ThrumSync – Our New Cattle Synchro and AI Service

Whilst artificial insemination is nothing new in the world of cattle breeding, something that is new for us as a practice, is our all-in-one synchronisation and AI service.  We have developed this service to allow our commercial beef clients to be able to access a diverse range of genetics. Whether you’re looking to enhance specific herd characteristics, breed superior replacements, explore new genetics, or simply streamline your calving season, ThrumSync is here to make it happen.

Our vision for this service is to be straight forward with minimal handlings, cost effective, and easy for the client to organise.  We can help with sire selection, arrange semen storage, sort all of the dates and times and be available to answer any questions you have about the process.

What exactly would happen if you were to enroll with ThrumSync?  Here is a step by step breakdown:

Preparation Phase – Ideally we like to get started as as possible to discuss the plan and how we go about setting up the cows/heifers to allow the best results possible!  Stress is the enemy for any breeding programme and as such any vaccines, boluses, diet changes, treatments should be given well in advance of starting the synchro programme.  During this time we would also want to select the bull we are using and arrange semen delivery.

Day 1–  We kick off the process with a visit and scan all heifers prior to enrolling them into the programme.  This is in order to score their reproductive tract and decide if we feel they are well enough developed inside, removing those which are too immature and less likely to hold.  In cows we would check that they are “clean” before enrolling.  Animals that are going to be synchronised will then have a CIDR/PRID inserted and an injection of GnRH (hormone to pop follicles)

One week later – We return to pull the CIDR/PRIDS and inject with prostaglandin.  The timing of this step is key and would be arranged in advance.

AI Phase – 54 hours later (heifers) or 68 hours later (cows) we would return to AI the animals and inject with GnRH again.

We are only doing a single AI as we should still be able to get good conception rates, at a lower cost as we don’t need to spend money on two straws of semen, have another visit, and the time associated with 2 AI’s.

Due to the difference in timing we would need to synchronise cows or heifers in separate batches.  Generally:

• Heifers would have CIDR’s pulled in the morning and AI’d in the afternoon 2 days later
• Cows would have CIDR’s pulled in the afternoon and AI’d in the morning 3 days later

Whilst actual conception rates may vary depending on many factors (genetic, environmental, nutritional, stress, AI process) we are aiming for a target conception rate of around 70% using this process.  Our results thus far have been highly encouraging, reaffirming the effectiveness of our approach.

For further inquiries about the ThrumSync process or pricing details, please don’t hesitate to contact the surgery and speak to one of our team. We’re here to support you every step of the way on your breeding journey.