50 years of artificial insemination and herd improvement in New Zealand.

By Clive Dalton & Claire Rumble.

Now a new Google knol - click here to read online.
Originally published by the Auckland Livestock Improvement Association, Private Bag, Hamilton.
ISBN 0-473-00294-9
April 1985

The cover of the book shows Moria Toomath (daughter of the late A.S. Wiley) of the Puhinui Jersey stud on her Koranui farm with a bull calf born in August 1984. Moira named the calf 'Puhinui King James' and he is rather special, because there are eight generations of AI breeding in his pedigree. His ancestry traces back to a foundation cow bought by Sydney Wiley in 1940. The Puhinui stud has been firmly based on AI breeding for 40 years.

Introduction (2009)

By Dr Clive Dalton

In musing over how things have changed in New Zealand dairying over the last 20 years, and the contribution genetics have made to this, I dug out the small book which Claire Rumble and I wrote in 1985 to commemorate “50 years of Artificial Insemination and Herd Improvement in New Zealand”.

At the time, Claire and I were employed by the NZ Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries. I was a Scientific Liaison Officer at the Ruakura Research Centre (where folk had forgotten AI in New Zealand had started), and Clare was Technical Editor in our MAF Wellington Head Office. We thought it an interesting and important story then that should be recorded for posterity, and nobody else was going to do anything about it.

Claire and I got in contact again in 2009, and after all these years we thought that in these internet days, the material should be made accessible to anyone interested in New Zealand’s agricultural history and especially in dairy cattle breeding.

We can’t remember how many books were printed, but it was not a lot due to Jack Burton’s very small ‘slush fund’! It was not sold, but copies were given away to anyone LIA thought would be interested. It’s amusing now that many people can remember the publication, but few can find their copy. The book rarely turns up in second-hand bookshops.

The words have not been edited or updated. Sad to say, most of the people mentioned in the story have now passed on.

What’s the story about?
Tokoroa dairy farmer, and lifelong servant to the dairy industry, Dudley Lane summed the book up in his foreword.

“The book highlights the initiative and dedication of the scientists, technicians, administrators and farmers who pioneered the introduction of artificial insemination of dairy cattle in New Zealand.”

It’s really a bit of a detective story with the New Zealand dairy cow playing the lead role. New Zealand’s cow population was building up in the early 1900s and somebody must have decided to officially record their milk yield. Obviously farmers wanted to know which were their best cows, so they could breed replacements from them.

The first problem was how to handle all the data collected and from it sort out which were the best cows. It was the dawn of the science of statistics never mind genetics.

But then as the bull was the key to herd improvement, finding the top bulls was the key, and then they hit the wall over how to get more offspring from a bull.

Two popular sires in 1981

The Friesian (right) had more than 150,000 inseminations, and the Jersey more than 125,000.

The pedigree breeders held all the power and the sale of their bulls was the key to genetic improvement. Then the urge to speed up herd improvement made farmers start wondering if this new (and to many very dodgy) process called Artificial Insemination could be of use to get more from their bulls. This is the core of the tale.

AI or AB
This was a serious debate about which term to use, and you have to laugh about it now. New Zealand started with the term AI (Artificial Insemination), were diverted by the UK Milk Marketing Board to call it AB (Artificial Breeding), and then UK changed back to AI and left New Zealand in the lurch with a term that now is only use in NZ and Australia!

History of Herd Improvement
Dairy farming in New Zealand has always been a cooperative business, so this chapter is very important to understand the organisations that had to be set up – and made to work – to get anything going. Electricity was just being introduced to farms, milking machines were coming on stream, and pencil and paper was the means of recording everything. The introduction of the Burroughs ‘adding machines’ by Arthur Ward (a former accountant) for processing cow records was a revolution!

It was the dawn of statistical analysis – and Arthur had to lead the industry into this age. He persuaded Olive Castle to leave her maths teaching job in Wellington and join him. She should have been honoured for her contribution to the dairy industry but never was. Progeny testing, Sire Surveys and Contemporary Comparisons were developed by Olive and were copied world wide. It was a great example of the Kiwi way – of getting science into the paddock.

First steps to AI
Looking back now, this part of the story is mind blowing and you have to wonder if it could be done today with all the bureaucracy. The “NZ Co-op Herd Testing Assoc”, asked the Director General of Agriculture to get on and develop an AI service. Nice and simple – “get on with the job" mate!

The original AI laboratory at Newstead in 1952. The cars (from L to R) are Stan Southcombe's A40, Max Cooper's Morris Minor, and Sel Sheaf's A 90.

Remember what things were like. Rough roads, Model T and Austin cars, no electricity on farms, no idea of how to get semen from a bull on a farm (a pickle jar was used!) and then keeping the semen in a test tube in Tom Blake’s waistcoat pocket till he got to a cow on another farm to insert it into the vagina. The story and what the folk charged with getting the show on the road is amazing looked at from today’s systems.

Back to the beginning
This chapter is about an amazing man – Dr John James, a UK trained vet who came to New Zealand to do research on mastitis at Wallaceville. He sort of got diverted to Ruakura and the rest is history! It’s an amazing bit of history too – of what he achieved, like the invention of the straw to hold semen and the stainless steel insemination gun – 40 years before its time! The only gun left is in an AI museum in Russia!

Dr John James - the driving force behind getting AI working in NZ

Dr James led the research along a difficult and winding path of working out how to preserve sperm, dilute it to get more cows mated from one ejaculate, with the enormous challenge that only New Zealand has – to get all the cows mated over a period of 6 weeks in spring.

John James is generous in his recognition of all the staff at Ruakura and then at Newstead who helped to get the job done.

