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maryjane
7074 Posts
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 Posted - Jun 21 2016 : 4:03:16 PM
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Cindy, you mentioned you’re starting to think about semen for Sally and Elsa. As you know, line breeding works well when it works. It's a chance many people take. The problem I've run into in looking at semen for sale in the mainstream world (not the miniature Jersey world) is any kind of size indication. I just can't get the answers I want. And I don't find very many polled notations. There seems to be quite a bit of A2A2 semen available. If you've discovered otherwise, do share!
I'm going to try Margarethe's Dairyman (H/H) semen for Ester Lily (Miss Daisy and Magnolia’s sire). If that doesn't work next month (only one AI try) then Finnegan is my back-up plan. I'm not worried about scurs or horns in a bull used for her because she's homozygous polled. No horns no matter what.
For Miss Daisy I'm going to try some semen I've had on ice for quite some time (miniature Jersey) and if it doesn't work first try, Charlie is her man because he is Pf/Pf and Daisy is H/H. If I put her with Samson, there's still a chance her calf would have to be dehorned. Although I did buy some of Dr. Naylor's dehorning paste and have watched a couple of videos about how and when to apply it, keeping in mind the calf can't be around other animals for a few days because it's caustic (problematic for a nursing calf and it needs to be done as soon as you feel buds).
With regards to Sally, I do believe I said to you that perhaps Charlie could be collected at WSU. That isn't the same as Genex semen (like Samson) because their technology isn't as high tech. They certainly don't save semen unless it looks good under their microscope but knowing the actual sperm count put into a straw isn't as defined. Plus, they wouldn't require 30 days isolation and all the testing Genex requires on bulls they collect. If you were interested, I could pinpoint how much it would cost to collect him. I know storage of a bull's semen over there is $168/year. It's a long shot. I will be taking him over in Sept. for trich testing, vib, vaccinations, and a hoof trim. He could be collected at that time.
On the other hand, Samson could be part of your discussions. Both Sally (Pf/H) and Samson (Pf/H) share the same father, Cochise. When I paired Sal and Sam here, I got Tony (https://heritagejersey.org/chatroom/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=283). He was born a beautiful red/fawn with a white heart on his forehead and white feet and tail. Absolutely stunning and gorgeous. But he grabbed their sleeper horns and to my disappointment tested H/H. (Before he was sold, he passed a breeding soundness exam at WSU.) His horns were a deterrent for me to pair them again but another calf by the two of them could just as easily be Pf/H or Pf/Pf. Their union would just as likely produce a calf that is Pf/Pf as H/H. Pf/H would be more likely and is what I was hoping for when I paired them.
Food for thought. I am by no means promoting Samson for use with Sally or Elsa, but I also didn't want to appear as though I thought it was a bad idea. We now know that over and over again Samson’s semen gets ‘em pregnant. Elsa is Pf/H (no horns) but out of a Pf/Pf and Pf/H union (Charlie and Sally), she grabbed the H. Also, Samson, Sally, Elsa, and Charlie are all A2A2.
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Jun 21 2016 : 6:53:52 PM
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my little princess fairy godmother, you are channeling my thoughts exactly. when it got too hot outside saturday at 3pm, after a nice cold shower i sat around for about 4 hours reviewing samson versus other semen, outside sources, etc. and what we came back to again and again was naturally polled or not? and what do we want to focus on?
i found exactly as you did, getting size out of them is difficult unless it is possible british based sperm and then you can find some of it... or perhaps they won some ribbons somewhere and extensive news somewhere gave you the bull stats... so i have given up on a2/a2 as a primary goal and we are considering whether naturally polled should be a primary goal. and we can't decide.
i did pick up on the samson and sally same sire a while back but had forgot about that this weekend. thanks for reminding me.
one thing i keep coming back to, and just weighing in my mind - not sure how important it is or not... a favorite bovine buddy of mine that is much more medically minded (and a nurse by profession) won't debud any of her cows. she believes that because their glands or whatever are immediately below the horns it actually causes issues for them medically and damages them. it isn't a pain issue or a people bringing human issues to cows, its anatomical. she is doing personal research to see its effects and she believes strongly it impacts the health of the cow, even if it is just immunity or longevity. so we keep thinking that is another reason to focus on naturally polled cows. sorry for my pathetic accountant minded explanation.
i know you wouldn't push samson's semen on me, and i appreciate you putting together all this "food for thought". its some interesting choices. i am hoping once i can confirm if bea is pregnant or not then i can really make a decision on this ;> |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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Samson Semen
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