AI Training
I've been waiting for this day for a VERY long time! The Select Sires truck had 3 things for me! Two bull's semen and an AI kit! I recently got AI certified. I am so excited to be able to do this on my farm and I am very thankful that my pop bought me all the supplies I need.
AI stands for Artificial Insemination. On my farm, I am going to AI first time heifers (heifers that haven't been bred or calved before). I will do this for many reasons. The main reason I will AI first time heifers is so the cow has a calf with a low birth weight. If a first time heifer gives birth to a calf that is too big one of three things can happen: if not caught it could stay in her and kill her, we would perform a C-Section, or we would pull the calf using leg chains hooked onto the baby. None of these are good things! So I will use AI to lessen those happening.
The second reason I will use Artificial Insemination would be if I had a phenonmal cow/heifer on the farm and found a bull that lived across the country that I wanted to pair together. By using AI, I could make this happen. Having a technician that actually lives on the farm makes it even better. Before I got AI certified, we would have to call our neighbor to come over and breed our cows/heifers. During my AI class I met fellow farmers around the area. I also got to take the class with some of my close BEEF friends. From left to right: Me, Abby Tipton, Emily Ivey, and Nate Long, all of which are very involved in Agriculture and the BEEF Industry.
Those pink things on our arms in the picture are the gloves that ensure that we don't get covered in cow manure. The white suits are to protect your clothes, but Emily and I braved it in our OLD clothes!
AI stands for Artificial Insemination. On my farm, I am going to AI first time heifers (heifers that haven't been bred or calved before). I will do this for many reasons. The main reason I will AI first time heifers is so the cow has a calf with a low birth weight. If a first time heifer gives birth to a calf that is too big one of three things can happen: if not caught it could stay in her and kill her, we would perform a C-Section, or we would pull the calf using leg chains hooked onto the baby. None of these are good things! So I will use AI to lessen those happening.
The second reason I will use Artificial Insemination would be if I had a phenonmal cow/heifer on the farm and found a bull that lived across the country that I wanted to pair together. By using AI, I could make this happen. Having a technician that actually lives on the farm makes it even better. Before I got AI certified, we would have to call our neighbor to come over and breed our cows/heifers. During my AI class I met fellow farmers around the area. I also got to take the class with some of my close BEEF friends. From left to right: Me, Abby Tipton, Emily Ivey, and Nate Long, all of which are very involved in Agriculture and the BEEF Industry.
Those pink things on our arms in the picture are the gloves that ensure that we don't get covered in cow manure. The white suits are to protect your clothes, but Emily and I braved it in our OLD clothes!
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That's so cool you learned to AI! This was one of the best skills I learned and its so fun to pick out bulls and see how it improves the genetics of your herd. Have you AI'd any of your own cattle yet?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have! I AI'd two of my show heifers and they got bred on my FIRST try! It sure is a great feeling of satisfaction!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!