Semen for sale
One day, which must have been momentous, semen was offered for sale to commercial farmers with a very reasonable guarantee of success. Imagine the responsibility on the heads of all those involved, because if the cow didn’t get in calf, the farmer’s income next year was severely affected by the three-week delay in calving.

Then of course, once the novelty of the technique was accepted, farmers expected that they would be getting the very top bulls in the country, and that each year’s models would be better than last year’s. The pressure went on pedigree breeders which up to now were assumed to have the best stock. This assumption was now being questioned!

How to organise this distribution of semen took some very special people, and they didn’t fail to deliver. However one idea somebody had ‘failed to fly’. It was to send semen from Hamilton to Massey by carrier pigeon – which was in theory faster than the train! A saddler was commissioned to make the leather pouches needed.

AI goes to Northland
Apparently the dairy farmers in Northland had the clear impression that nobody cared much about them, so they got organised and were going to set up their own organisation. They went a fair way along the road and three wonderful stirrers who lived into their 90s made the Dairy Board see their point of view and provide an AI service.

AI made such an impact in Northland that the local management committee got a letter from a ‘Miss” requesting semen, saying she had never married but wished to have a family – ‘preferring Scottish and definitely not Irish blood’. She was available for interview any time. The meeting exploded with members clamouring for more details.

Technicians and training
The star of this chapter, and many would say of AI in New Zealand is Max Cooper (photographed in action below). Max was raised on a Hamilton farm, now with the city at its doorstep and had seen cows being inseminated on the family farm and thought it would an interesting job.

Over a very long career with the NZ Dairy Board, he led the charge of getting AI to work on farms, and to keep getting better results. He became a major trainer around the world. He was always the star turn at the annual Ruakura Open Days when buses taking farmers around the farm always ended at Newstead where Max had a bull primed ready to mount to deliver some future genetics for the industry.


Max told some great stories – all true! He was once accosted by a very nice lady who said she’d pay his wages if he stopped the ‘dirty pracice’ he was involved in. He tried in vain to explain it was a bull’s semen he was using on the cow. Many farmers always let the bull serve the cow before and after insemination and one farmer told Max that at the climax of mating, an electric pulse passed from bull to cow.

Forward into the fifties
The hero of this chapter is Pat Shannon (pictured). The progress which Pat and his colleagues brought about in the 1950s is an applied science classic. Pat is the first to acknowledge the help they got from “serendipity”!

The secret was in the dilution process as when they started they could get 10,000 inseminations from one ejaculate provided it was used within the first and at most the second day after collection. Their work (in 1956) got 150,000 inseminations from an ejaculate – and with massive advantages in keeping quality.

Taking the message to the farmer
This chapter pays tribute to the pioneering farmers whose supported the system set up to revolutionise dairy herd improvement. Herds were increasing slowly in size, the demand for proven bulls was increasing, the market for unproven ‘pedigree’ bulls had collapsed, and their was a storm of ‘plain speaking’ from pioneers like Dr C.P. McMeekan at Ruakura and Alan Candy.

These pioneers formed the NZ Society of Animal Production and the Dairy Board set up the Consultancy Officers’ Service. Things were really on the move. Jeff Stichbury of the Dairy Board drove the consultants, and relished the challenge of getting out in his Austin A40 to confront farmers the length of the land.

Which bulls to use?
This chapter is about the devopment of the ‘Sire Proving Scheme’ which had, and has continued to be the very core of dairy cattle improvement. It’s all about finding the best bulls which are then used as “Premier Sires”.

The process then developed to find the best cows from the extensive database of cow records (one of the biggest in the world) to be the mothers of future Premier Sires. Farmers put these cows up on contracts so any bull calves born were put back into the system to be progeny tested. This process has not changed – its only got bigger and better over the years.

Consolidation in the sixties
This bit of the story is about research to improve the extenders to keep semen viable for longer and the technology of deep freezing was racing ahead.

There’s a lovely (true) story of a farmer who was told to keep some semen in the FRIDGE. In those days semen was kept in glass ampules before plastic straws were invented. By mistake he put it in the FREEZER! It was duly thawed and the cow inseminated to produce a nice calf nine months later. He could claim to have pioneered the process!

The Eighties
By 1984, 70% of New Zealand dairy herds were using AI, and to most farmers, they’d never used anything else, so to them there was nothing ‘artificial’ involved. The story in this chapter is mainly about the administration changes that set things in place for the next two decades. Jeff Stichbury reckoned that the AI service and everything that went with it on herd improvement had produced 25kg of milkfat per cow per year more than would have been the case if the old ways had remained.

Records staff of Auckland Livestock Improvement Association in 1984.

Note: very few computers on desks!

Biographies
The book has biographies of Tommy Blake (1882-1966), Dr John James, Paul Kneebone and Stan Southcombe.

Table of events in date order
This is a very useful time line of events from 1909 (the start of Herd Testing) to 1984 (the formation of the NZ Dairy Board Livestock Improvement Council).

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1985?

Clive Dalton interviewed Dr Pat Shannon in April 2009 about developments since the book was published in 1985. Here are the points he made:

Pat Shannon aged 81 and still working two days a week at LIC

where he has been employed contributing to the dairy industry for 50 years.

