WHY I stopped using GENOMIC bulls!? | How to AI a cow! | How long did it take me to LEARN?

[@TomPembertonFarmLife]

Great video. When I first started servicing cows after I did the course I got 1 out for 20 straws in calf. The bull was call romeo. Not a lot of good that did for me 🤦‍♂️😂 I do think anyone wanting to start should do the course personally, you know more of what you looking for but the best way to learn is to chuck some straws in at home. Did mine 11 years ago, was shocking but by 4-5 years i got abit obsessed with it, did all the AI myself. No bulls, no one’s else and got conception rates to 1.87 on a 12 month average. Pretty proud. (Cows die from seman deficiency 😂) It’s dropped abit now with sexed but still happy. We just put collars on 3/4 months ago, game changer. £120 a collar, last 10 years hopefully. £12 a cow a year is a bargain. Maybe something to think about.

[@rich7584]

Having a bill on farm is always of benefit and something I’d be very interested in going back to. For example had 2 cows this morning I really struggled with , and these cows I could just put to the bull to cover my own back and more likely hold .

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Very impressive! It's nice to know you also struggled in your first year. 🤣 I may have to consider building some collars for next winter. 😅

[@therobotfarmer]

Totally agree on genomics from my own experiences again i used agronaut as well and also Nadal also a top pli bull (crap bulls now if u look them up) i stick with proven majority of times. Regarding Ai, heat collars are an essential bit of kit on a dairy farm i rely 100% on the info it provides me and csn easily show up non cycling cows v quickly. Also if u are guessing a cow is on heat and she is not, then it will be harder to get the rod through the cervex if at all, i also record if cows and heifers are difficult to Ai or if theres blood on rod or strange inside, most times i get them easier next time if they repeat because ill be prepared for a struggle and ill know to relax and take my time with insemmination, no bull!! Literally

[@stuartmcfadyen5881]

Andrew I really appreciate the videos you create. I am a new beef producer and these videos are a great reference for me, thank you.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Trying to provide some value for people! I have spent over 10 years learning lots in farming and it's often difficult to get the information, so hopefully this makes it easier! 😅

[@jonathandwindsor1137]

Great video Andrew. My experience to AI is very similar to yours. It’s way more harder than I thought it ever would be but you’ve just got to keep at it. My first 12 months was torture. But now I’m in year three I’m really getting the hang of it with a conception rate of 40%. For a small 120 cow dairy like myself it’s a great skill to have.

[@JamesOBrien2253]

Is 40% normal for your herd I'd be hoping for above 60

[@jonathandwindsor1137]

@@JamesOBrien2253 40% is considered good for 12,000L herd

[@dereksaunderson-r2x]

Why so many cows with horns

[@theoracle8560]

What calving interval would you have with a 40% conception rate??@@jonathandwindsor1137

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I swear their are like 4/200. 😅 I mentioned it in the video originally but cut it for time. 😆

[@johnmann2904]

I always put my hand across the plate’s of a suspect cow, to detect a heat, as the term suggests they are normally a lot warmer.

[@mourne]

Great video very interesting. Keep up the work.

[@danmurphy6541]

Always good..heat detection is a skill in itself..thanks for the vid

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Glad you enjoyed it. 👍

[@TheFarmerTheCheesemaker]

Great stuff!! I’m amazed tho with all your farm tech you haven’t gone in for heat detection… we use Estrotech patches to determine heat…both for AI and to know when the bull has served, also works to show a cow/heifer is bred. We switched to raising our own bulls when, in 2020, we had a 5% success rate with AI. Part of that was nutrition-environmental, but the rest was down to poor AI service coverage in our area and a tech well past retirement age. We were going to do our own and share a tank and straws with another small dairy but it fell thru. Doesn’t make sense for a herd our size to invest at the moment. Plus my arms and hands are big, not so bad for cows, but sheep are glad I stopped raising them….

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I really don't buy much farm tech at all, the ROI usually isn't great tbh. My argument against collars is I only ai for 4 months because I graze, so that makes it much harder to get a return on £10k from better performance or time saved Vs tail paint.

[@willholliday3537]

I'm using plenty of genomic. The key is not to use much of one bull. But many different ones instead. I use a dairymac ai gun heater and a dairy mac thermos heater for the water. So you don't have to wait around for heating water, and your rods are always at the right temp. Running 31 preg rat3 on Ayr 12000l holsteins. I've used a lot of yamaska, pursuit, applejax, sassafras. Have been being doing ai for 3 years now and took up to it very quickly. We also use daily progesterone testing as our fertility management and heat detection. Which makes things really easy.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

The suvee cooker takes about 2 min to heat the water. Each to their own with AI, I may switch back to genomic in the future but despite using lots of bulls a year I'm just not happy with the results.

[@willholliday3537]

@FarmTheoryNI for context on 400 cows I'm only using 25 straws of one genomic bull (ends up about 10 heifer calves on the ground). And we calve around 150 hfrs a year. So 15 bulls in a year spread right around. Although I do admit the proven bulls atm are looking extremely good. Westcoast river especially.

[@PVAglue-fi4kc]

A thermal imaging camera might help with heat detection, as that area of the cow has increased blood supply when in heat. Do you work a calf a cow a year system or a calf a cow every 18 months with such a high yielding herd?

[@FarmTheoryNI]

We are definitely not high yielding. One calf a year. I would like to try the thermal imaging heat detection but the price of the cameras is a lot!

