AI Equipment

[ragweed]

about to attend AI school just wondering where to shop for equipment and exactly what all will be needed for a newbie. wanting what i will really need and no more. and what brand preferences

thanks for any input

 

[dun]

Other then boots and overalls you won;t need anyting else for the school. After the school you'll know everything you'll need to continue on breeding.

 

[bse]

If your taking the class through Accelerated, Genex, or Select or someone like that they will have everything you need or get it from who will be supplying your semen. Like Dun said when your finished with school you will know what you need the one thing that i use that might make a difference is the thaw unit i have the 12volt and use a battery pack and i can take it anywhere and dont have to warm the water all the time.

 

[inyati13]

bse, thanks for that comment on thaw. I ordered my tank yesterday. MVE 20/20.

 

[jscunn]

ragweed,
Where is the school and who is putting it on?

 

[ragweed]

ragweed,
Where is the school and who is putting it on?

mississippi state univ. in starkville it is march 14,15, 16. im not ready to buy equipment just looking ahead and like to look around at diff sites on the web.

 

[jscunn]

When I went last year, I wasnt ready to buy equipment either. I went to the select sires AI school in Lucedale, MS. They do offer you a special on equipment, tanks, etc to get you to buy while at the school. At that particular school the prices were better than anything I saw on the internet so I pulled the trigger and bought all the basics while I was there. I need to buy a backup gun and a better thaw unit but the stuff I got worked for my first season of breeding. good luck and dont get discouraged if it doesnt all click the first day, it just takes time. Some in my school didnt get it until the last afternoon, you could see it in there face when they passed that gun thru the last ring.. :shock:

Have fun, it was a cool thing to learn how to do.

 

[cow pollinater]

As far as brand preferances, I like the mve tanks for their consistancy. I had taylor whartons for awhile but had a few that were the same tanks purchased at the same time would use nitrogen at completely different rates. I'm convinced that I saved money on nitrogen by switching(mve costs a little more) but I've never penciled it out.
IMV guns are more expensive but you can litterally do tens of thousands of insemenations with them with just one gun. I've had the "cheapies" bend after one day of use.
Continental plastics makes the best sheaths. They use a softer plastic that doesn't crack if it gets bent. If you get the wrong sheaths the plastic is brittle and you can literally break off the tip of the sheath inside the cow and wind up with a straw of semen floating around in her uterus that you then have to fish out.
I also like the red gloves that continental makes over the heavy clear plastic gloves. You run a little more risk of getting a stinky finger but you'll be able to feel what you're doing.
Don't waste money on cutters. They're slow and usually full of bacteria... just grab a good pair of scissors. You can cut a few straws at a time and they're easy to sanitise.

 

[inyati13]

As far as brand preferances, I like the mve tanks for their consistancy. I had taylor whartons for awhile but had a few that were the same tanks purchased at the same time would use nitrogen at completely different rates. I'm convinced that I saved money on nitrogen by switching(mve costs a little more) but I've never penciled it out.
IMV guns are more expensive but you can litterally do tens of thousands of insemenations with them with just one gun. I've had the "cheapies" bend after one day of use.
Continental plastics makes the best sheaths. They use a softer plastic that doesn't crack if it gets bent. If you get the wrong sheaths the plastic is brittle and you can literally break off the tip of the sheath inside the cow and wind up with a straw of semen floating around in her uterus that you then have to fish out.
I also like the red gloves that continental makes over the heavy clear plastic gloves. You run a little more risk of getting a stinky finger but you'll be able to feel what you're doing.
Don't waste money on cutters. They're slow and usually full of bacteria... just grab a good pair of scissors. You can cut a few straws at a time and they're easy to sanitise.

Thanks very much. I am glad I saw this. I had exactly the questions you covered. If you get back, please suggest a good vendor where you can get most of the supplies.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

As far as brand preferances, I like the mve tanks for their consistancy. I had taylor whartons for awhile but had a few that were the same tanks purchased at the same time would use nitrogen at completely different rates. I'm convinced that I saved money on nitrogen by switching(mve costs a little more) but I've never penciled it out.
IMV guns are more expensive but you can litterally do tens of thousands of insemenations with them with just one gun. I've had the "cheapies" bend after one day of use.
Continental plastics makes the best sheaths. They use a softer plastic that doesn't crack if it gets bent. If you get the wrong sheaths the plastic is brittle and you can literally break off the tip of the sheath inside the cow and wind up with a straw of semen floating around in her uterus that you then have to fish out.
I also like the red gloves that continental makes over the heavy clear plastic gloves. You run a little more risk of getting a stinky finger but you'll be able to feel what you're doing.
Don't waste money on cutters. They're slow and usually full of bacteria... just grab a good pair of scissors. You can cut a few straws at a time and they're easy to sanitise.