Pat died age 90 on May 4 2016

• The number of inseminations from an average bull's ejaculate has risen from 150,000 to 300,000.
• The life of fresh semen in the field has increased from two days to four days.
• The number of sperm in a straw of frozen semen has dropped from a minimum of 15 million to 10 million.
• Semen carried by field technicians changed from test tubes to plastic straws in the 1990s.
• Advances in computers have allowed more traits to be included in selection indexes.
• Research into 'genetic markers' has allowed the time taken to prove a bull to drop from five years to one year.
• Staff now have desk top computers linked to the Internet, instead of being linked to the main LIC computer.
• Farmers can send and receive their data to LIC via their home computer and the Internet.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Pigs Part 2

PIG BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 2

Reproduction: Birth behaviour: Fostering

By Dr Clive Dalton


The female

• Puberty can be affected by breed, season of the year, and social environment (e.g. crowding) but especially by live weight.
• Mixing during transport sometimes triggers puberty where the transport stress is thought to trigger reproductive hormones.
• Contact with males will also stimulate first oestrus. However if exposure is too early or for too long, the gilts may become accustomed to the boar's presence and not react.
• To exploit this male effect, expose the gilt to the boar at about 160-175 days of age, and 60-90% of then should show oestrus within 10 days after exposure.
• Most breeds of gilts today come into oestrus between 170-220 days of age, when they have been moved from their finishing pens at around 90kg live weight.
• Weaning a litter will trigger the sow to come in oestrus. She usually cycles 4-5 days after removal of her litter.
• For best results, make sure the gilts are kept totally from within sight, smell or sound of the boar.
• Rearing gilts with contemporary male pen mates does not seem to advance their age of puberty.
• In general practice, gilts are mated and their third heat, when weighing about 118kg. However mating them at their second heat has economic advantages.
  

Signs of oestrus
Sows and gilts in oestrus show any combination of the following signs:

• Swollen and reddened vulva about 2-6 days beforehand.
• Mucous discharge from the vagina.
• Restlessness and a poor appetite.
• Females coming into heat may sniff the genital area of their pen mates.
• They may ride others and stand to be ridden.
• They will show a feature unique to pigs - the "stance reflex" where they arch their backs , stand rigidly when pushed from behind, and allow a person to sit astride them.
• Prick-eared breeds carry their ears erect and held back.
• Oestrus pigs make a characteristic grunt and seek other pigs while go around searching for a boar.
  

Mating

• The female pig assumes a major role in mating by searching for the male and converting social contact into sexual behaviour.
• "Standing heat" when the female will stand for copulation lasts around 48 hours (range of 38-60 hours). Some sows can stay on heat for up to 120 hours.
• The first heat is usually shorter and sows have longer receptive periods than gilts.
• Length of oestrus is also affected by breed, season and management system such as if sows are group our individual housed.
• Ovulation occurs during the second half of the oestrus period, so it's best for the boar to serve the sow twice - at the start and end of the standing heat period.
• Females not mated will cycle every 21 days (range of 19-24 days).
• Gestation in the modern hybrid pig kept intensively averages 115 days (range 108-122 days).
• The "standing reflex" of the sow where she will not move when weight is applied to her back increases as the oestrus period advances.
• The sow is stimulated by the boar and his pheromones from his body, especially his frothing mouth and the gelatinous exudates from his prepuce.
• The order of priority of these stimuli seems to be smell, sound, sight with physical contact last.
• Some sows show a preference for a particular boar and this can cause inconvenience in breeding programmes.
• When the boar is too large and heavy and risk damaging the sow (as mating can take a very long time), the female is best held in a crate where the boar's front legs rest on the sides of the crate to take some of his weight.
• Gilts may often only stand for a boar in the presence of another female in the mating pen, or with a familiar pig in an adjoining area. However, if these support pigs are nearing oestrus, they'll only distract the boar from the job in hand.
• It's a good idea to mate gilts to an old experienced boar and mate old sows with a young boar.
  

Female behaviour before birth

• Sows show great variation in their behaviour approaching birth. This depends mainly on age, previous experience, breed, strain and the husbandry system.
• Sows carrying a litter of more than 11 pigs will have a 5-day shorter gestation than those carrying average litters of 9-10 piglets.
• To avoid stressing the sow, she should be transferred to her farrowing quarters about a week before birth. This will allow them to settle in and reduce stress levels.
• Stressed sows (especially inexperienced ones) will have higher piglet mortality through overlaying and even attacking piglets.
• Heavily pregnant sows spend most of their time resting, sleeping and feeding.
• As gestation length varies widely, recognising the signs of approaching birth is very important, to ensure the welfare needs of the sow are met.
• Sows are nest builders - and they need to express this desire in intensive farming. A sow starts to nest build 3-7 hours before farrowing, and after giving birth she stays in the nest for 24 hours, nursing every 45 minutes.
  

Signs of birth

• The vulva swells and becomes redder, especially obvious in white skinned pigs about 4 days before birth (range 1-7 days). In black pigs you will only see the vulva starting to look like a swollen prune.
• The udder swells, becomes firm and colostrum can be obtained by gentle massage up to 24 hours before farrowing. Rubbing the front teats usually stimulates the sow to lie down.
• Increased restlessness. The sow gets up and lies down or changes side more frequently, twitches the tail, and chews the pen railings.
• She also urinates, defaecates and drinks more.
• The sow chews up the bedding (when provided) and makes the nest. She paws the ground, especially where no bedding is provided. This is a key sign.
• There will be a discharge of blood, birth fluid from the sow and green-brown faecal meconium pellets originating from the piglets.
• Respiration will increase from about 54 breaths/minute 24 - 12 hours before birth, to 90/min 12 - 4 hours before birth, reducing to 25/min at about 24 hours after farrowing. This together with intermittent low grunting and jaw chomping is common.
• Sow rectal temperatures rises from about 39 - 39.5 C four hours prior to farrowing. They then stay elevated (around 40 C) for up to 24 hours after farrowing.
  

