Madison Co. Virginia | Jordan3215 - 2/11/2019 15:59
My question is if I take AI school right prior to doing it myself, but then only do a half dozen or so, and wait another year before it's AI time again, will it be a skill i've forgotten?
I disagree with another poster. It's not like riding a bike. I went to AI school, then waited a year before trying it myself. I did a terrible job that first week, but by the end of the summer I had probably 200 breedings under my belt(The whole milking herd was open at once, it seemed). I've done fine ever since on cows. It was a number of years before I tried heifers. Those have been hit or miss, but the best success I've had was when I did 50 in quick succession. A friend of mine was big in dairy for 10 years, then switched careers. 5 years later, he was trying unsuccessfully to breed a couple cows for his mother. In his case, he appeared to have lost the "touch."
With the numbers you're going to be breeding, by all means, learn to do it yourself. Don't just block off a dozen cows to try it on. Do a group of a hundred over two or three breeding cycles. This will be enough to stick it in your head until next year.
I'm queasy about the folks who want to learn AI for their 30 cow herd. That's simply to small to get good and stay good at the skill. But with your numbers, you have an excellent chance.
Edit to add: I just realized you're talking about timed AI. Don't do that for starters. For learning, non-timed AI works best. You want 3 or 4 cows in the pen, with your only time constraint that you want to get done in time for supper. This way, your relaxed and thinking clearly. The next day, you again have 3 cows in the pen to be bred. Again, you can reinforce what you learned the day before, and build on that. You want frequent, small amounts of cows to be bred for learning.
Edited by kipps 2/12/2019 07:32
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Learn AI, or pay professional?
