Exploding straw

Help Support CattleToday:

gizmom

gizmom

CT Supporter
Cattle Today Supporter
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
3,765
Reaction score
1,230
Location
Molino Florida
We went back in time with a few matings this year. I wasn't at the farm when this happened but Mike told me that a straw of my Bon View Emulation EXT 473 shot out of the heater and exploded. It shook him up because he knew from the color of the straw that it was old back when the straws were a pale green. He said he was afraid I had spent a small fortune for it. I hadn't I just had it in the inventory for a very long time. Anyway have any of you ever had a straw blow up and become a rocket? He did pull another from the cane snd bred her with no issues.
 
I believe what happens is that the bottom of the straw (where the gun plunger seats) has a little liquid nitrogen stuck in it. When it hits the water, it explodes. Saw it happen about 30 years ago on a $150 straw. Solution is to wipe the straw and give it a little flick before dropping it in the heater.
 
biogenicsllc.com

How to Thaw Your Semen

The handling of your semen inventory plays a critical role in its ability to impregnate your AI candidate. Most importantly you want to be sure that you handle it properly each and every time you o…
biogenicsllc.com

This has some more detail.
 
FungusProudKY31 said:
Might be tied to the DOC EPD! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
simme said:
Another possible reason.

www.etschool.com

Bovine Embryo Straws Exploding While Thawing

Bovine Embryo Straws Exploding While Thawing
www.etschool.com
Click to expand...
Mike is an excellent AI tech I've never seen him not dry or flick a straw. But we're human and mistakes happen in 30 years and a lot of straws this was a first. We used the bull a lot when he was really popular he left us with some excellent females. That was before anyone had heard of a docility EPD. I can't for the life of me remember one way or the other if the cows were hot. We do cull for temperament so chances are since they stayed in the herd until they aged out they weren't head hunters, but I'm making an assumption and you know how that word breaks down ass/u/me lol
 
My A.I. rep found a unit at the bottom of my tank and labeled it in a separate cane last year. I put it in water to breed one last summer and it exploded. Ironically, it was a bull from 1992 named Nichols Easy Way.
 
I had a mate tell me he had a straw of expensive semen, when he put it in water it shot up to the ceiling. He wasn't real happy about that. I have never had one explode but i did have a straw i thawed and it had no plug in it, kind of baffled me.
 
Redgully said:
I had a mate tell me he had a straw of expensive semen, when he put it in water it shot up to the ceiling. He wasn't real happy about that. I have never had one explode but i did have a straw i thawed and it had no plug in it, kind of baffled me.
Click to expand...
Did you get a calf out of it Red?

Ken
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
We had one explode last summer - expensive semen. It happens. Used to happen more often when straws started. When we first started AI - everything was capsules.
Click to expand...
My mother in law used to assist her uncle doing a.i. in the 60s and everything was ampules back then, she said he used to defrost them in his mouth, wouldn't be great if one of those exploded!
 
I posted above two different possibilities for an exploding straw. I had always thought that a bit of LN in the end (outside the straw) was the issue when it hit the water. But the second reference seems to make more sense to me now. A poorly sealed straw that allows some LN to seep into the inside of the straw through a tiny hole or deterioration of the cotton plug and seal over time allowing the same. Then the rapid expansion of the liquid nitrogen when it hits the thaw water explodes the straw from inside.
Leaves a mess in the thaw container as well.
 
Well i had a straw explode on me the other day, they really go off like rockets don't they, shot about five metres across the room. Took me a minute to figure out what had happened. I had given it a flick so don't think it was nitrogen in the end plus it shot the cotton plugs clean out so i believe the theory of nitrogen seeping in. Could seriously take out an eye if you're unlucky.
 
Years ago my great uncle had registered polled Hereford herd . The guy that did his AI use to stick the ampules under his arm pit . Always fascinated me to watch him apply his trade .
 

Similar threads

T
Pick the straw
Replies
14
Views
2K
torogmc81
T
N
A I more then one straw
Replies
6
Views
3K
cow pollinater
C

Latest posts

Top