Behaviour during birth

• During birth, the sow lies on one side, and in the intervals between piglets she may change sides, stand or sit in a dog-sitting posture. These movements risk crushing or overlaying the piglets.
• Studies showed that the average time to produce a whole litter averaging 11 piglets was 2 hours 53 minutes, or 15.3min/piglet.
• But these times vary greatly with a range from 3.6 min/piglet to 44.6 min/piglet.
• Normally 55-75% of piglets are born head first and 25-45% back legs first.
• Abdominal straining is more often seen before the birth of the first pig, and less common with the remainder.
• As the sow strains, her tail is often pulled back away from the vulva, and delivery of a piglet is often accompanied by vigorous tail swishing and expulsion of gas from the rectum.
• Paddling with the legs while lying down is common.
• The sow usually just lies still as each piglet is born, and she attracts them to her head end by special grunts. She doesn't stand up and lick them and chew their birth sack like other species. She also cannot turn to lick them as they are born like a bitch as she is not as flexible.
• After the piglets are born, the sow stands up and often urinates.
• Usually the foetal membranes start to be expelled during the birth phase and they may appear in two of three lumps. Most of it is shed after the last piglet is born.
• Four hours is normally needed to expel the complete afterbirth but this varies widely from 21 minutes to 12-13 hours.

Early sow and piglet behaviour after birth

Most milk is at the front teats

• About 70% of piglets are born with their umbilical cords still attached and attached to the foetal membranes still inside the sow's genital tract.
• The cord can be stretched considerably before breaking and this helps to prevent haemorrhage.
• It takes from 1 to 30 minutes for piglets to free themselves form their cords which became shrivelled within 4-5 hours after birth. The sow rarely chews the end of a piglet's cord.
• After a brief period of 5-10 seconds of not breathing, the piglet gives 5-6 gasps and a cough. This is followed by about 20 seconds of rapid shallow panting followed by regular rhythmic breathing.
• Most piglets attempt to stand within one minute of birth, and within two minutes they can stand freely and start searching for the teats, or anything that sticks out that feels like a teat - e.g. the point of the sow's vulva.
• There's a wide interval of 3 - 153 minutes/piglet (average of 10-15) between birth and the first milk intake. Piglets clearly vary enormously in their ability to find a teat although some are greatly restricted by the trailing cord.
• Nuzzling is a very important behaviour used in teat-seeking.
• Piglets show a very clear preference for the front teats of the sow, which generally have more milk than the rear ones.
  
• So the first-born piglets get the best (front) teats, which they claim and fight for until a suckling order is established.
• The front teats are longer with more space between them and they have a greater clearance above ground level than the rear teats, so the piglet can grip them more easily.
• Clearance generally declines up to teat number 6, and as the sow ages the udder becomes more pendulous and her ability to expose the bottom teats is reduced.
• The risks of piglets being kicked by the hind feet are also greater when suckling the rear teats. There is also a danger of being kicked by the front feet.
• So the front-suckling piglets grow faster and consequently maintain their social rank in the litter.
• Piglets sort out a hierarchy in the first few days, and a clear social order is established after a week.
• As milk letdown is very rapid (about 20 seconds) and occurs about once an hour, there's little opportunity for piglets to share teats. But if space allows, they may suckle more than one teat.
• Normally breeders select females with a minimum of 12 functional teats, and preferably 14-16. In older sows, wear and tear and mastitis may reduce the number of functional teats.
• Piglet suckling behaviour moves through the following stages:
• Jostling for position along the sow's belly to find the teat.
• Squealing while jostling.
• Nosing the udder.
• Slow sucking.
• Rapid sucking.
• Final slow sucking and udder nuzzling.
• The sow's grunting increases greatly up to the slow sucking stage which is a clear signal to the piglets that letdown is imminent. Letdown starts 25-35 seconds after this signal.
• The squeal of isolated, lost, or handled piglets will alert and stress the sow and she may interrupt her suckling behaviour to investigate. So don't pick up stray piglets during suckling time.
• Piglets sleep for about 15-16 minutes every hour.
• In the wild, the sow and her piglets join the herd after a week.
  

Fostering piglets

• When sows are farrowed separately but in batches, litter sizes can be adjusted by taking piglets from large litters and giving them to sows with plenty of milk and small litters.
• Care is needed as sows vary in their acceptance of foster piglets.
• Best results are obtained if piglets from both sows are the same age and under one week old before teat preferences have been established.
• For success- remove all the piglets from the sow that is going to be given the extras.
• Wait till they are really hungry and she is anxious to have them back.
• Rub the rear ends of the removed piglets over the anogenital area of the strangers to be added. The sow usually smells this area.
• Use the afterbirth for this job if it's still available.
• Then put them all with the sow and watch to make sure she lets them all suckle and accepts them.
• Fostering will probably disrupt the whole nursing process, because of renewed competition for teats. You'll see this in the uneven growth of the litter up to weaning.
• When sows farrow together in the open, piglets seem to mix freely from birth without any problems. The main concern for the farmer is to make sure that each sow has a similar number of piglets.
• Behaviour of dry sows It's important that dry sows have their diets carefully controlled to ensure their nutritional needs are carefully monitored and met.
• The need to have strict control over a sow's diet has led to the development of systems that restrict their movement, and these have large behavioural and welfare implications.
  

The systems used are:

• Sow stalls - the sow is held in a narrow stall, allowing her to move to and fro but not turn round. There is total environmental control.
• Sows tethered in stalls by a neck strap or a strap around her chest. She cannot turn round. There is total environmental control.
• Sows at pasture in groups with communal shelters.
• Sows at pasture in individual runs or tethered to individual kennels.
• Sows in groups of 6-10 in a yard with kennel-type shelter and individual feeders.
• There is an active national campaign in many countries (including New Zealand) to make sow stalls and tethering illegal because of the stress it causes the animals. This practice has been banned in some European countries.
• Sows in stalls and tethered sows tend to develop "bar biting" when they bite the front bars of the stall, and also show a "paddling" behaviour often seen by bored tethered animals.
• Research has shown that even in stalls, providing some straw gave some enrichment to their existence.
• The ultimate in luxury, (judged with an anthropomorphic view) is to keep dry sows in large yards in deep straw. But sows can have savage fights to establish a social order when housed loosely, and it adds greatly to costs of production. This is a classical example of what the domestic contract should provide.
  

