Breeding Maggie

Last year, we bred Maggie, our Jersey heifer, to a neighbor's young Angus bull.

It was a convenient arrangement, and little Stormy was the product of that breeding.

But our neighbors no longer have that little bull, so we were trying to figure out how to get Maggie bred this year. After some discussion, we decided to use AI (Artificial Insemination; it had the "AI" abbreviation decades before computers were a thing). 

It took a few phone calls, but finally we connected with a highly experienced AI expert named Andrea. The cost of the process was reasonable, even factoring in the mileage.

But first, let's go back about 27 years ago, when we got our first cow Bossy. We tried three times to AI her. Twice it failed, and once it succeeded. Those weren't terribly good odds. Part of the problem is we didn't do any estrus synchronization protocols, so we kinda winged it when it came to timing the breeding. (There is a fairly short window of time for optimum results.)

It's also why we always kept a bull at our last place, since we had the space. We figured it was easier than AI'ing our cows. And so it proved; we ended up with way too many cattle as a result.

But AI has improved drastically since that time we tried it. Forgive me if I have any details wrong, but here's how I believe it worked. Apologies in advance if things get too anatomically graphic.

After the initial consultation by phone, we decided to breed Maggie to a Jersey bull. The process takes ten days. Initially Andrea came out to give Maggie a shot of prostaglandin, which is responsible for ending the estrous cycle and allows the cow to reenter a period of estrus.

Then Andrea inserted a vaginal insert to administer progesterone. This looked like a gigantic IUD and had a blue cord hanging out Maggie's backside. Andrea said to let her know if the blue cord disappeared inside Maggie.

She left us with a syringe of (I think) gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which Don administered to Maggie midway through the week, at the same time I pulled out the vaginal insert.

Then, on the tenth day, Andrea returned with the straws of semen and performed the actual breeding.

So anyway. On the first appointment, Andrea seemed very pleased by our milking-stall setup, which allowed her easy access to Maggie's neck (for the shot) and backside (for the vaginal insert). Things were lively and a bit dark in the barn during the process, so I wasn't able to get any clear photographs, but here is Andrea inserting the vaginal IUD-like device.

Here's the cord sticking out, which I was tasked with pulling out a week later.'

Andrea drew a circle on Maggie's neck so Don would know the exact spot to administer the shot mid-week.

After everything was done, we stood around talking with Andrea for a few minutes. We mentioned that if Maggie had a bull calf, we would steer him for beef; and if she had a heifer calf, we might keep it as another milker.

Then Andrea said something startling. She asked, "Do you want a heifer calf?"

Yes, it seems AI has vastly improved since we tried it decades ago. Apparently now there is a technique to select the gender of the resulting calf. Yowza. It cost an extra fifty bucks, but we decided it was worth it. Andrea stressed it wasn't 100% guaranteed, but of the eight or nine gender-specific breedings she's done so far, she's hit the mark every time.

So yes, we requested a heifer.

A week later, Don administered the second shot, and I removed the vaginal device. This is what it looked like.

On the appointed breeding day, Andrea returned. She asked for a glass of warm water at a specific temperature to thaw the straw of semen. She had what amounted to a small chemistry lab in the back of her car.

This is the tank of liquid nitrogen where the straws of semen are kept frozen.

It was at this point Andrea performed her magic trick to separate the female sperm from the male sperm. Dunno what she did, though.

Then, with the loaded syringe of semen tucked into the front of Andrea's shirt, we all trooped out to the barn and got Maggie locked into the milking stall. Andrea donned a shoulder-length plastic glove over her left arm, which she then inserted deep into Maggie's rectum, groping and feeling. Then, using her right hand, she withdrew the syringe from her shirt front and plunged the semen home in Maggie's vagina.

And that was pretty much it. It will be three weeks this upcoming Monday (Sept. 29) since the breeding, and we'll know if it "took" on that day by noting whether or not Maggie is in heat. (Cows cycle every 21 days.)

If all goes well and the breeding was a success, we can expect a calf in nine months and ten days, which would put the birth around late June.

Despite the cost, we'll probably continue to use AI to breed Maggie and any future heifers. If we combine breedings with any neighbors around us who also want AI breeding, we'll save on Andrea's travel costs.

Yep, things have come a long way in the world of artificial insemination on the farm. Now we'll see what happens.