have in yield the Friesian beats on longevity and dual purpose ability.

They have to last to make up for lack of milk good ones are about the perfect cow I reckon but some of them want to be dry the second there in calf

 

[borderterribles]

Are British Friesians any cheerier to milk nowadays? Because there were some proper miserable bitches amongst their number forty years ago!

 

[Cowmansam]

Mine are fine but there’s definitely more about them than the other breeds not a bad thing don’t think I’ve ever had one lie down and give up

 

[LTH]

Are British Friesians any cheerier to milk nowadays? Because there were some proper miserable bitches amongst their number forty years ago!

Quiet as mice

 

[Jdunn55]

Are British Friesians any cheerier to milk nowadays? Because there were some proper miserable bitches amongst their number forty years ago!

I Would say they're fine to milk, heifers can be naughty some times but in comparison to a holstein they're a bit more lively, however, if they slip over in the yard they get back up, walk miles with little issue and get in calf no problem and they'll milk, got cows who calved in october still doing 20l on just grass and cake which I'm pleased with but I'm sure someone will tell me that's not good enough or else theres are doing better!

 

[Jamer]

You can literally set filters on Herd Genetic Reports on the AHDB site. It tells you what bulls satisfy your criteria. You can then run them on an inbreeding checker to check they aren’t too closely bred.

If you can narrow it down to 10-15 bulls, you can choose the bulls for yourself without any need for the rep.

I’ve used it loads if anyone wants to talk it through.

Filter out those that shorten teat length and your list is pretty concise nowadays...

 

[John1975]

We are now on a 4M only policy now when buying sexed because the results have been great compared to the old sexed stuff. Good luck with bull selection its a minefield

 

[pine_guy]

So thank you for all the advice, both on this thread and via direct messages. A general theme seems to be that people are worried we will loose milk volume if we use jersey over our 3 part+ flek heifers. And not gain massively in constituents. So looking at bull data, the three bulls attached have similar milk volume (just chose 3 similar at random). We are thinking if we use a good milky jersey this shouldn’t be a problem. We are happy with a smaller 6500-7000l cow. So would you expect these three bulls to produce offspring of similar milkyness, ignoring what the cows physically look like.

 

[LTH]

So thank you for all the advice, both on this thread and via direct messages. A general theme seems to be that people are worried we will loose milk volume if we use jersey over our 3 part+ flek heifers. And not gain massively in constituents. So looking at bull data, the three bulls attached have similar milk volume (just chose 3 similar at random). We are thinking if we use a good milky jersey this shouldn’t be a problem. We are happy with a smaller 6500-7000l cow. So would you expect these three bulls to produce offspring of similar milkyness, ignoring what the cows physically look like.
View attachment 965802View attachment 965803View attachment 965804

Where’s the British Friesian at

 

[Spudley]

No, unfortunately you can't compare the milk figures from one breed to the next as they all have different bases. You can do it via the Sci or Ali pages on the ahdb website though. I found Chrome and Altazazzle but not the MRI. You can see that when they are on the same base the Holstein is much migher milk than the Jersey.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

No, unfortunately you can't compare the milk figures from one breed to the next as they all have different bases. You can do it via the Sci or Ali pages on the ahdb website though. I found Chrome and Altazazzle but not the MRI. You can see that when they are on the same base the Holstein is much migher milk than the Jersey.
View attachment 965846

View attachment 965847

I suspect the MRI doesn’t have many daughters in UK recorded herds. That could be the issue as to why he hasn’t showed up on the AHDB page. Most of the data contributing to the figures would have been Irish I guess.

Even then, surely there are stronger bulls than this?

 

[pine_guy]

Where’s the British Friesian at

Popping out all the time Sadly, today’s was a bull

 

[pine_guy]

I suspect the MRI doesn’t have many daughters in UK recorded herds. That could be the issue as to why he hasn’t showed up on the AHDB page. Most of the data contributing to the figures would have been Irish I guess.

Even then, surely there are stronger bulls than this?

I just randomly picked a bull from each breed with a milk yield of 850kg, just to demo straight my question.

 

[Spudley]

I don't think Ahdb even have a section on the website for MRI!

 

[Jdunn55]

I just randomly picked a bull from each breed with a milk yield of 850kg, just to demo straight my question.

What is it you're trying to aim for? I would list your priorities in order from top to bottom, that will help narrow down breeds and then you can narrow down bulls within that from there. Despite what everyone tells you on here theres nothing wrong with a decent holstein (hence why they're the most popular!) And theres a huge variety within the holstein breed (from show cows that pump out the milk but need TLC to more grazing types as well) then theres british friesian which are what they are and I wouldnt be afraid of them on for low milk as if you pick a high milk bull they'll do 7000 easy, and then theres jersey as well, which although not my personal favourite they have their place. Imo the rest are minority breeds and if you want to use them that's fine but when crossing with them it's a bit of an unchartered water as you wont quite be able to predict what you'll get - could be good, could be bad!

 

[pine_guy]

What is it you're trying to aim for? I would list your priorities in order from top to bottom, that will help narrow down breeds and then you can narrow down bulls within that from there. Despite what everyone tells you on here theres nothing wrong with a decent holstein (hence why they're the most popular!) And theres a huge variety within the holstein breed (from show cows that pump out the milk but need TLC to more grazing types as well) then theres british friesian which are what they are and I wouldnt be afraid of them on for low milk as if you pick a high milk bull they'll do 7000 easy, and then theres jersey as well, which although not my personal favourite they have their place. Imo the rest are minority breeds and if you want to use them that's fine but when crossing with them it's a bit of an unchartered water as you wont quite be able to predict what you'll get - could be good, could be bad!

We’ve started a short list. We picked the type of cows we want from the existing herd and now trying to pick bulls to serve different cows to uniform the herd a bit. Idea is 5 different dairy bulls max leaving a pot in the flask for beef

 

[pine_guy]

Also just working through a catalogue or two after breakfast so other breeds/suppliers will be added for those that don’t see their name yet