The male

• In the wild or in extensive pig keeping systems, the male pig, (unlike males in other species) does not initiate sexual behaviour. He waits for initial signals from the female.
• Boars reach puberty about 6 months of age, but are generally not used for service till 7-8 months old. These ages can vary a lot depending on the feeding level.
• They start learning their courting behaviour and show elements of sexual behaviour while still suckling and as part of play with pen mates. They develop these behaviours even more if mixed with strangers.
• Boars reared in isolation are much slower to develop successful courting behaviour. Group reared boars are better than those reared in individual pens, and intensive stocking will encourage aggression as well as sexual behaviour.
• Boars reared intensively in homosexual groups maintain this relationships for many months after parting, and they can often show abnormal sexual behaviour.
• The boar's courting ritual includes:
• Chasing the sow.
• Nuzzling her head, flanks, shoulder and anogenital area.
• Occasional pushing or leaning on the sow to test her state.
• Drinking her urine.
• He urinates frequently.
• He grinds and chomps his teeth salivating and frothing at the mouth.
• This courting ritual has an important effect on improving the conception rate of the sows being mated. In outdoor pigs boars often have rings inserted in their noses to stop them rooting up the pasture. This affects their courting ritual when it comes to nuzzling the sow and causing a negative response.
• When the boar mounts, he rests his belly along the sow's back and grasps her with his forelegs. Inexperienced boars will head mount, side mount and dismount frequently before intromission (penis entering the vagina).
• Ejaculation occurs when the cork-screw penis of the boar locks in the sow's cervix. This can take considerable time - averaging about 7 minutes but it can last up to 25 minutes.
• The boar thrusts and rests many times and eventually ejaculates up to 500 ml of sperm. Other farm species produce a 5-15 ml ejaculate.
• 
  

Boar behaviour and handling

• Treat all boars with respect and treat them as individuals.
• Handle them carefully and de-tusk them every 6 months (with veterinary advice).
• Remove the front accessory claws to protect the sow from injury during mating (with veterinary advice).
• Don't overwork the boar - one boar to 20 sows is most common.
• Four services a week are plenty till the boar is 12 months old. Don't let him serve more than 6 times a week as this will lower his fertility and subsequent litter size from the sows mated.
• Too frequent use of a boar as a teaser to locate sows coming into heat, may frustrate him too much and he may not serve when needed.
• Mate young boars to old sows in peak oestrus, and old boars to gilts.
• Don't let young boars get injured during their early matings.
• After layoffs of longer than a month, libido may drop and a boar may need the stimulus of an old sow in peak oestrus that has already been served by another boar.
• Spreading some ejaculate from another boar along the sow's back will help to stimulate a boar.
• Take the sow on heat to the boar so he doesn't waste time investigating a new environment. Otherwise he'll waste time in an elaborate ritual of urinating, rubbing scent from his body on the walls, marking the territory with salivary foam and fight the sow to establish dominance.
• Boar pens should provide a good foothold for the boar but not so rough as it will cause foot problems.
• Boars should be kept within sight, sound and smell of sows. However this assumes the boar is the dominant animal in the herd. He may be considerably stressed with other boars near by, as in the wild each boar would be solitary.
• Boars get very large and need regular exercise to keep fit. It's a good idea to have a system where the boar walks daily to the sow's accommodation to help stimulate oestrus and identify sows on heat.
• Regular quiet handling by the stockperson is ideal, walking behind with a pig board for protection, and talking in quiet reassuring tones.
  

Boars and Artificial Insemination (AI)

• AI in pigs is now well established in commercial pig improvement and is a specialist operation.
• At AI centres boars are trained to mount dummy sows and serve into an artificial vagina as this is less complicated than using a live sow.
• Boars may be harder to train if they have mated sows first. But again this varies with the personality of the boar.
• Gentle, reassurance by the stockperson is the secret of success to get a good semen sample from the boar.
• Boars will show courting behaviour to the dummy by nuzzling its flank and rear end.
• Libido varies greatly between boars, and is related to frequency of use.
• Boars can be stimulated more by giving them false mounts, or by observing a collection from another boar.
• It's a good idea to allow the sow or gilt 10-20 minutes contact (through a pen) with a boar after insemination.
  

Behaviour of housed boars

• In less intensive systems where sows are kept in straw yards (and not in stalls), boars often run with them and few problems arise.
• If a boar is put in among a group of unfamiliar loose-housed sows, he will waste time investigating the environment and not checking for sows on heat.
• In intensive pig farming, the boar does not spend time in social contact with sows and opportunities to consort with females are decided by the human in charge.
• Here, sometimes the boar pens are arranged between pens of six loose-housed sows to achieve maximum physical presence of the male.
• In other systems, including where sows are tethered or in stalls, the boar is walked daily in front of them to test for oestrus.
  
• When boars walk behind stalled sows a boar may be confused by the fact that they are immobile and hence displaying an invitation to be mounted. This can be very time-wasting.
• It's well established that depriving boars and sows full opportunity to indulge in their full courting behaviour affects pregnancy and litter size.
  

