I might have forgotten to tell you about AI-ing… So sorry! I’ve got no excuses to say except that I am WAY too busy! I either need a blog assistant, a maid or a nanny and since I love my kids and I love blogging I think that I want a maid. For free, of course. Ya… that’s not about to happen any time soon.
Alas…
But back to our day AI-ing. Really it was uneventful. The heifers were wired, but that’s nothing new, right? We have a breeder come do the work and all we (the cowboys) just have to keep the heifers moving. I took it upon myself to just take pictures- a real challenge. (Random side note- when people come to the ranch and see me taking pictures of non-picturesque shots they look at me like I am some weirdo… No I’m not taking pictures of you AI-ing to put in my scrapbook…. I have a blog.)
The process is pretty simple. The semen is stored frozen in a tank of liquid nitrogen to keep frozen until time to use it. The breeder will thaw it and then load it into the insemination gun. When the cow is ready, he sticks one GLOVED hand into her rectum to manipulate the reproductive tract. With the gun he places the AI into the vulva, to the cervix and then squirts the semen into the uterus. It can be pretty tricky to do it all by feel and through the guts. Who knew that such a talent existed!
