Quote:
Originally Posted by PrettyPaisley
We lost both our bucks this past winter and to be honest, I really don't want to ring another goat to the house. But - clearly I need to have kids so I'll have milk next year.
Does AI work well with minimal cost? I have to admit I haven't even considered it until this morning while milking so I've not started to research. I was thinking that with AI I could get both my Alpine and Saanen girls bred with full breed kids. And a couple of my Saanens are getting older and I'd love to have their kids-if they are does.
Thoughts on that ? I figure it can't be nearly as hard as keeping them alive or trimming hooves, right ?  |
First, you need an AI tank. You can luck out and buy one used off of someone and HOPE it's a good one like I did (ended up paying for a tank that had an internal leak), or just buy a brand new one and take care of it great - it's a 10 year investment with good care. I bought mine from here for 560.00. SC 20/20.
You'll need to fill it when it gets down to 10cm of N2. Perferably a bit before so you're not toeing the line. Too little nitrogen will cause your semen to thaw and be worthless. For good new tanks this is every 3-4 months. It costs me 46.00 to fill it. You'll want a measuring stick - most new tanks come with one.
http://www.goodecattle.com/tanks.htm
You'll need AI equipment - goats are done trans-cervically and cannot be rectally palpated like cows, so you'll need a speculum, a light, a good gun, sheaths etc. I started AI'ing 2yrs ago and had no idea what was good/necessary or not. So, I bought the best AI kit that Bio Genics offers. I bought the 185.00 kit from here, and I REALLY like it. Once again, a big ONE TIME investment.
http://www.biogenicsltd.com/kits.html
Then there's the semen. While straws can range in price and value, if your goal is to improve you're looking at straws that are usually around 40 dollars and up. Many people will sell only 5 or 10 straws at a time due to handling issues - it's easier to sell by the cane (10 straws) and better for the semen because you don't have to fuss with it. If you're paying a bit for semen, you might as well use sires with excellent production and traits/pedigree that compliment your does. If I'm spending a lot of money, I'm spending a LOT of manhours researching pedigrees to make positive changes.
If you cannot get semen locally (which in that case, it may just be easier to use their bucks live cover...) you'll have to ship it in. It's not cheap, usually 150 or so to receive the semen and then ship the shipper tank back to the owner. But if you order enough for a few years, you should be fine to only need to do that every couple years. But then you'll need a couple sires per breed if you keep daughters out of the breedings...
Finally, AI has varying success rates with quality of the semen, technique, ability to detect heats etc. On dairy cow farms, AI is generally used exclusively. The number of breedings until settling depends largely on management, body condition of the cows, voluntary waiting period, and individual cows. Some animals take a few breedings via AI before they are bred. With goats, we generally use AI as a 'treat' to bring in new genetics instead of a 'staple' as in dairy cow herds, so I'm not sure of average conception rates. My first year doing AI I had 3 out of 4 does settle. Last year I had 1 out of 4 does settle. So over the past 2 years, my rate was 4 out of 8 does bred settled via AI. I use hormones to synchronize as I need specific duedates, which effects my settle rate possibly. I've changed my synch methods and will likely do so again this year in hopes that I find the perfect protocol. In other words, it is far from a guarantee. You will likely need to use multiple straws per doe per season to get them to settle. You'll have to watch like a hawk for heats, which may be harder to notice due to not having a buck around. You may need special equipment to breed doelings (small speculum). You'll need to be at their mercy for heat cycles if you don't do synchronization.
Easy? Cheaper? I dunno about that.
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