Reference Library

A.I. - The Answer For Us!
Genetic Tools for the Texas Longhorn Breeder
By Drew and Tom Dozier

As Texas Longhorn breeders, my husband Tom and I feel that Texas Longhorn cattle are the most versatile breed in the cattle industry. For that reason we have selected, over the last few years, cattle which typify certain Longhorn families. We have chosen Butler cows for horn, a beautiful Yates cow for her color,WR cows for height and femininity; and our original foundation herd is Peeler. Other cows we have chosen were not because of bloodline alone, but because of strong features that would aid in upgrading our herd.

We are not large breeders (we keep 25-30 mama cows) and need no more than one bull. So what do you do when there is a need to upgrade a specific characteristic of one cow 5 progeny when the same quality is fine in another cow? Or how do you assure that a particular bloodline continues? Our current bull was chosen for his frame and color, but that's not the main concern in all our cows. The answer for us is artificial insemination (A.I.).

Before we began our A.I. program five years ago, we did our homework. We visited several ranches, attended many shows, asked LOTS of questions, and of course, heard many opinions. We also acquired as much written material and as many bull photographs as we could find. After deciphering all this information, we were down to the decision of which bull to choose.

Tom and I both take an active part in the care and selection of our cattle. We both also have definite opinions about which direction should be taken in the breeding of our cows. In addition, we each have favorites in the herd. So, we knew that we would be choosing several bulls. The first place we turned was to a highly qualified semen supplier and Longhorn breeder who has done a great deal of marketing research, which proved useful in the selection. They also had the largest concentration of semen we had found. In our search, it turned out that all breeders we contacted were willing and eager to share information concerning their cattle, and bulls in particular. Thus, the remainder of our inventory comes from private treaty.

The first cow we had A.I.'d was a tall very feminine WR cow named Patty. We have a three-acre trap near the house where she, as well as all our A.I. cows, are penned. Tom has a background in Range Animal Science and helped me learn how to detect when a cow is in heat. We have a steer whose behavior is a great indicator as well. Sure enough, she came into heat after about three weeks. At that time, we called our local "A.I. guy" and had Patty inseminated to WR Trails. We kept her penned for four more weeks and let her out when she showed no signs of cycling. We were thrilled when she gave birth to a beautiful red roan heifer nine months later. After that, over a period of time, we penned eight more cows and had them A.I.'d. All attempts proved successful.

Well, we put pen to paper and decided that this process would be a whole lot more economical if we did the A.I. work ourselves. The trickiest part is making sure the girls are in heat, and we had that part down pat. So in November of 1994, as an anniversary gift, I went to A.I. school and am now certified in A.I. and palpation. The following Christmas I received a shiny new semen tank fully stocked. Tom went on to A.I. school the following March and is certified as well.

For the most part, we have agreed on which bull to use and we take turns doing A.I. on each cow we select. When we do have differing ideas on which bull to use, the one who has the stronger opinion gets the choice of bull and does the A.I. work.

It's fun to see how each of us does. So far we're evenly matched in the success ratio. We have a beautiful Overwhelmer daughter who happens to be my favorite. On May 31, 1995, I A.I.'d her to Storm Warning. I palpated her two days ago and sure enough, the calf's head is in position, and I expect to see the calf soon.

This is one area now where we definitely agree. We feel that it's best to let Mother Nature do the work of bringing a cow into heat. We tried "by the book" synchronization using regularly cycling cows and a two injection method using a prostaglandin product. We missed two cows out of three in the process. For larger ranches and those who wish to have a defined calving period, synchronization is a great choice. Since we are a bit more flexible, we prefer to wait for Mother Nature, thus giving us a higher A.I. success rate.

Our semen selection is varied and includes: Lethal Weapon, G-Man, Quill, All American and Capt. McNelly's Ranger to name a few. We feel that with our varied cow bloodlines and characteristics, this variety of semen gives us the freedom to upgrade our herd as needed.

As stated before, we feel that Texas Longhorn cattle are the most versatile breed in the cattle industry today. Through selective breeding, we feel they will remain the most versatile breed in the industry in the future as well.

Editor's Note: Drew and Tom Dozier owners of Drew's Longhorns at Seguin, Texas, have been raising Texas Longhorns since 1985. When they started their herd, they both agreed that they would put together a program to enable them to have a topflight herd. Knowing that they would never be able to acquire certain well-known herd sires with the genetics they wanted this couple opted for artificial insemination as the means to the end. They both highly recommend it to others with pm grams similar to theirs.

PS. The day after this article was written, Drew's favorite cow delivered a Storm Warning heifer calf .