by Texas Homesteader
We have several registered Hereford cows and we breed them using A.I. At a recent Noble Foundation seminar we attended, the presenters noted that A.I. typically results in a positive pregnancy only about 50% of the time, of course we already knew that.
Even with its reduced effectiveness It’s worth the effort for us, we’re a small homestead and would like to eliminate the expense of having a high-quality bull in our pastures yet we still want to maintain superior genetics in our herd. But the fact remains that this procedure will, in the best of circumstances, only yield a positive pregnancy about half the time. Repeat A.I. sessions are common and expected.
Enter #20 – This girl is a breeding machine. RancherMan became a certified A.I. technician in November 2010 and our first attempts at the procedure on our own ranch occurred in May of 2011. Good ole #20 took on her very first session and delivered an awesome bull calf in March 2012.
We allowed her some recovery time after calving and attempted to A.I. her again, but we performed the procedure a month in advance to give us a chance to catch her up if she didn’t take. True to her first experience she bred on her very first session – now making her a month ahead of time! Now folks, in any rancher’s book this girl’s a keeper!
Now that she’s proven herself to be an awesome breeding machine even when using a 50%-at-best technology, minstrels will be singing songs about her years after she’s gone!
(Que mandolin and tambourine…)
In the very near future we will be purchasing some young registered heifers to replace some of the herd we were forced to sell during the last two years of drought. I’m hoping good ole #20 will show them the ropes and share with them her secret.
In the meantime, join me in welcoming #20’s newest beautiful contribution to our herd. This little heifer will no doubt carry on mamas fertility awesomeness and become a leader among cows! Welcome to the ranch, little one…
~TxH~
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I always loved spring with the little calves hopping and skipping around the pasture 🙂 Great job #20! Thanks so much for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you tomorrow for a special hop and a giveaway announcement! 🙂
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/03/the-homeacre-hop-9.html
Your cows are absolutely beautiful I see how many people stop by and check out your cow posts and its like they are just so gorgeous it’s like a chick magnet literally ha ha LOL! Don’t mind my sense of humor. I know nothing about cattle ranching so reading your posts are so fascinating better than Science Fiction and I am an addict!
What a wonderful momma cow #20 is!!! She has beautiful babies! AI isn’t done around these parts too much. From my ag survey job, I only know of one ranch that does it…and it was for their pure bred herd. Excellent post and a lovely ranch!
I think A.I. has specific benefits and the circumstances have to be right for it to work on each person’s operation. For Texas Homesteader, it’s perfect! Thanks for your sweet comment. ~TxH~
What a sweet mother/daughter picture! Awesome cattle.
Wow! She is a cutie and Mom is beautiful ~ amazing lifestyle and fantastic photography ~ always fascinating to me ~ ^_^
Wow, thanks for your very kind comments. I’ll admit – we absolutely love our life here! ~TxH~
My parents raised registered Herefords for about 25 years and then my dad died at 65. One of my brothers tried to make it work, but the cattle had to be sold in the 80’s—-which broke my mother’s heart. She was a true partner with my dad, keeping all the records. They raised bulls, including one very expensive one in a partnership, which was used for AI purposes. Now, we see only Angus cattle in the county where I grew up. There are so very few Herefords here anymore. Old #20 is a valuable cow!
Evelyn, We are very partial to Herefords. We don’t have any family history raising them, but when we were deciding what path to take with regard to animal breed, my husband stated that Herefords just “looked” like the old west. So Hereford it was! They are such gentle cows and very maternal. I’ve told my husband “good choice”! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story. ~TxH~
Welcome, little one! Sounds like good ole #20 is earning her keep for sure! I simply love the look in a cow’s eye…so sweet.
Janis, we’ll have to come up with her name when we register her with the Hereford Association so we’d better put on our thinking caps. Thanks for the congrats and good luck on your calving! ~TxH~
Congrats on the fertility matron. Got a name for the new heifer yet ? We still have 2 months to go before calving starts here. We are presently having a premature mud season. Its the “5th” season here in Vermont. Big snow coming tonight, so we will be right back to winter in about 5 hours. I going to get out the snowshoes….. Janis
Thanks for the visit to my site. Your ranch looks delightful. I thought Texas was supposed to be brown and dry all year round. Your place looks nice and green.
Doug, we’re in NE Texas so we get a beautiful spring, a hot & dry summer and usually a slight resurgence during the fall with a pretty light winter. The best of all worlds, I think! ~TxH~