5 tries to breed heifer-didn't work-hamburger or try again?

Yes, I understand that not all heifers settle on the first try. That's why I said that I'd make hamburger out of her after the third try. I believe in simplifying my life. I don't want heifers that won't breed, cows that you have to pull calves, sows that won't farrow, etc. If my stock won't do their job without me babysitting them, then they're a liability and not an asset, and I don't need them.

Tyusclan states my thoughts exactly. I want an animal to do it's job and I am not going to babysit it. Jeff, I don't need lessons on cow fertility and how to properly prep a cow. I grew up on the farm and my dad started turning over the milk herd to me when I was 13. I bought my first herd when I was 19 and have made 100% of my income from my cows my entire life. We have totally different views on how things should be done and I am going to leave it at that.

Heather

yes, it's true, I do not have the experience to know exactly WHEN she was in heat, but shes been at someone else's dairy farm ( a friend) and he knows what he's doing and he's doing the AI for us. We are just trying to get a "family cow". Gotta start somewhere. :baby04:

PS I had no idea a question of this kind would make such a "HOT" thread!

Me neither.

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Lorian, if it is at all possible get this heifer into a pasture with a suitable bull.

Sometimes a topic will just take off and you never know why, don't feel bad.
If I were you I would do 3 things, take your heifer to the Vet and make sure everything inside looks good. Put her on a really excellant mineral, we've had trouble with the Highlands not getting bred if they aren't getting a high quality mineral. Then run her with a bull if you can find one, if you call your local cattlemen's association they should have a list of who has bulls that they loan out. If she gets bred there's a pretty good chance she'll get bred more easily after this first pregnancy.

Thanks Patt,

That's good practical advice I can follow thru with.
I'm calling today to ask them to give her minerals ( my farmer friends) and they said they
have a friend with a Jersey bull she can run with.

Great! I think thats the best thing to do. Let us know if it works!!

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

Everyone has to start somewhere, and the fact that she's posting here asking for advice shows that she's trying to learn.

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Great! We use Vigortone mineral, they make one just for Dairy cows. It's $25 a bag but it made a huge difference in our cattle. I'll be praying that your heifer gets bred this time!

we milked cows for almost 20 years, and we found our holstein heifers setteled much eisier than the cows also.

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Patt, can you tell me the amount of copper the Vigortone Dairy mineral has in it?? And whats the name of the mineral, just Vigortone Dairy?? I am looking for a mineral for my dairy goat herd...but it must be high in copper. I know of several places that carry Vigortone. Their goat mineral has too little copper in it......

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

I would get her with a bull, a bull always knows when the time is right. I can usually tell pretty well myself, but a bull trying repeatedly over several days has a better chance than one ai.

jersey bulls are the most um amorous but are too hard to keep(onerier than snot), an angus will be easier to handle if you are renting, and angus babies have smaller heads so wont be so hard to birth and an angus bull is frisky enough and the crosses are nice we have some some also use longhorns for the same reason.

we never AI becaue my fil never had any luck with it, we do 100 percent on bull.

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Just an interesting note on this one: Last spring we took a group of young (1 year and under) Holstein heifers to the sale barn and the vet there declared one of them a freemartin, but she WASN'T a twin. My husband called the sale barn and they stated that it was possible for a heifer to be a freemartin, I would guess just defined as "sterile," and not have been a twin.

Is it possible there was a twin and the cow lost him early on?

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Hips usually cause birthing problems, a big head can be rough. But it is usually the hips that pinch nerves. Of course a big bodied calf will also give an animal problems. But as a whole, beef calves dont have wide hips, and are easier to calve out.



Jeff

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I don't have a bag right now, we keep it in a tub. I use the Vigortone breeders best for beef cattle. We also gave it to our goats and they did really well on it. We couldn't find a goat mineral locally and our Vet said this would be fine for them.

I googled Vigortone and the product I use is Vigortone cattle breeder. Goatworld recommended their mineral for cattle on pasture and this link has an ingredients list.
http://www.goatworld.com/nutrition/vigortone32s.shtml

Thanks!!!!!

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

Other reasons why I woud not cull her yet if she's only been A.I.'d:

Let's assume she was in heat each time she was bred. What else could have gone wrong? Lots! Even with someone very experienced in A.I., stuff does go wrong.

The semen may have been lifted out of the LN2 for a few seconds too long. That's all it takes to weaken or kill it.

Or, the tank may have gone dry and been undetected.

Or, just the semen being used on your cow might be at fault- that cane might be from a sire who had low fertility, or it passed through hands who let it thaw or didn't handle it carefully, etc, before ending up at the place with someone who knows what he's doing. Dead semen will not impregnate anything.

The thermometer might be off just a degree or two. Again, that's all it takes to kill it. Thawed semen is incredibly fragile stuff.

Etc, etc.....My point is, the heifer may be just fine. She's probably worth quite a bit, and why not give her the chance of live breeding? I would never consider getting rid of a virgin animal simply because she hadn't settled via A.I.. Semen that has been watered down (extended), frozen, moved around from one tank to another who knows how many times, stored for years. and then thawed just isn't as potent as the fresh stuff, and sometimes it's worthless.

It very well may have nothing whatsoever to do with her fertility, and everything to do with the viability of that semen.