Few questions about AI

[Wisteria Farms]

1. Considering its kept in liquid nitrogen, do the semen straws have a shelf life or will they keep indefinately with proper storage (keeping nitrogen filled)?

2. Storage.. I'm looking to invest in a tank...MVE seems to be a common brand... I've heard to invest in more tank than you think you'll ever need because the excess straws start to add up when you start switching bulls (and you obviously want to keep them). Is the small $500 one a decent one? (looking for personal experience here) Was looking at the SC 20/20 but notice the SC 36/32 holds same number of straws (540) but has double the working days

3. I thought you only used 1 straw per cow... but see some mention using 2.... what do you all do? It seems to me with the millions of swimmers in there that 1 would do the trick if you got a good standing heat.

4. Looking into attending one of the AI schools put on by GENEX... would be in Missouri - 3day course... has anyone attended a GENEX AI course and if so what did you think? Did you do the option that includes semen? If so, did you like the sires to choose from?

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

 

[dun]

1. Considering its kept in liquid nitrogen, do the semen straws have a shelf life or will they keep indefinately with proper storage (keeping nitrogen filled)?

2. Storage.. I'm looking to invest in a tank...MVE seems to be a common brand... I've heard to invest in more tank than you think you'll ever need because the excess straws start to add up when you start switching bulls (and you obviously want to keep them). Is the small $500 one a decent one? (looking for personal experience here) Was looking at the SC 20/20 but notice the SC 36/32 holds same number of straws (540) but has double the working days

3. I thought you only used 1 straw per cow... but see some mention using 2.... what do you all do? It seems to me with the millions of swimmers in there that 1 would do the trick if you got a good standing heat.

4. Looking into attending one of the AI schools put on by GENEX... would be in Missouri - 3day course... has anyone attended a GENEX AI course and if so what did you think? Did you do the option that includes semen? If so, did you like the sires to choose from?

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

1. With proper storage there really isn;t a shelf life with properly prepared/frozen semen

2. The number of straws doesn;t really matter all that much as long as there is adequate storage capacity. It's the nitrogen capacity and neck size that matters. Those are the issues that mostly determine working time. And working time is the most important feature of any tank.

3. I have yet to figure out why more then 1 straw is required for normal AI. With quality semen, correct timing, proper handling and deposition of the semen accurately it's a waste of money. If any of the other things aren;t right, a gallon of the stuff probably wouldn;t get the job done either.

4. Haven;t attended a course put on by Genex. Depending on the breed they have a pretty good to mediocre selelction of bulls to choose from. But my requirements in a bull are different then others so what I see as mediocre someone else may see the same bull as outstanding.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

1. Considering its kept in liquid nitrogen, do the semen straws have a shelf life or will they keep indefinately with proper storage (keeping nitrogen filled)?

2. Storage.. I'm looking to invest in a tank...MVE seems to be a common brand... I've heard to invest in more tank than you think you'll ever need because the excess straws start to add up when you start switching bulls (and you obviously want to keep them). Is the small $500 one a decent one? (looking for personal experience here) Was looking at the SC 20/20 but notice the SC 36/32 holds same number of straws (540) but has double the working days

3. I thought you only used 1 straw per cow... but see some mention using 2.... what do you all do? It seems to me with the millions of swimmers in there that 1 would do the trick if you got a good standing heat.

4. Looking into attending one of the AI schools put on by GENEX... would be in Missouri - 3day course... has anyone attended a GENEX AI course and if so what did you think? Did you do the option that includes semen? If so, did you like the sires to choose from?

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

1. With proper storage there really isn;t a shelf life with properly prepared/frozen semen


2. The number of straws doesn;t really matter all that much as long as there is adequate storage capacity. It's the nitrogen capacity and neck size that matters. Those are the issues that mostly determine working time. And working time is the most important feature of any tank.

3. I have yet to figure out why more then 1 straw is required for normal AI. With quality semen, correct timing, proper handling and deposition of the semen accurately it's a waste of money. If any of the other things aren;t right, a gallon of the stuff probably wouldn;t get the job done either.