Boar behaviour problems

• Serving into the rectum instead of the vagina can be a problem. Avoid this by supervising young boars in their early work to make sure they are aligned correctly.
• Extremes of heat may affect the boar's enthusiasm. Delay his work till evening.
• Masturbation by coiling the penis inside the diverticulum of the prepuce. Make sure the boar's penis has actually entered the sow and he is not masturbating.
• Boars that masturbate persistently should be culled although the prepuce can be surgically removed.
• Some boars behave normally up to the point of mounting and then squat down on the floor and ejaculate. Great care is needed to help these boars achieve success as they may persist in this habit.
• Aggression. Boars are always potentially dangerous and need to be handled with care. Nervous and aggressive boars should be culled. Some boars will show aggression with strangers but not with their regular handlers.
• When strange boars meet, they strut shoulder to shoulder, head raised and hair bristling along their backs. Deep grunts, jaw chomping and mouth frothing continues.
• In a fight, boars face each other with their shoulders in opposition and apply sideways pressure. They circle around, biting and slashing at each other with their tusks. They may charge each other with mouths wide open and bite. The loser turns and runs away squealing.
• Subsequently after a win, the winning dominant boar need only grunt to get submission. Newly-mixed boars fight less if they are both put in a strange environment.
  

Daft Laddies - the Bull with the Bowler Hat

Daft Laddies - Farming tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on  By Clive Dalton and Don Clegg

An extract from the book Daft Laddies, Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) by Clive Dalton and Don Clegg. If you'd like a copy of the book, including an audio CD of a few of the best tales, just email Don on donaldclegg@btopenworld.com

Photo shows Clive Dalton's grandfather, George Dalton, holding the first prize Shorthorn bull from Chesters estate in Humshaugh, at Hexham show in 1914.

Modern technology
In these days of genome mapping, DNA analysis, multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET), cloning, and genetically modified (GM) organisms – you have to smile at the consternation caused by the simple process of Artificial Insemination (AI) on North Tyne and Rede farms in the 1950s.

As in all farming circles there are leaders who try new things, and countless sceptics who knaa nowt about it, but nivortheless have strang opinions forecasting doom and disaster for aall involved. There was a lot of it aboot in the 1950s when AI became available on local farms.

Artificial Insemination (AI)
AI solved the need to keep a bull, freeing up feed for an extra cow and calf. It was also a lot safer as housed bulls regularly caused injuries to farm folk. But the big selling point was that through AI you could get the services of a much better bull and at reasonable cost. And you’ll remember the boss was nivor maede o’ muney!

Aall a lot of blow’d rrubeesh, said the sceptics! So what were their concerns - real and imagined? The first was how to taalk aboot it – even to say the name. The word “artificial” usually referred to manure from a bag. That was bad enough but the word “insemination” was just gannin’ ower far.

Trouble started with the inevitable questions of “huw de they git the juice oot o’ the bull”? Nobody had been to the AI centre at Shinfield in faraway Coonty Durham to see the process, so there was only conjecture of mind-boggling proportions.

So when we farmin’ college students with wor fancy beuk larnin’ explained how the bull served into a warmed rubber tube and the semen was collected in a small glass test tube – well that was ower daft for woords. “Nee bull worth his keep wad dee owt as daft as that, man!” was the comment.

Then there was the question aboot huw the cuw gat bulled if there wasn’t a bull? Well, we explained, it was done by the “AI man” – in the North Tyne that was a Mr Jamieson from Hexham. Now you were clearly away wi the fairies, bonny lad.

Student's knowledge
Suddenly, we students were a font of knowledge of such things – but you had to watch what company you were in afore borstin’ forth with yor newfangled knowledge. It was aall right at the Saturday night dances to explain such things to the village lassees, but not to chorch folk ov a Sunday.

The dangerous bit was when you explained where Mr Jamieson put his hand and aboot the glass tube containing the semen (no plastics then) which could very easily break inside the cuw. This was seen as undiluted filth comin’ from the gob of somebody like mesel (CD) who blew the organ, tolled the bell and took the collection at St Cuthbert’s chorch!

There were many folk in those days who genuinely believed that the whole process of not letting nature take its course, by letting bulls do bull’s work, would do some irreparable genetic and psychological harm to cattle as a species. And then to explain that semen could be frozen and be kept for EVER was totally ower the top and would be the end of farmin’.

Phone for the bull
But probably the biggest embarassment for the daft laddie was phoning from a very public phone box to order the bull. Few farms had phones in those days so you had to go to the nearest public phone box with all the trauma of having the right money, pressin’ button A and not B at the right time, and then deliverin’ your message.

Then the biggest shock came when you got through to the Milk Marketing Board in Hexham, and a WOMAN answered! That was bad enough but then she started askin’ you questions:

MMB: “Good morning Sir, Milk Marketing Board Insemination Service”
Laddie: “Helloa, Aye – am caalin’ aboot a cuw from Nettle Hill.”

MMB: “Yes, I have the farm details, sir”. Is the cow standing, sir?”
Laddie : “Wey no, she was lyin’ doon in the byor when Aa left.”

MMB: “No sir, is she in standing heat or is she just coming on?”
Laddie: “Oh Aa see. By heck no, she’s stannin’ allright. The boss was just sayin’ she’s stannin’ like a dyke. She’s fair mad a bullin’.”

MMB: “What breed of bull do you want, sir?”
Laddie: “Oh, the boss wants Shorthorn but the missus likes them new Friesians they hev doon at Acomb.”

MMB: “So what’s the decision, sir?”
Laddie: “Well, the row was still ganin’ on when Aa left on me bike to phone up. Mebbe wise to bring baeth bulls’ juice, eh?”

MMB: “Has the cow been inseminated before sir?”
Laddie: “Oh aye – this will be the fowerth time. The boss was just sayin’ that if she doesn’t haad this time, she’ll gan te Archie’s Galloway. He’ll stop owt, Aa tell ye.

