A.I Equipment

[rockcreekfarm]

I am starting to try AI some of my own beef cows, I took the class the first of december. I was wandering what type of gun to get, the select sires man told me to stick with a regular 1/2 o-ring rod but the lady that is letting me practice on her cows told me to buy a 2-in-1 spiral gun that takes both 1/4 and 1/2 straws. In the future in might be using some sexed seamen and will need the 1/4 but right now I will just be using 1/2 regular straws. Which gun do you guys suggest buying? I'm looking at ordering some supplies from Nasco so that were I will probably be buying from.

 

[sizmic]

Haven't used the split o-ring type, have been using the combo spirals since my class. It works fine and i've never had a reason to switch. Whatever you get, get 2 of them. I have 4. The 1/4's work fine in the combos as well as the 1/2's.

Sizmic

 

[robert]

go with the spirals, don't have to spend time trying to find the stupid o-rings when they come off, I get all my ai supplies from our genex rep, a bonus for him, we don't buy near as much semen anymore so supply sales helps him out.

 

[cow pollinater]

IMV brand is the best by far if you expect to be doing it for very long. I buy the O-ring style and throw the stupid rings away. That way I can breed thirty head at a time and only carry one gun. With IMV's I can usually breed about ten to fifteen thousand head before it wears out... most of the competition won't last a week. IMV makes both half and quarters as well as a combination gun but it's best to use a gun fit for that particular straw because the combo guns tend to let a quarter straw jam up in between the plunger and the inside of the gun and it's a wasted straw at that point.

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

The guns arn't that expense. I use spiral guns one 1/4 & one 1/2. They do fit better then the combo guns.
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