Eden Shale Update- June 2024

May continued to be busy managing the cow herd through the synchronization process to get everything ready to AI. We had 18 replacement heifers, and 88 cows that were AI’ed this year.

The replacement heifers were pelvic measured the end of April, then CIDR’s went in on May 16th.  The heifers follow a 5 day synchronization protocol, and the CIDR’s came out on May 21st. Dr. Les Anderson bred the heifers on the morning of May 24th. The heifers were sorted into two groups, one getting bred to Angus (MVP) and the other to Hereford (Small Town Kid). The heifers will get cleaned up with an Angus bull. 

The cows follow the 7 day synchronization protocol.  Their CIDR’s went in on May 21st and were pulled on May 28th.  The 88 cows were bred on May 31st by David McGlothlin with Genetics Plus. The cows were also sorted into two groups, one getting bred to Angus (Plus One) and the other to Hereford (Kingdom). The cows will also get cleaned up with Angus bulls. The cleanup bulls got turned in on June 6th.

May 21st, the day we pulled the heifers CIDR’s and inserted the cows CIDR’s, we also collected genetic tissue samples on all of the cows and heifers. We are doing this as a trial to see what information we get back and if it is helpful for a commercial operation.  We collected samples for both the Zoetis and Neogen test so that we can see if either is more beneficial than the other, and how the results compare.  It will be July before we have the results and I will provide updates as we learn more about our herd.

I did have lots of help lined up that day to assists with all the work.  Greg of course kept the cattle flowing to us, and my kids were out of school that day keeping the tub and alley full of cows ready to enter the chute. From the office we had Dave putting CIDR’s in, Jake collecting the Zoetis tissue samples, Becky collecting the Neogen tissue samples, Alex keeping the records, I ran the chute and gave the pinkeye vaccine and put in fly tags, and Danny recorded all the action from various locations. It was a big day and everything went smoothly. I want to say thank you to my coworkers for all the help. I am thankful to work with people who share my passion and knowledge of animal agriculture. 

Danny capturing video footage.

Mason & Lawson helping.

Jake & Alex taking samples