Natural riding, embryo transfer or artificial insemination, cattle breeding method, factors choosing cattle breeding method that, choosing artificial insemination, choosing natural riding, choosing embryo transfer, biotechnology programs, livestock context.

You can choose between natural riding, embryo transfer or artificial insemination. Contrary to what many producers think, implementing some biotechnology process on your farm is not as profitable if you do not have some factors in mind. Know in which cases the application of any of the methods could be convenient or harmful.

There are several indicators that determine the productivity of a livestock, depending on their specialty in milk or meat. The interest of the first is the number of liters of milk while the second is concerned with weight gains.

On the other hand, an indicator that worries both dairy farmers and breeders is the fertility of their cows, because as is well known, a farmer needs his cows to get pregnant and give birth once a year if he is looking for true profitability.

Currently, farmers can resort to 3 ways to pregnant their cows: natural riding, artificial insemination and embryo transfer. While the last 2 are privileged in large companies, the choice of each depends on some aspects that the owner of the livestock must take into account.

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Factors that determine the choice of biotechnology

In exaggeratedly large farms, from 2,000 to 5,000 hectares, it can complicate the assembly of the insemination program, because it will have a large amount of livestock suitable for insemination that is far from the pens.

In this case, handling with jealousy detection becomes more expensive and is not always as effective as desired. At this point, the expert clarified that the stone in the shoe of livestock is precisely the identification of estrus.

To this is added the value of each insemination, which is equivalent to the cost of each straw used in each service as well as the payment to an operator who applies it, unless it is done by a farm worker.

It would also increase the cost of the straw and what is worth the work of the person who is doing the synchronization, of the veterinarian who chooses the animals, synchronizes and inseminates them.

When is natural riding better?

In the case of large farms, in which it is very difficult to detect heat, natural riding or IATF must be used using hormonal protocols. In these extensive lands, bulls with excellent proven genetics should be used, trying to conserve one for every 40 cows.

A bull begins its reproductive life after 2 or 2 and a half years, and can last up to 8 years. This leads to a serious problem of consanguinity inside the farm, so it is necessary to have more than one male and must be rotated continuously.

This must be selected for the genetic inheritance that it brings from its parents and that certify it as an animal with excellent qualities, both phenotypic and productive, since the animal must be coupled to the environment where it is going to reproduce.

However, with these bulls you can also implement AI and optimize your work. Instead of forcing him to ride, his semen can be extracted and obtain between 300 and 400 straws, which could theoretically serve the same number of cattle. If half is pregnant, up to 200 offspring could be obtained.

Embryo transfer is expensive but can be done

Although embryo transfer processes can cost a lot of money (a confirmed pregnancy is worth between $ 800 and $ 900,000 depending on the protocol), experts always recommend the use of biotechnologies.

If the farmer has the facility to implement them on his farm, let him do it successfully. I advise that if you want to make an embryo transfer, you should get used to working with the handling of a cow in heat.

In fact, if the producer already has an AI program, where he has trained personnel to carry out the task and the tools to develop it, he can embark on work with embryo transfer

This will allow you to have some excellent genetic young, because you can choose both bulls and donor cows, which allows “to shorten a generational interval and make genetic improvement on a large scale and faster.”

In case of choosing this biotechnology method, the veterinarian suggested choosing donor cows as well as recipient cows, which will be much more numerous, of course.

Artificial insemination, the best alternative

In conventional farms of 100 or 200 cows, the AI ​​program can be chosen because the detection of jealousy can be carried out at the time the animals enter the pen, which happens twice a day.

Artificial insemination is one of the best techniques of conventional reproduction that has better rates of genetic improvement, because bull straws evaluated with statistics are used.

At some of those moments, the zeal will be observed in the cows and it will be possible to proceed to inseminate it, as long as the operator or the butler knows how to do it. (Read: Artificial insemination in fixed time improves meat production)

It should be taken into account that there are areas in the country where producers do not need to have equipment to store the straws.

However, despite being a biotechnology that began to be used for quite some time, experts say that there is still a greater incentive for the rest of the farmers to start implementing it on their land regularly.

To this is added the low cost. If the farm worker does the service, between the straw and the material, they barely add up to $ 30 or $ 35,000. Even so, experts recommend paying a bonus for a pregnant cow, to reward the work of the inseminator, who will strive to find cattle in heat and achieve higher success rates.

Always remember that improper treatment of the hooves in the cattle, including horses, is among the major reasons that cause the premature loss of an animal. Here at Victorian Hoof Care Services we’ll be happy to assist you.