Post by buxombeefcowdairy on May 4, 2008 19:59:39 GMT -5
We have been AI breeding for 5 weeks now, and so most of the ladies have had one service already and some have had two, having failed to conceive the first time.
We square off the end of the tail after we breed, so we can easily see whether a cow has been AI bred. Anyway, there are only a few 'long-tails', and one long-tailed heifer looked like she got sweated up last night. Her vulva was a little swollen, but she didn't show any signs of having been ridden. Now, the occasional really bossy cow or heifer (they live in separate quarters) will not allow others to ride them, so since we had seen no other evidence of a heat cycle DH decided that we should breed her this morning.
We got her in the chute, and thawed the semen. Upon inserting the gun I thought it unlikely that she was in heat, since she really resented the breeding gun (they are pretty accepting when in heat, but generally don't like it at all if they aren't, especially when you poke the cervix!).
I didn't find the cervix right away, but felt a really big ovary...and another one...and this doesn't feel right at all...and there's a hoof and there's a head!! (Those weren't ovaries but cotyledons.) I handed the AI gun back to my husband and told him we were too late. ;D
This heifer is now 15 months old, and will calve sometime before about June 1. We took the bull out of the cows much before this, and AI bred 5 or 6 cows. The AI-bred cows have already calved. The bull and heifer calves were together until the first week of August, making the oldest ones 7 1/2 months old. Wow...whoever the sire is hit puberty at 7 1/2 months minus 60 days! Fortunately most of these bulls are low birthweight bulls, some are a little higher but nothing extreme.
Now I need to give the heifer her pre-calving vaccinations. Chloe can help with feeding the little one if need be.
And to think, we were disappointed in this heifer because she seemed to be too fat, and depositing too much fat in her udder...and her teats are a little long...we haven't seen her in heat yet and will she get bred at all? HA! We'll have to start watching her closely, but that calf was pretty small and she was quite roomy.
We square off the end of the tail after we breed, so we can easily see whether a cow has been AI bred. Anyway, there are only a few 'long-tails', and one long-tailed heifer looked like she got sweated up last night. Her vulva was a little swollen, but she didn't show any signs of having been ridden. Now, the occasional really bossy cow or heifer (they live in separate quarters) will not allow others to ride them, so since we had seen no other evidence of a heat cycle DH decided that we should breed her this morning.
We got her in the chute, and thawed the semen. Upon inserting the gun I thought it unlikely that she was in heat, since she really resented the breeding gun (they are pretty accepting when in heat, but generally don't like it at all if they aren't, especially when you poke the cervix!).
I didn't find the cervix right away, but felt a really big ovary...and another one...and this doesn't feel right at all...and there's a hoof and there's a head!! (Those weren't ovaries but cotyledons.) I handed the AI gun back to my husband and told him we were too late. ;D
This heifer is now 15 months old, and will calve sometime before about June 1. We took the bull out of the cows much before this, and AI bred 5 or 6 cows. The AI-bred cows have already calved. The bull and heifer calves were together until the first week of August, making the oldest ones 7 1/2 months old. Wow...whoever the sire is hit puberty at 7 1/2 months minus 60 days! Fortunately most of these bulls are low birthweight bulls, some are a little higher but nothing extreme.
Now I need to give the heifer her pre-calving vaccinations. Chloe can help with feeding the little one if need be.
And to think, we were disappointed in this heifer because she seemed to be too fat, and depositing too much fat in her udder...and her teats are a little long...we haven't seen her in heat yet and will she get bred at all? HA! We'll have to start watching her closely, but that calf was pretty small and she was quite roomy.