You want to be sure that you’re breeding heifer calves? This is now a reality! CRV is offering sexed semen from some of its top sires under the name SiryX.

Every time a cow calves you have to wait and see whether it is a heifer calf, or yet another bull calf. Up to now there was a 50:50 chance of either a heifer or a bull. But that’s set to change as CRV is now offering sexed semen under the name SiryX. Inseminations with SiryX sexed semen will result in 90 %, or more, heifer calves.

Technology
SiryX is produced in a special laboratory, owned by ST Benelux and based in Deventer, in the Netherlands, that uses flowcytometers. These machines are able to separate sperm cells with the female chromosome (X) from those with the male chromosome (Y). CRV is using the most advanced and developed machines available at the moment and the operators responsible for the production of SiryX have had specialist training in the US.

Maximum profit with SiryX
SiryX has important advantages for producers and has the capacity to maximise farm profit in several ways:

Assured production of heifer calves for replacement or expansion
The number of heifer calves born can be optimised by using SiryX. Producers who want to expand their herd with their own stock can do this more efficiently – both more quickly and safely – with SiryX.

Reducing the number of difficult births
Heifer calves are smaller than bull calves and by using SiryX, particularly on heifers, the number of difficult births will decrease. As a result, the heifers will get off to a better start in their first lactation, with lower veterinary costs, and will get back in calf more easily.

Higher turn over
By inseminating part of the herd with SiryX, a larger proportion of the herd can be inseminated with beef bull semen. Producers can profit from this because they can boost their income from the sale of cross-bred calves.

Faster genetic progress
Using SiryX on the highest genetic merit cattle in the herd to breed the next generation of milking cows will result in faster genetic progress. Theoretically this effect is the highest when using SiryX on heifers, due to the genetic superiority of heifers on most farms compared to the rest of the herd.

Use on maiden heifers
To produce SiryX, semen goes through several treatments and due to this the virility of the semen will be lower compared to that of conventional semen. In maiden heifers this effect is expected to be limited, but the effect will be greater in cows. Therefore CRV advises that producers use SiryX semen on maiden heifers.
 

Here you can download a press release about the success of SiryX semen in Netherlands.