MMB: “Thank you for calling sir, Mr Jamieson will be there this afternoon.

It was all ower much for some folk and after escaping from the phone box on a hot summer morning after a grilling like that, and gollarin’ doon the phone so the lass cud heor - as Hexham, remember, was 12 miles away or more, the sweat was just dripping off you. It was a relief to get back on the hard iron seat of the hay turner.

Then followed the air of expectancy, waiting for Jamieson’s arrival. The poor cuw tied up in the byre was equally excited and to show this she bellowed all day, decorating the newly whitewashed walls in half circles of liquid green.

Sure enough, late in the day a little white Ford van came chugging into the yard and out popped Mr Jamieson in spotless Wellingtons and riding britches carrying a white box and a waterproof coat. Here indeed was “the bull with the bowler hat” as many farmers dubbed him. It was unbelievable for some – whaat in the wide woorld was he ganin’ dee?

Mystery deepened
The mystery deepened and was made no less enlightening when he asked for a bucket of warm water, a towel and bit of soap, and somebody to hold the cow’s tail oot of the way. Then he put his coat on back to front! Ye beggor o’ Hexham – what next?

Can you imagine how these details were received by good folk with puritanical views and sceptical about so-called scientific progress? Explaining that the cow’s cervix was palpated through the rectum wall and the semen deposited just through the cervix by the glass pipette, were details they begged to be spared from. That was just ower much filth for decent lugs, and was typical of the “modreen rubbeesh young folk larned at them farmin’ colleeges”.

Never the same again
The ultimate argument against AI was that a cow mated by AI wad nivor haad again tiv a bull. And the sceptics always had examples of folk they kenned from Deadwater down to Acomb with this awful experience. “The cuws wor rruined man, an waadn’t even haad te the Galloway bull efterwards”, they declared. The Galloway bull was seen as the ultimate in bovine impregnation – “if he cudn’t stop a cuw, nowt wad”.

Other doubting Thomases had seen these AI-bred calves and they were “nivor ony geud, man, and just blow’d rrubeesh”. I remember once viewing one of the early AI-bred calves in the presence of some sceptics, and, in an atmosphere of near wonderment, the comment was made – “Eeeh man! leuk heor, leuk whaat the bull wi’ the bowler hat’s gitten. Aye man, an’ it kindo leuks like Jamieson an’ aall.”

Imagine if they’d known about the recently discovered evidence that we humans share about 90% of our DNA with cattle and even a mouse! Aa knaa whee’d git the blame for this shock horror – owld Jamieson from Hexham!

Getting top results with dairy cow Artificial Insemination (AI)

While the genetic merit of bulls in dairy AI programs is improving all the time, the costs of running an AI program are increasing due to factors like rising fuel charges, increasing wages and declining cow fertility. So it's very important to get the best from an AI program which requires a good knowledge of animal-human interaction.

When will a cow come on heat?

• Cattle reach puberty about 6-9 months of age but some calves can come on heat as early as 4 months of age – especially rapidly-growing Friesian calves.
• Puberty depends more on weight than age. If you ever have calves that get pregnant, it's best to have them aborted as soon as you notice excess udder development as there may be no other signs. Check with your veterinarian for the appropriate action.
• Dairy heifers are mated as yearlings at 12-14 months old to calve around 24 months.
• Gestation in the cow is 283 days but in the dairy industry 14 days either side of this time is accepted as normal variation in terms of deciding the sire of the calf.
• Beef heifers have not traditionally been mated as yearlings, but this is changing if they are well grown to get more profit from the enterprise.

• A cow will cycle (show oestrus or come on heat) about three weeks after calving, but it is more likely to be six weeks. Don't mate her at that first 3-week cycle: leave her to her second cycle.
• She should then cycle every 21 days after that if not pregnant, with a range from 18-24 days.
• An unmated cow will cycle all year round with slightly less activity in winter.
• There are nymphomaniac cows that cycle every 3 weeks all year round and never get pregnant after mating. They are a great nuisance.
• If a cow doesn't get pregnant after 3 cycles, then get rid of her.

How long does a cow stay on heat?

• She normally stays on heat for about 8 hours but this can vary from 4-12 hours.
• In the short days of winter heat periods can be at the lower end of the range
• Oestrus will start off with low intensity, rising to a state of "standing heat" when the cow will stand quite still when mounted by other cows.
• If a bull then tries to mount her she'll often not accept him straight away. This is nature's way of teasing the bull to concentrate his sperm before ejaculation.
• After this, heat intensity declines as she goes off heat and she'll let nothing mount her.

What are the signs of heat in cattle?
Cows coming on heat

• They will attempt to ride other cows but will not stand to be ridden themselves.
• They smell other cows around the genital area.
• Have a moist, red swollen vulva.
• Are restless, walk a lot and bellow for company of other cows.

Cows on heat

• Stand to be ridden and may also ride other cows.
• Hair will be rubbed off her tail head and muddy feet marks will appear on her flanks from being mounted.
• May stand with back arched and tail raised.
• Are nervous and excitable and graze less.
• Are restless, walk a lot and bellow for company of other cows.
• Have a moist red vulva with clear mucus coming from it.
• Dairy cows will hold their milk and often come into the parlour out of their normal order.
• Also watch any friendly heifers as they may try to mount their owners. It's a bit scary to turn round and find a beast up on its hind legs about to land on you!

Cows going off heat

• Will not stand to be ridden any more but may attempt to ride others
• The still smell other cows around the genital areas.