4. Haven;t attended a course put on by Genex. Depending on the breed they have a pretty good to mediocre selelction of bulls to choose from. But my requirements in a bull are different then others so what I see as mediocre someone else may see the same bull as outstanding.[/quote
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1. Thats what I thought. I noticed where we bought our Murrays they had some available from an old herdbull so I assumed it was good as long as you were really careful in your handling (keeping it froze, froze, froze)
2. For the neck size to get any bigger, you have to really go up in size as 2" is standard on the smaller tanks. I did notice on the tank my buddy uses that his neck size is pretty big. I see thats its good for ease of getting the cylinders up and down but my thought is it might also let more warm air in (I guess is why he works at lightening speed!)
3. My thoughts exactly. If anyone can explain two straws please do.
4. Thanks...I'll skip the semen package and select my own (which I'll probably have to do anyway if I go with Murrays)... still considering crossbreeding.
Thanks Dun... you're a true asset to these boards...

 

[dun]

I had a tank with a 1 3/4 inch opening. Hard to believe how mcuh smaller just a 1/4 inch is. Canaisters would only easily hold 3 canes, 4 if you pushed them in. A real pain in the butt, but since it was a 6 hour trip to get nitrogen the extra 2 months between filling made a big difference.
When ampules were pretty much totally replaced by straws, a neighbor found som Jersey semen that had been put up in "Magic Wands" It;s pretty much a half of the standard pipette that was used with ampules. Used on wand on her heifer and she settled. The semen was probably at least 50 years old.

 

[novatech]

I have used more than one straw when doing AI. Timing is one of the most critical issues for optimum results. If I do not see when the cow was standing, sometime during the night, I may AI once in the morning and one more time later in the day.

 

[pdfangus]

Capacity of the tank should be related mostly to how many cows you need to breed.

Unless you want to invest money in semen speculation. If that is the case I hope you do better at selecting bulls than I do. but then, for me, the good bull semen I put in cows and the bad bull semen ends up idling in the tank.

I lost a tank once so they will fail. the biggest loss was a couple of embryos we had in it that we did not have recips for at the time we did transfers. Lost some semen but it was all stuff that I would have used to breed a neighbors commercial cow or something.

Keep the tank in a place where you will see it frequently and maybe there is a chance you will notice some signs of failure.

I pay the Select Sires guy to service my tank more frequently than the holding time as I hope that if it begins to fail he will notice the nitrogen use.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I have not done a Genx course but did do ABS training. Probaly not alot of diffrence. I breed fullblood Limis, so ABS did not have semen I would use. The training cost $500. with $250 semen credit. traded semen credit for AI kit and Syc. drugs. might see if Genx would do that.

 

[TexasBred]

1. Considering its kept in liquid nitrogen, do the semen straws have a shelf life or will they keep indefinately with proper storage (keeping nitrogen filled)?

2. Storage.. I'm looking to invest in a tank...MVE seems to be a common brand... I've heard to invest in more tank than you think you'll ever need because the excess straws start to add up when you start switching bulls (and you obviously want to keep them). Is the small $500 one a decent one? (looking for personal experience here) Was looking at the SC 20/20 but notice the SC 36/32 holds same number of straws (540) but has double the working days

3. I thought you only used 1 straw per cow... but see some mention using 2.... what do you all do? It seems to me with the millions of swimmers in there that 1 would do the trick if you got a good standing heat.

4. Looking into attending one of the AI schools put on by GENEX... would be in Missouri - 3day course... has anyone attended a GENEX AI course and if so what did you think? Did you do the option that includes semen? If so, did you like the sires to choose from?

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Everything in the above posts is good information. I can palpate a cow as good as any vet but have never been able to AI. so my wife does it. Take a lot of practice and women seem to have "the touch". Timing is everything so we spend a lot of time watching the cows. The young bull calves work well as "spotter bulls". Don't know why they say "two straws per cow" . My wife has even split straws and bred two cows with one straw of semen but I have to give her credit "she's awfully good" and has been offered big money to just breed cows for a large dairy operation. You can go to AI school but you won't be worth a nickel til all of a sudden one day that light comes on and you realize that you can do it. :banana: :banana: Until then just hope and pray.

 

[sodfarmer490]

all great advice above. one thing to consider on tank size is who is going to be refilling your nitrogen. as the years have gone by, they have eliminated many routes and stops and charge more each year. if you are on a main avenue for a reliable nitrogen company, no big deal, but if you are out in the boondocks and are the only person with a tank to fill for miles and miles, then i would be looking at a tank that holds longer. and also would have a second choice lined up in case your main filler decides to quit.