[@garethbryson]

Great video. I couldn't agree more about genomics. I did the AI course when i was at greenmount in 1998 but didn't actually start to AI cows until about 15 years ago. I was able to pick it up quite quickly thankfully. I AI my own few cows and for a few neighbouring dairy farms too. What beef bulls do you use?

[@FarmTheoryNI]

As I said, AI shouldn't have been as difficult for me as it was. 😅 I think other factors played a part also.

[@JohanneSchmidt-tl4op]

Have you ever used Weeks Analysis?

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Nope?

[@JohanneSchmidt-tl4op]

It's the only mating tool that looks at the phenotype rather than the genotype. Most major semen selling companies purchase analysis on their bulls. For example per see you had a cow analyze as needing 5-6-1, you would pair her with a bull who was coded 5-6-1. I have used it myself on our Jerseys with success. You would need to have an analyzer view your cows and put numbers on them. It's called aAa weeks. They have a website.

[@JohanneSchmidt-tl4op]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/laO7hI2NlMutpq8si=SiJc1t6cXlEVxydZ This is a video explaining it.

[@Rich-kx4qm]

Hi. Interesting kinda guy! Anyway... Why did you choose Yamaska? I'm milking them in 3rd lactation. So we'll ahead of you 😄 I'm a big fan of Semex, so good choice. I have a Blonde bull to help me out. Been AI'ing since 2005! Treat yourself to some Comestar LeMagic for your best heifers. If ur serving a big bunch at once you can split the straws. Make it a bit cheaper. I am using him and looking forward to calves being born next year

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Yamaska was a late choice last year as I needed some more straws! I just decided he was a nice proven bull which would suit our system, wasn't a lot of thought put into it tbh! I will check out LeMagic! Thanks!

[@Rich-kx4qm]

@@FarmTheoryNI You won't like the price. But I have a good feeling about him. The Comestar herd has produced some brilliant bulls in the past. He looks good and his mother is a Monument Impression daughter. They are great cattle. I have several good ones by him 😊

[@jamescarmody1710]

How come u don’t use the spray paint instead of the chawke

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Tried spray, just find chalk better. 🤷

[@padraigking5185]

Good stuff

[@johnmolloy9158]

How would you rate fr 5704 thank you

[@FarmTheoryNI]

What's for 5704?! 🤣

[@johnmolloy9158]

@@FarmTheoryNI Fr bull 5704 from dovea

[@johnmolloy9158]

High ebi

[@pjdee5879]

Some one needs to invent a better delivery system with a camera that can be guided rather than felt. Amazon sells endoscope inpection cameras that you hook up to your phone.

[@rich7584]

In the sane boat, did my course In August and just Pd + my first 6 cows!!! Huge sigh of relief though I still feel like I’m struggling there same time .

[@FarmTheoryNI]

It's a tough one, once you learn to use the gun it's really effective and you don't need a camera. I think a camera on a training course or even just on KZbin would be helpful to learn.

[@S_Eglington]

I went from relief milking to AI when the robot came in 7 years ago. I now do AI on several farms either to timed or call out. I find the cow is the biggest factor in success. How easy was the calving how good the condition score at drying off is the silage good enough for that cow in winter, (grass in spring is always good enough) and of course is it actually in heat? I would suggest as I was taught get hold of the cervix and push it as far away from you as you can (straightens everything out) you should then find getting the rod to the hole is a lot easier. Not a lot of point warming towels if you take the straw out of it the read the bull and don't warm the sheaf. There's now a sensehub system on the dairy farm it's made so much difference, never miss a heat saves a lot of PD time because were not presenting a load of cows that just haven't been seen repeating. It just makes the whole heat detection job so easy. The Delaval system that came with the robot was just rubbish. I'd price one up if I had enough cows like you.

[@S_Eglington]

Just checked the latest proof run and an American bull that was +300 odd for milk when he was bought is now -42 as a daughter proven bull. I have seen a bull come up again as more daughters come in but it's not a lot of help when choosing bulls.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Agreed, my cows are fertile and it helps. Good advice also, I think I should pay more attention to my straw management. 🤔

[@Jonathan-ww8ut]

Your waiting period should be 70 days andrew it will make a big difference

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Really? Do I have the yields for that? 7800/cow/yr

[@rich7584]

What was the computer system you used at the start of the video to determine what bill you would use on which cow? We have used R2D2 last year and getting heifers now on the ground . Also using RAffa now on cows . I’m just starting my Ai journey. It’s so difficult but so rewarding at the same time , just had my first PD+’s last week.

[@FarmTheoryNI]

It's my own software, it's a very rewarding skill for sure. It takes a lot of effort, but I definitely don't plan to stop doing it myself.

[@pak6103]

@@FarmTheoryNI Great video. Would you release or sell the software in the future? Looks very interesting. First ever AI bred calves due to hopefully calve down this spring touch wood. At the 27 minute mark you mention looking back at a proof run of a bull, where can you do this? I went 50:50 between genomic and daughter proven. It was very hard to get sexed straws from daughter proven bulls, one bull was advertised as being daughter proven, but when I checked, there was only 14 or 15 daughters producing milk. I also find it interesting that a lot of AI companies won't show you a photo of the actual bull.

[@jones3498]

Do you use cogent? A2D2 is a cogent bull

[@FarmTheoryNI]

I do use some, mostly genus. I don't have a preference of company.

[@ciaranconeely8579]

I think you could be AIing too soon Andrew or the straw is not prepared properly.

[@finbarreburn5112]

How is 'Slim Gym Jessie' doing 😄 😁 😍

[@FarmTheoryNI]

Doesn't have the same ring as Fat Jessie. 😆

[@conormcvey]

You should do a. Day in the life video