Hey CP, so you use a thermos on a regular basis? We used to, but lost an entire breeding season, except a lucky few, because our thermos had an electrical current running through it and fried the semen. We now pocket thaw everything, and conception has not changed much. Just wondering your input on that

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

We now pocket thaw everything, and conception has not changed much

I've always wondered about "pocket thawing". Heard people talk about doing it, but never exactly understood the procedure. Does the semen need to come from certain companies, as this is what I've heard.? I've also read about pocket and cow thaw? I have always been curious on this topic? Also, how did you determine you had a stray voltage firesweep?, now u got me worried bout my thaw unit :???: Did you have a cito unit or reg thermos? Thanx
Jenna

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We now pocket thaw everything, and conception has not changed much

I've always wondered about "pocket thawing". Heard people talk about doing it, but never exactly understood the procedure. Does the semen need to come from certain companies, as this is what I've heard.? I've also read about pocket and cow thaw? I have always been curious on this topic? Also, how did you determine you had a stray voltage firesweep?, now u got me worried bout my thaw unit :???: Did you have a cito unit or reg thermos? Thanx
Jenna

We have a cyto thaw, and plugs into the wall. Horrible conception rates last fall (2011) and early spring last year. We even took our tank to the vet to have a few straws checked, and they were good. I finally figured it out because I went out in my bare feet (late spring) to check the temp on the thermos and got shocked. Rubber boots had always insulated us from getting shocked. Ran the voltmeter in the water that we used to check the electric fence, and we were getting .2 jewels. We started unplugging it, and then found out the electric fence charger was causing the stray volts, so we moved the thermos to the shop. Pregnancy rates went up, things were good. This fall, we built a barn, and since we have not ran the electricity there yet we are running off extension cords. Christmas Eve we were breeding, hubby gets gun loaded and in cow and I decide to check temp on the thermos because I was board. Got shocked again (my rubber boots had a hole). Ran the volt meter and pushing .2 jewels again in the thermos. So we pocket thawed and put a second straw in the cow and she stuck. Since then, we just either pocket thaw or thaw in cow. Hubby likes to pocket thaw - he loads the straw in the gun and puts it in his arm pit. My daughter likes to get in the cow, find the cervix, and have me load the gun and she puts it right in the cow, letting the cow defrost it.
I was told by a big cattle breeder that they almost never use a thermos, only sometimes when they are breeding for a flush. He used to be an ABS rep, sold us lots of semen. He would never say that as a rep, but now can since he does not represent an AI company.

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

Very interesting, The fencer deal makes sense. We had a bad ground on ours last summer because of inadequate grounding rods and the dry weather made it worse. Noticed the "ping" noise on our telephone in the barn office. Re-grounded it and it was gone.

Pocket thawing does make sense. The idea of thawing semen is You are trying to warm the semen up, without letting it cool back down. With cow thawing, in theory the temp should never drop until it reaches the cow, only increase, then warm up to optimum temp inside cow.? especially if its cold outside when ai'ing, there would be less chance of cold shocking, I would think?. Interesting topics.
Jenna

 

[dun]

I found our conception rates (Genex semen) to be a little lower then the warm ater thaw stuff (Select Sires, ABS, Accelerated) Now we thaw everything in thermos, but not an electric one. I use the temp card thing that ABS used to have. I found it t be just more convenient then the old dial themometer. I still use it occasiionally to double check the card temp.

 

[cow pollinater]

I thaw everything but it's more a matter of conveniance for me than it is what's good for the semen. Thawed semen is easy to cut but the frozen straws crack and then you loose half the semen out through the crack.
I'm inclined to say follow the advice of whoever you're buying from, that way if the results are crap they can't blame you for it.
I've pocket thawed semen from just about every company and have thawed stuff that wasn't suposed to be thawed and haven't seen any clear evidence that one or the other was better including a few trials that I did where I really kept close track.

As far as faulty thaw boxes, I've heard of a few that really have gone out but it's usually just an excuse for shi!!y breeding. :lol: I know of a few guys who have bought themselves an extra couple of vet checks by promissing that a new thaw box will make it better. :lol:
I think the problem is much more common with the wall plug units than the ones that plug into a truck outlet. In my truck I know they're gonners when they start blowing fuses.

 

[Craig]

I pocket thaw as a last resort. Personally I don't like it. Genex semen is touted as the only one able to be pocket thawed, due to our super secret patented trademark carrier. :nod: :hide: I still don't do it. :yuck:
The point behind water thawing is to bring the semen out of "hibernation", in a some what controlled environment, making sure its fully awake before insemination. The forty seconds in the bath help reduce slow or sluggish semen, giving them time to rev up. This also helps reduce broken tails. Which ones do you want to put in your cow :?: fully thawed, awake, and ready to go swimmers? Or frozen, sleeping swimmers that are more likely to die due to the unfriendly environment, before they are fully awake? People have a tendency to forget that the uterine tract isn't exactly club med for foreign invaders like sperm.
Companies have been studying this for decades. :deadhorse: :lol2: They all say thaw in a warm water bath. Fewer broken tails and more vigorous swimmers. This results in a higher probability of conception.
I use a cito 12volt thaw unit. Much better than a thermos in my opinion, as your water temp is consistent. I also only use German made surgical scissors with 45 degree angle blades. They must also be chemically sharpened. This provides a much cleaner cut on your straw that doesn't hurt the sperm when you push them through. I also only use the blue Kombi guns, you know, the ones from Switzerland. I find the plungers are much smoother to push than the other colored ones. :2cents: :hide: