I have a young jersey bull which is going to be my herdsire for my small herd of cows. In checking his papers, I learn that he is from some of the best jersey stock in the US, on both sides.

Would it be practical and profitable to sell semen from a single bull or would it cost more to have the "semen extractor person" come out to my place than it would be worth?

Thanks,

bruce

-- bruce (niobrara55@hotmail.com), April 18, 2002

Answers

Bloodlines are fine, but this bull isn't proven, is he? No one is likely to buy the semen from a bull that hasn't daughters on the ground in quite a few different herds---you need something like 20 daughters in as many different herds as you can get. And if people would buy it, they wouldn't expect to pay much per straw. I can't imagine there would be any money in it.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), April 18, 2002.

LOL! There has to be a good joke in there somewhere! eh-hem....uh, sorry. :)

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), April 18, 2002.

I know little about cattle. But I do know something about goats and A.I. with them. The person who gets the semen is called a collecter, the process is called collecting a buck (or bull). In goats, there is a market for unproven semen, if the pedigree is really great. But there is more demand for proven semen. One of the best reasons to have an animal collected, is that by the time he's really proven out, he may be too old to use much anymore, or he may even be dead by then. If you have him collected when he is still young and fertile, you can then hang on to the semen and even sell him, and still be able to use him if he was something really spectacular. I think this would be even more true with a bull, because his daughters take what, two years? before they freshen the first time, and then you shoudl wait until the second freshening to get a really good feel for how they turne out, so 9 months (pregnancy)+ 2-3 years,+ another year or two, you know, by that time, the bull could have died from an illness or you simply got rid of him.

With goats, you have to have a certain number of bucks for the collecter to come and do a collection. They will not stop for one animal. Goatbreeders get together and amass 15 or more bucks, have the collection, and then go home. Maybe it's different with bulls. If this bull you have had an excellent, proven mother, and a good sire as well, then yes, I'd get him collected. If it's just grandparents, and great grandparents, and the dam was just so so, then maybe it wouldn't be worth the cost and trouble. As far as proving him out in many herds, A.I. is a very effective way to prove a buck out, some breeders give the semen away to selcted people to prove it out, or sell it at cost (for what it cost to have it collected and frozen), in order to get the buck proven quickly and in a wide range of herds.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 18, 2002.

If you really think he's that valuable, give the AI people a call and see if they're interested in purchasing him or his semen. It's relatively easy to buy a bull with good bloodlines, but buying a bull with good bloodlines that is an outstanding example of the breed that consistently passes those traits on to his daughters is quite another story!

On another note, seriously reconsider keeping a Jersey bull on the farm. Dairy bulls in general are treacherous, and Jersey bulls are the worst. It's my belief that the best bull comes in a straw. For 8- 20 bucks you can breed to the best proven bulls of the breed and not have to worry about getting maimed or killed by a crazy bull. Breeding AI you can also choose bulls to compliment each individual cow.

-- shakeytails in KY (shakeytails@yahoo.com), April 18, 2002.

Hmm, and he's such a nice fellow now. Oh well, I guess I'll just look over my shoulder a little more in the future. He only cost me 50 bucks, so I guess I won't be out much if he has to go. Thanks for the imput.

bruce

-- bruce (niobrara55@hotmail.com), April 18, 2002.

Bruce:

I sure hope that (1.) you have had this bull dehorned and (2.)that you have not formed a habit of going into the pen with him. If you keep a jersey bull you are playing with a live grenade. Mac

-- Jimmy S (Macrocarpus@gbronline.com), April 18, 2002.

I have worked at an AI stud, and personaly milked jerseys for many years. Have never been kicked by any bovine, but was almost crushed by a "tame as a kitten" holstein bull. Almost every other holstein had 2 or 3 handlers on ropes, as well as the herdsman with the lead.

But I really beleive any animal can get ugly with the wrong handling. There was a Maine Anjou bull that was as good as gold for me, but when the owner showed up, was gouging the plank walls 1 -1/2" deep!!!

-- Gerry (gold-rush@telusplanet.net), April 18, 2002.

Is there any way to answer a dumb question without getting too graphic?? How do the collectors procure the semen?

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 18, 2002.

Gayle, get James Herriot's book "The Lord God Made Them All". Chapter 26. I still bust a gut laughing while just thinking of that episode! That poor bull!

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), April 19, 2002.

Gayle, they give the bull a Hoards Dairyman Magazine and a specimen bottle and send him to the bathroom.

-- Mac in AK (nospam@no.spam), April 19, 2002.

Gayle; Very carefully!!

Russ

-- (imashortguy@hotmail.com), April 19, 2002.

i was watching a PBS show on elephants and suddenly after trying to make out exactly what i was looking at (odd camera angle--plus it was a elephant--i thot it was it's tail at first....i was like, what are they doing to the elephants tail?!?--go ahead, laugh), i relized adn went "agggggggghhhhhh!!!" semen collecting is not exactly a pleasant process to share...so i'm not going to...

-- C (punk_chicadee@yahoo.com), April 19, 2002.

My husband and I own and operate a registered purebred guernsey farm. We have collected many of our own bulls over the years. Unless your bull has the numbers the AI studs are looking for, you are simply wasting your time talking to them. We collect the semen out of cows that are the highest milkers or the top show cow (we have had Grand champion at the Indiana state fair several times out of the the last five years). We advertise this semen by word of mouth and in our state guernsey newsletter. You are not going to make much money doing this. My husband sells the semen for $5 a straw which covers the cost of the collecting. If he needs to ship it, he adds a shipping charge. Most collectors charge a certain amount for coming to your place, then charge a percentage based on the semen collected. Unless you have people to sell to or plan to build up your herd to larger numbers, you aren't going to be able to use or sell 500 straws of semen.

-- gretchen (villacrestfarm@yahoo.com), April 22, 2002.