Post by Damon on Jun 16, 2009 11:18:59 GMT -5
Okay it's been 25+/- years since we've AI'd any cows (or owned any until we bought the group we have now late last year).
It's about time to breed the oldest girl and I've spoke to a few on here privately about it. She was standing about noon yesterday. Didn't see her (at all) prior to that, so don't know if she was standing or not. The folks on the farm she's at said they didn't notice her and we had worked her and fed the night before and no activity then.
I called my vet to see if she would do AI (my plan is to get certified myself, but Select Sires hasn't had a school lately so I can't get trained yet) and she said she did. I suggested we breed her last night but she opted for this morning. Okay, not my preference, but probably okay.
The other heifers were still very interested in her this morning (following her around), but because they thought they were getting fed no one went out of their way to mount her.
Vet came about 7:30 this morning and we AI'd her.....but this is where the freaked out part starts----she did everything in the vagina.....in years when I worked on the dairy & had my own cows/heifers the techs always "worked" everything from the rectum angle with only the pipette going in the vagina.
The lady who owns the farm the heifers are on said the same thing. The vet said she'd never done an AI through the rectum......Needless to say I was a little concerned about this thinking about infection, etc.......and I believe we might be a little late breeding her also--she said the cervix was quite tight and she wasn't sure that was normal for a heifer at breeding time. This is Emmy's first breeding. She cooperated fine...didn't even have to put her in the chute, just tied her to a rail in the alley of the barn.
Anyway, anyone with more up to date experiences on such matters, please chime in and make me (hopefully) feel a little better that my heifer could conceive and also that maybe I'm worrying about infection from this method of AI for nothing.
In the meantime I'm going to call SS again and also see if I can find a full time tech in the area. No luck on that so far. My vet said she hasn't AI'd a cow in a couple of years, but that this is the way she's always done it.
Damon
It's about time to breed the oldest girl and I've spoke to a few on here privately about it. She was standing about noon yesterday. Didn't see her (at all) prior to that, so don't know if she was standing or not. The folks on the farm she's at said they didn't notice her and we had worked her and fed the night before and no activity then.
I called my vet to see if she would do AI (my plan is to get certified myself, but Select Sires hasn't had a school lately so I can't get trained yet) and she said she did. I suggested we breed her last night but she opted for this morning. Okay, not my preference, but probably okay.
The other heifers were still very interested in her this morning (following her around), but because they thought they were getting fed no one went out of their way to mount her.
Vet came about 7:30 this morning and we AI'd her.....but this is where the freaked out part starts----she did everything in the vagina.....in years when I worked on the dairy & had my own cows/heifers the techs always "worked" everything from the rectum angle with only the pipette going in the vagina.
The lady who owns the farm the heifers are on said the same thing. The vet said she'd never done an AI through the rectum......Needless to say I was a little concerned about this thinking about infection, etc.......and I believe we might be a little late breeding her also--she said the cervix was quite tight and she wasn't sure that was normal for a heifer at breeding time. This is Emmy's first breeding. She cooperated fine...didn't even have to put her in the chute, just tied her to a rail in the alley of the barn.
Anyway, anyone with more up to date experiences on such matters, please chime in and make me (hopefully) feel a little better that my heifer could conceive and also that maybe I'm worrying about infection from this method of AI for nothing.
In the meantime I'm going to call SS again and also see if I can find a full time tech in the area. No luck on that so far. My vet said she hasn't AI'd a cow in a couple of years, but that this is the way she's always done it.
Damon