28/01/2024
Artificial Insemination (AI):
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Why do we use it?
About every 21 days a cow comes into a fertile period (heat/estrus). During this time she wants to be bred.
She signals this by:
🐮Standing to be mounted (either by a bull or another cow) 💥Most definitive sign💥
🐮Attempting to mount other cows
🐮Increased locomotion
🐮Increased vocalizations
🐮Lifting & twitching the tail
Either a bull will breed the cow or we can use artificial insemination (AI), which accomplishes the same thing. It doesn't matter to the cow either way.
Why AI?
🐮Genetic Improvement: we can select the best bull for the cow in order to create healthier, stronger, & more productive offspring.
🐮Genetic Variation: we can select semen from the best bulls from around the world🌎 (We use alot from 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 & 🇦🇺) with lots to choose from to avoid inbreeding.
🐮Decreased STDs
🐮Easier record keeping, you know exactly what bull & when a cow was bred.
🐮Safer: Bulls (especially dairy bulls) are dangerous & aggressive.
💥AI is a safe & humane process💥
🐃Very rarely we've raised our own breeding bull. We're always careful with him. We make sure he isn't too big for the cow or yearling he's breeding & that they're not related. We also sell him when he starts to become aggressive. For Jersey bulls that's ~2-3 years old. Places that regularly handle bulls have special set-ups & trained personnel to mitigate the safety risks.
We're not constantly breeding cows.
1. Cows can only conceive if they're in heat.
2. We wait to breed our cows, ~60 days (Voluntary Waiting Period) after calving so they're ready. We also have our vet examine them to make sure their repro tract is healthy.
3. For heifers, we wait to breed them for the 1st time until they are old enough & large enough (~12-15 mo.).
A cow needs to be healthy (& cycling) to be fertile. We care about our cows not just because it makes sense, but because it's the right thing to do.
See AI in action👇