Fertility figures comparison

[Beef farmer]

Also with sexed semen a heifer replacement should only ever be bred to a first service in the first 21days. Doesn't matter how good the cow is if she doesn't get in calf to first service she is not good enough to breed a replacement.

might be a step too for jdunn

 

[In the pit]

Put first 4 weeks of your block to sexed semen then put some bulls in for 6 weeks then stop serving til the autumn and do same again
Paint cows with tail paint on morning before first day of ai and as paint is rubbed of put different colour on along with the day number where it can’t get rubbed and then use scratchies for the autumns
I NEVER use the vet for fertility

 

[In the pit]

Also with sexed semen a heifer replacement should only ever be bred to a first service in the first 21days. Doesn't matter how good the cow is if she doesn't get in calf to first service she is not good enough to breed a replacement.

Breeds good fertility

 

[Jdunn55]

might be a step too for jdunn

For once its actually not! because yhe heifers will be at grass there is 0 chance of me bringing them in twice a day for 3-4 weeks for ai (not to mention they would have to be on the dairy cows grazing platform and there isn't room) so I shall be doing a sync program with them so they're all synced to calve a week before the cows are meant to start calving to sexed semen (can concentrate on the heifers and hopefully have 50% of heifers calved before the cows and then a 3 week break from heifers to concentrate on the cows - majority should be calving in the first 3 weeks) anything that doesn't hold to first service will go to a bull

 

[Jdunn55]

Morning @Jdunn55 .

What I have done to my herd over the last few years is -
1. Breed plenty of replacements
2. Cull all problem cows
3. drop the Vet out for carrying out any fertility work. Sounds wrong but I just found I was keeping the problem cows. If you can A.I you can easily spot and treat dirty cows yourself.
4. Serve when bulling, I dont bother with the am,pm malarky. If AI needed to be so precise it would never have cought on. I am sure i have read somewhere that semen can survive up to 36 hours in the cow, so bang it in ready for the egg is my motto.
5. Sexed semen has transformed the job, sexed AI for three weeks on the cows to breed replacements, and then beef.
7. Create 2 calving blocks so that you can keep cows that you like, but only serve to beef. I add this because I know how much these cows mean to you, so will help ease the transition, and make sure you dont breed from the problem cows.

After carrying out this for a few years I have a herd of cows that are fertile, and I can spot the bullers every day with no need for heat detection. However having the cows bulling in the winter helps, for you being spring calving with cows out of sight I could see this being harder.

I have to remind myself of these points when bulling time comes around every year to make sure I stick to them. I did have 2 calving blocks to make life easier whilst carrying through this plan. Now I am happy that I can go to 1 autumn block.

These are just some points I have worked with, and am now happy with were I am. I know they might not suit your system, or anybody else for that matter. But has worked with me. Make use of the high barren price and relatively cheap youngstock price if you need.

Thank-you, good advice there, particularly in regards to not having the vet around. I've never thought of it that way but that does make sense, currently I haven't got enough cows or replacements though so for next year and possibly the following year I may continue to have the vet to treat problem cows rather than culling them and then once I have enough replacements coming through properly that sounds like a good idea! Even if the problem cows just get put to beef, that way I'm not breeding problem fertility genetics into the herd but I'm also not losing cows if that makes sense.
I should have loads of replacements being born next year so 2024 will be the year I can choose who I want to cull rather than having to keep as much as possible around whether I like them or not!

You're right about semen surviving for a while, I did a fair bit on this at college for one of my assignments, in some cases it can survive for a few days, I'm just not very confident in my ai'ing yet so quite often ai when bulling and will go back again the next day and serve her again just to make sure

 

[Wee Willy]

I thought sync program and sexed don’t go together??

 

[Jdunn55]

I thought sync program and sexed don’t go together??

I hope they do! No one said anything to me anyway?!

 

[cosatron]

Also with sexed semen a heifer replacement should only ever be bred to a first service in the first 21days. Doesn't matter how good the cow is if she doesn't get in calf to first service she is not good enough to breed a replacement.

this times a thousand. We find the most fertile cows in our herd are the cows who are breed out cows that keep on the first service with conventional. The ones that aren't as fertile are the ones breed out of cows that were on there second/third service. So we usually use beef straws on the second service

 

[Wee Willy]

I hope they do! No one said anything to me anyway?!

I know a man sync 13 heifers. Sexed semen. One pregnancy. They all held with the bull.

 

[Jdunn55]

Perhaps for our benefits refresh us how your current calving is where you want to be and how your going to get there.

