Where are all the bulls?!?!?!?!?!?

[Guest guest]

I've seen it done on "Dirtiest Jobs" and "Jackass" and it doesn't SEEM that hard.. Couldn't you buy the equipment online? I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but I've been wondering.

Robin

Where are all the bulls?!?!?!?!?!?

Hello, I am a member from Virginia. I am having a horrible time getting my Jersey cows bred! When the vets find out what I do (cowshares) they always end up showing up 24 hours AFTER I call them..... local dairymen are more than willing to lease a bull....but again, same situation.... when they realize I'm THAT evil person who's "putting them out of business" they no longer seem to need to pasture out their bull!!! Does anyone out there know of any Virginia farmers who need/would be willing to lease a young bull (any breed at this point!) out for a month or two? On the other hand, are there any A.I. techs out in the Shenandoah Valley who would be willing to travel for a few cows? Thanks!!!

[Guest guest]

I've AI'd my mare and the act of the AI'ing is easy. The hard part is knowing the details of the reproductive cycle and when the mare ovulates so one can know when to order semen and have it shipped over night and be AI'd in time with ovulation. One has to keep good records of the mare's (cow, goat, etc) cycling. You also need to know about semen and what is toxic to it, etc. It's pretty fragile.

As to the equipment the others are right but I wanted to mention that regular syringes for administering meds are not used as the rubber is toxic to the semen. One really does need the AI syringes.

You can learn a lot about AI'ing your cow from your "local" horse folks involved in it. If you have a friend who AI's their horses you can probably get some help easily. Then you just have to get your contacts together for getting semen over nighted or have storage. For horses there are storage facilities and you might be able to pay for storage which would be a whole lot cheaper than buying nitro tanks and all.

Personally, I think the hard part of being an AI tech would be the dropping everything to run do a job and during poor weather. Then getting to where there aren't any stocks or such and a very muddy work area. You might (if you get into this seriously) look into the portable stocks that hitch as a wagon behind your truck and you'd have another expense but problem solved.

If you want to be an AI tech, those AI classes are awesome! Horse ones are getting pretty common and you'd still learn tons!

~*~ Shar ~*~http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ManagingCaprineBucksandWethershttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoatMilkCheeseMeat/

[Guest guest]

I wish that were the case, but AI techniques are very different between horses and cattle. I have had great success when doing AI on horses.....its pretty straight forward, but cows are a completely different ballgame!Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. CellularFrom: LuvMyColors@...Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 11:20:07 EDTTo: <RawDairy >Subject: Where are all the bulls?!?!?!?!?!? I've AI'd my mare and the act of the AI'ing is easy. The hard part is knowing the details of the reproductive cycle and when the mare ovulates so one can know when to order semen and have it shipped over night and be AI'd in time with ovulation. One has to keep good records of the mare's (cow, goat, etc) cycling. You also need to know about semen and what is toxic to it, etc. It's pretty fragile. As to the equipment the others are right but I wanted to mention that regular syringes for administering meds are not used as the rubber is toxic to the semen. One really does need the AI syringes. You can learn a lot about AI'ing your cow from your "local" horse folks involved in it. If you have a friend who AI's their horses you can probably get some help easily. Then you just have to get your contacts together for getting semen over nighted or have storage. For horses there are storage facilities and you might be able to pay for storage which would be a whole lot cheaper than buying nitro tanks and all. Personally, I think the hard part of being an AI tech would be the dropping everything to run do a job and during poor weather. Then getting to where there aren't any stocks or such and a very muddy work area. You might (if you get into this seriously) look into the portable stocks that hitch as a wagon behind your truck and you'd have another expense but problem solved. If you want to be an AI tech, those AI classes are awesome! Horse ones are getting pretty common and you'd still learn tons! ~*~ Shar ~*~http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ManagingCaprineBucksandWethershttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoatMilkCheeseMeat/