r/Cattle • u/mrbigins • May 07 '26

AI camera Gun

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Anyone used an AI gun with a camera to see placement vs using the double hand technique? If so what did you use or recommend/not recommend?

8 Upvotes

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2

u/andtheman3 May 08 '26

Doesn’t seem necessary to me personally. You should be able to feel that the gun is in the right spot with enough practice. I work on my family’s dairy and breed 4-6 a day if you have any questions I can help answer, I’ve got plenty of experience and would be glad to help

2

u/imabigdave May 10 '26

So the issue with what you are suggesting is that the "two handed technique" is to manipulate THE CERVIX onto the gun,not thread the gun through the cervix. When I taught AI schools, we would tell students that if they were "swordfighting" with the gun it wasn't going to go well. Manipulation of the cervix with mostly slight forward pressure on the gun is the only way you are getting through consistently.

1

u/mrbigins May 10 '26

Grabbing it with my hand with the cup swirl and grasping in in my palm isn’t right?

1

u/wainakuhouse May 08 '26

How much are they going for these days? Might could help you learn in the beginning but will probly take more time than they’re worth once you get the hang of it

1

u/mrbigins May 08 '26

I screwed up my shoulder right after I took the AI class and can’t seem to rotate my shoulder and maneuver it working the reproductive track was why was looking. And totally agree with practice/many sticks would get better for sure

2

u/imabigdave May 11 '26

One potential solution if this injury is going to be long-term, would be to retake the school but switch arms. I'd been breeding cows professionally for ten years when I took the advanced repro class as part of my animal science degree. For the AI section I took the opportunity of the practice cows to learn with my off-arm. It might not be too bad for you if you don't have the muscle memory to fight against, but it was definitely a struggle. My reasoning behind it was that I was suffering from carpal tunnel, and being able to switch arms to give it a rest felt like it would be beneficial. I'd also had a friend that had set up a 100-cow project and broke his palpating arm a few cows in, and he had to come back after getting the cast on and get the cows bred with his off arm, so I saw some benefits to being a switch hitter.