Withe regards vet involvement as a block Calver they should only visit the farm twice.
Once to solve problems early and secondly to tell you who is empty

The problem solving visit is conventionally 3 days before start of service to see everything not seen bulling. Personally have mine at day 21 of service because time is the biggest healer and a lot of those cows you see at day -3 naturally sort themselves out.
There is also a school of thought to deal with dirty cows earlier. I disagree with this one as well time will sort it or its too bad to be sorted.
With the use of sexed semen without a heat detection a bull is probably the best way of picking up the tail Ender's.
If you have block calving right it is very difficult to have enough time to have a vet visit that allows enough time to sort out of negative cows to serve again.

The quickest way to achieve a good block is to allow natural selection. If a cow has not made the block easily it is probably just postponing your problems for future years to work too hard to keep her.

So currently due for next year I have about 15 calving in February, 30 in March, and 15 again in April and then another 15 to calve between May and June, nothing in July (managed to restrain myself from ai'ing anything for a whole month ) and then hopefully another 20 to calve between August and September but I'm still serving these and haven't scanned anything so not sure on numbers for each month or empties as of yet.

I want to be calving 100 between February and March with nothing in April onwards and then another 50 calving in August- September

My plan was to shave a month off the spring block each year, so next year only serve for them to calve February-April 2023 and cut May and June off completely
Whilst I'm still building numbers up, I'll probably serve twice to sexed semen and then beef after that
Anything that calves next year in may-june I may give one shot to get in calf and stay in the spring block but if they don't hold I'll probably shift them to the autumn block instead rather than have them lingering inbetween and end up calving again the following year in May-june if that makes sense?

 

[Beef farmer]

You tb clear?

 

[In the pit]

Day 10 served and day 15

 

[In the pit]

Sell the fancy Holsteins and buy a big bunch of February calving cows and put milk in your tank

 

[Sylution]

Don't make the mistake I made of keeping the good cows, and giving them another chance. I was guilty of this, and they would often end up becoming 7months in calf (because they get in calf in the end), lame and just a pain in the arse until they calve and you molly coddle them until they look half good and milk for another year. Seriously if you have nice heifers coming through, and sell the good cows as barreners a year or 2 earlier you will be happier. You soon forget about the cows once sold. This however takes a few years to master, but I feel i now know when a cows time in the herd is up. Good luck.

 

[Beef farmer]

Treat it as a business.
Amazon wouldn't pay 20% of their drivers to sit in a van in the car park.

 

[Rossymons]

I know a man sync 13 heifers. Sexed semen. One pregnancy. They all held with the bull.

Timings are vital for sync programmes. Seen plenty when the timings are all wrong and the whole thing goes to cock. A good programme should deliver conception rates in the region 60 - 70% and that's with sexed semen.

 

[Rossymons]

What's you preference method of heat detection? I've had a few quotes come in for collars/tag/pedometers and not something I can afford currently even with the grant

My preference is for a system that works for that farm. Every farm is different so there is no cut and dry approach.

As you're someone who likes to keep 15 plates spinning at one time I honestly think that technology could really help you. You can do what you like with the rest of your day knowing that the most important part of your operation - heat detection - is happening. It's just there constantly working in the background - look at your phone and it tells you which ones need attention. Each system is slightly different but the choice is yours. If its grazing range your after then Moo Monitor goes at 1km but most of the rest offer ~300m. I could go on for hours about them.

You mention about money and by buying those expensive heifers you did the other day I can't help feel you've put the cart before the horse. The money from those heifers could have made a massive dent in a top notch system for you which would pay for itself a lot quicker than those heifers would have. But that ship has sailed long ago seeing as they're on farm.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Also with sexed semen a heifer replacement should only ever be bred to a first service in the first 21days. Doesn't matter how good the cow is if she doesn't get in calf to first service she is not good enough to breed a replacement.

This is what I'm doing, the only cows eligible for sexed have to have calved in the first three weeks and be bulling in the first 3 weeks.

 

[More to life]

Treat it as a business.
Amazon wouldn't pay 20% of their drivers to sit in a van in the car park

Do you ever keep run a round cows ?

 

[Rossymons]

There is also a school of thought to deal with dirty cows earlier. I disagree with this one as well time will sort it or its too bad to be sorted.

I very much agree with the above. From my own time managing cows if a cow had a bad calving, twins, milk fever or any other way for metritis to happen they often make their way onto to the empty list because they either don't conceive or don't express oestrus. In the end I let them get on with it and sort themselves out and it made no difference to when I threw a load of drugs and vet time at it.