Questions about collecting a bull for AI

[Laura Workman]

I haven't genetically tested my bull yet, but if he has all the right bells and whistles, I'm considering having him collected. I've never done this with a bovine and have a couple questions. I thought perhaps some on this board might be able to give me some advice.

1) How old must a bull be before he is collected?
2) How does one prepare a bull for collection?
3) For on-farm collection, how many straws, roughly, might one expect from a one-day, on-farm collection?
4) What, roughly, might one expect to pay for such a service?
5) How does one locate a service for on-farm collection?

Thanks!

[Grumpy old man]

You tube has many videos , call your local vet for referals , Can you post a picture of the bull you want to use to continue his line ?

[G. Seddon]

You might check out this thread from June (see genebo's post):
bull collection

I imagine genebo will post response here too.

[genebo]

There are a couple of new questions here.

How old must he be? Old enough for his semen to be viable. That can start as early as 6 months old, but the fertility rises as he matures. He will be fully mature by the time he is 3 years old.

Another reason for waiting to collect him is to evaluate the calves he throws. If he throws big, oversized calves, you don't want him. If his calves show some throwback genetics that you don't want, look for another bull.

How many straws will you get?

You can expect to get around 170 straws from a home collection. 300 tops. You will pay for each straw, so if you don't need a lot and don't intend to sell them, cut your costs by asking for fewer straws.

Storage is critical. you will need to have a place to store them that keeps good track of the temperatures in the tank and refills often. A good bet is to find a neighborhood farmer who keeps a good tank and ask him to keep yours, too. You chip in on the costs of filling the tank.

Select Sires will arrange an on-farm collection for you. So will any of the big semen storage facilities. Or, you can trailer your bull to a collection facility and do a one-day service, with an appointment. You can't skip any of the health tests if you do that.

At a collection facility, you can choose to have your bull stimulated by a "teaser cow". In an on-farm collection, they will most likely use an electric stimulator (shudder).

[lakeportfarms]

Gene is correct on all counts...and you can expect to pay around $700-900 for an "on farm" collection for around 200 straws.

I'd highly recommend waiting until your bull has a number of calves on the ground so you can provide statistics about his progeny, such as birth weight, confirmation, and udder traits since it is not only expensive to collect but also to store the semen. Knowledgeable buyers will want to have that information before they'll spend hundreds of dollars for a few straws and shipping of the straws. If you have an exceptional bull who is nearing the end of his lifespan and you want to preserve his genetics for yourself, or if you think your bull has some traits that are not found in other bulls to make it worthwhile to have him collected, it's generally better to transport him to a collection facility where more straws can be collected over the span of two weeks.

[Laura Workman]

Wow, thanks for all the input! I don't know for sure whether I'll do this. I don't really want to keep a bull, which is why I asked when they can be collected. The bull I have in mind is a little over a month old right now , but has the potential of offering what I had a lot of trouble finding when I was looking. I need to get him tested to find out just what he's carrying, but he's red, he should be a genetically small dexter, and he'll have A2/A2 milk genetics. If everything falls in place in the optimal way, he could also be homozygous polled and carrying two copies of dun. Plus, so far I'm well-pleased with his dam's udder and temperament. And I like the way he looks. I'm not that experienced with cattle, but I went to a Dexter show over the weekend, and my picks wound up being the judge's picks with just a couple of exceptions, so I feel at least somewhat confident that I can tell whether I'm looking at a nicely put together animal.

When I was looking for an AI sire, the only one who fit the bill was my own cow's sire, and he's heterozygous polled, not homozygous. Also, there are precisely zero red, short-legged, A2/A2, polled AI bulls that I know of, and my little guy may be short-legged. It would be nice to be able to offer that. Broaden the choices a little bit. Hmmm. Guess I'd better get out there and pull some hairs!

[lakeportfarms]

If you plan on having him collected, you'll be keeping a bull for a while until he's ready. I'd get him tested for sure, but unless you have something pretty special and sell quite a few straws it generally doesn't pay to have a bull collected unless you're able to use him extensively on your own Dexters once he reaches breeding age. At least that way he has a purpose while you're feeding him, and can see what he produces from your own breedings.

There are others out there who have A2/A2, red carries dun, polled, chondo positive bulls. We do, for example, and I know of at least one other large breeder. Ours hasn't been collected, we're waiting to see how he develops and what he produces in calves, but we have several other bulls stored in our tank and at the AI collection facility, and so it would be a simple process to add him to the list. Now you just spent a bunch of money and have some competition from somebody else like us. It's also been our experience that those who are searching for red and polled also typically emphasize that their herd are "chondro free". Some people just don't want to be bothered with having them. Too bad, they're missing out!