CONCEPTIONS Beef cow-calf newsletter April May 2023
In Iowa there is a company called Em Labs which produces three products we stock: P Test (strips to catch urine to detect pregnancy after six weeks post-breeding), Heifer Plus and its companion Bull Plus which are enzymatic additives that influence the sex of the calf when using conventional (non-sorted) frozen semen.
Heifer Plus and Bull Plus have in various trials produced calf crops of 75% or more the desired sex – IF you do everything strictly according to the instructions. If you go over the incubation times recommended, calf sex will go the other way from what you desired. So these work, but are not guaranteed to work without an exact replication of the steps recommended.
However
It seems that,
whether or not you get the sex desired in the calf, you do get a calf. Fertility of semen seems to be enhanced
by use of this product, and that is a consistent result.
Given many of you are shooting for a narrow calving window, a chance of improved conception is valuable. Clitoral stimulation (page one) seems to add 10% to conception rates. Using the sheath protectors (we stock two kinds) seems to gain another 5% at a minimal cost. Now with the Em Lab “heifer plus” and “bull plus” options we might gain still another 10%.
For those of you using synchronization, which has never matched the conception rates that are possible from natural heats, these aids to conception are well worth considering.
We
stock C I D R s
They come in packages of ten, but if you only need a few, we will accommodate
you.
We stock “Estru Tech”
strips
They come in
packages of 50, which are ten sheets with five strips on each sheet.
Again, if you only need a few, we will sell individual sheets.
We stock “tail paint”
in a variety of colors
Another economical
tool, especially if you wish to catch repeats after a group breeding
session. Tail paint usually lasts the
length of a heat cycle (three weeks) unless you get a hard rainfall.
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