Breeding Season

Here at Dawson Cattle we try and A.I. (artificially inseminate) as many of our cows as possible.  Then after an amount of time, they are turned out with Nuggent (herd bull).  That way if something didn't settle to the A.I. he will be sure to take care of it. A.I.ing is not a beautiful or wonderful thing to do, but it insures we can get better calves out of our cows. So needles to say we are off to a good start.  We currently have bred 2 cows and 4 heifers.  And they just keep cycling! Which is wonderful and great to us. I will not share the details with you but you can google the process.  Here is some of the equipment required:



Our Semen tank: this is where the frozen sperm is.




Our A.I. kit: it has multiple items for the process in it.  Kind of like a tool kit.




This is how you thaw the sperm.  You put water in it, plug in, wait till it gets to a certain temp.  Then ready.

Bulls are sent to studs where they are collected and the people can order them.  They come in a tiny straw that holds the sperm.  That straw is then frozen and placed in the tank till we are ready to use it.  There are certain signs from the cow that tell us when we need to do this and that's how we know when to A.I.  Not too mention that when they settle, you know when to expect your bouncing babies.



Cow in the chute waiting.



We put the cows/heifers in our chute so they don't hurt themselves or us.  The whole process is harmless and doesn't usually take very long.  ABS ( american breeders service) offers a class that you can go to, where you can learn how to do this.  Mr. M and myself have both been. And the cows go right back to their babes when they are all done.  We make the whole process easy and calm as possible for the cows.  Now putting an embryo in a cow is very similar, but that is a post for another day.  Feel free to google or ask questions..

And this the end result when you wait for 9 mths.  This particular calf is from the bull.  But she's still alive, healthy and beautiful.  Happy Wednesday to YOU!