Sexually Active Groups (SAGs)

• Cows (especially in dairy herds) at various stages of their oestrus form groups of 2-6 sexually active cows referred to as a SAG.
• They are made up of cows coming on heat, those on heat and cows going off heat.
• They often rotate through the herd, forming, breaking up and reforming with new animals.
• With AI programmes it pays to keep good records of which animals have been inseminated to avoid confusion by this group behaviour.

What are short cycles?

• These are when a cow has been mated and comes on heat again after a shorter interval than the normal 18-24 days.
• Returning to oestrus in 10 days is a common abnormal interval.
• If this happens - mate the cow again and if possible use the same bull or semen to avoid confusion over parentage.
• If parentage is important then you can always have the calf DNA profiling to be certain of the sire.

What is a "silent heat"?

• This is when a cow fails to show outward heat signs but has ovulated (shed an egg).
• This can be confirmed through palpation of the ovaries by a veterinarian who can feel a Corpus Luteum or yellow body. This is where the follicle on the ovary has burst when the egg was shed.
• Silent heats are very frustrating as you have lost three weeks in time with no gain.
• The cow may have a silent heat for the first one after calving, and then start normal cycling after that.
• This problem has been reported to be more common in Friesian heifers than in Jerseys but the cause has not been fully investigated.
• If you have a cow that never cycles and vet inspection shows that she has had many ovulations – then get rid of her.
• Check her dam's records and any other relatives in the herd as it could be a genetic problem.

Why use tail paint?

• Paint a short strip (100mm wide and 150mm long) along the tail head of the cow. Tail painting is a very cheap and easy way to identify cows coming into heat or on heat.
• When the cow is mounted by another cow, the paint will be scuffed and some rubbed off. It can be a good indicator along with other signs.
• She may also have skin rubbed off her backbone and muddy feet marks on her flanks.
• Buy the proper approved tail paint and follow the instructions.
• Use one colour and after the cow is mated change the colour.
• Use the traffic light colour sequence.

Can suckling calves delay return to oestrus?
Yes it can. Suckling one calf will not delay heat much, but if you put more calves on a cow, then return to oestrus can be delayed by quite a few weeks due to the lactation drain on the cow.

Will a bull near by help cows come into heat?

• Yes - sometimes. Some dairy farmer experience shows that if the herd is slow to start cycling after calving, the sight, smell and sound of a nearby bull when walking past for milking will sometimes help stimulate their breeding cycle.
• Running a teaser bull with beef cows may also be worth trying but this means having access to one.

What is a teaser bull?

• A teaser bull is vasectomised so he is sexually active but does not ejaculate fertile semen.
• If fitted with a mating harness with coloured ink, teasers can identify cows on heat which can then be put up for AI.
• Teasers have all the dangers and disadvantages of keeping entire bulls so beware.
• Don't keep them for more than one season as they often lose libido.
• If you get a bull vasectomised, get the vet to remove one testicle as a clear indicator of his status. It's a lot easier than looking for a scar on the neck of his scrotum!

What is AI and AB?

• Artificial Insemination (AI) also called Artificial Breeding (AB) in Australia and New Zealand, and is where semen is collected from a bull and after dilution is used either fresh or frozen to inseminate a cow on heat.
• For a successful programme you have to understand some facts about cow reproduction.

When is the best time to inseminate a cow?

• The best time is when she is going off heat, or has just gone off heat because this is when ovulation occurs. So in practice - if you see a cow on heat in the morning, have her inseminated in the afternoon of that day.
• If you see her on heat in the afternoon or evening, them inseminate her the next morning or early afternoon.

How to keep your AI technician happy?

• This is important as experience shows that a stressed, frustrated technician will not achieve top results. Here are some points to consider:
• Have a good road to where your cattle are and the gates open when the technician is due to call.
• Have a good set of yards and a proper race so the technician can get behind the cow safely without risk of accident.
• Remember your responsibilities under OSH to have a safe workplace as if the technician has an accident you could be liable.
• Have a clear and clean bench space for the technician's equipment.
• Have the cow or cows handy to the yard, or in the yard waiting. Have someone there to put the cows in to the yard and restrain them.
• If you have ordered frozen semen, have a bucket of cold water handy to thaw the semen straw. Don't change your mind from the semen you have ordered when the technician arrives.
• Have a rubbish bin at the yards and keep the place tidy.
• Provide a washing facility or tap and hose for the technician to wash hands and boots.
• Provide a clean towel or some paper towels.
  
• Remember technicians have to keep moving so don't hold them up. But a flask of coffee and a chocolate bar could be tempting and help the conception rate – at the next farm if not at yours!
• For some humorous insights, read my post on the earliest days of AI on the farms of the North Tyne where I grew up - The Bull in the Bowler Hat.
  

Avoid what sperm hate:

• Smoke - no smoking
• Sunlight - provide shade
• Chemicals –don't spread disinfectant around
• Cow muck –keep the place clean

How to treat a cow after insemination?

• Quiet handling is important after insemination. Let her out of the bail into a small area on her own if she will stay there.
• If she's getting upset at being on her own, give her a mate for company.
• Try to avoid putting her back with the rest of the cows till all her riding activity has stopped.
• Stray electricity. Check any troughs near your yards for stray voltage.
  

• There are cases of low conception rates when cows have drunk from troughs soon after insemination that were found to carry stray voltage from poorly-earthed fences.

Keep the records safe

• File the insemination certificates in a safe place.
• Mark on the calendar or wall chart the date 21 days after insemination, to watch to see if the cow returns to heat and needs a repeat insemination.
• But always watch out for short returns and file these records with the first insemination record as you'll have to work out the calf's correct sire when it is born in relation to the insemination date.
• Remember gestation in the cow is 283 days with a spread and 14 days either side of that is accepted as normal variation.