inyati13
Well-known member
In the thread on Ronnie, Ken stated:
I find it is not the easiest thing to do at a different place to mine, just little things like the angle the crush is at, the preparation area and the feed they are on, it all throws me. Guess I am just getting old and too set in my ways.
I agree. I have a procedure for removing the straw from the cane. When I bred Hope at Fire Sweep, I dropped the Uno Mas cane into the bottom of the tank. We called it "The Mystery Cane". Here is the story.
In late spring, I bred Hope to Uno Mas while visiting Fire Sweep Ranch. After I pulled the straw, I dropped the cane of Uno Mas back into the canister. After I was finished, I looked in the canister from which I had removed the cane and did not see the Uno Mas cane. Kris checked and she could not find it. Her daughter who has young eyes checked all the canisters. No Uno Mas cane.
I have my own procedure for removing straws. I pull the canister up and clip it with a gator clamp. The canister never comes above the frost line. I have a piece of wire that I use to hook the label on the cane. I raise the cane, grab it with my left hand, drop the fish tool and pull the straw with my right thumb and forefinger. I drop the cane back in the canister, remove the gator clamp and lower the canister.
Here is a picture of my tank and how this procedure looks.
Not having those tools when I bred Hope, I used the standard method of pulling the canister up, garbing the straw with my right hand while holding both the canister and cane. Not being in the habit of doing that, I apparently missed the canister when I released the cane. The assumption was that it fell to the bottom of the tank. Now the mystery begins. Kris had the Select Sires Representative come out to retrieve the cane. He could not find a cane. He found other missing straws but no cane. He went so far as to empty the tank and turn it upside down. He declared, "There is no cane of Uno Mas in the tank." Well, that would mean the cat ate my homework!!! I told Kris I sure as HeII did not drop it on the ground. She agreed. I told her I would pay for the cane of Uno Mas. I had left a check and I told her to cash it. Regardless of what happened, I was responsible for her not having a cane of Uno Mas.
A few days after that conversation, I got a text from Kris that she could see a cane in the bottom of the tank. Mystery solved. The SS Representative missed it. However, he was concerned that the cane may have been thawed during his search. As a compromise, SS is paying for half the cost of the cane. I paid for the other half - My fish; I clean it.
BTW: I stuck Hope on that service.
So Ken, I feel your pain when you are performing at someone else's facility and cannot follow your personal protocols.
I find it is not the easiest thing to do at a different place to mine, just little things like the angle the crush is at, the preparation area and the feed they are on, it all throws me. Guess I am just getting old and too set in my ways.
I agree. I have a procedure for removing the straw from the cane. When I bred Hope at Fire Sweep, I dropped the Uno Mas cane into the bottom of the tank. We called it "The Mystery Cane". Here is the story.
In late spring, I bred Hope to Uno Mas while visiting Fire Sweep Ranch. After I pulled the straw, I dropped the cane of Uno Mas back into the canister. After I was finished, I looked in the canister from which I had removed the cane and did not see the Uno Mas cane. Kris checked and she could not find it. Her daughter who has young eyes checked all the canisters. No Uno Mas cane.
I have my own procedure for removing straws. I pull the canister up and clip it with a gator clamp. The canister never comes above the frost line. I have a piece of wire that I use to hook the label on the cane. I raise the cane, grab it with my left hand, drop the fish tool and pull the straw with my right thumb and forefinger. I drop the cane back in the canister, remove the gator clamp and lower the canister.
Here is a picture of my tank and how this procedure looks.
Not having those tools when I bred Hope, I used the standard method of pulling the canister up, garbing the straw with my right hand while holding both the canister and cane. Not being in the habit of doing that, I apparently missed the canister when I released the cane. The assumption was that it fell to the bottom of the tank. Now the mystery begins. Kris had the Select Sires Representative come out to retrieve the cane. He could not find a cane. He found other missing straws but no cane. He went so far as to empty the tank and turn it upside down. He declared, "There is no cane of Uno Mas in the tank." Well, that would mean the cat ate my homework!!! I told Kris I sure as HeII did not drop it on the ground. She agreed. I told her I would pay for the cane of Uno Mas. I had left a check and I told her to cash it. Regardless of what happened, I was responsible for her not having a cane of Uno Mas.
A few days after that conversation, I got a text from Kris that she could see a cane in the bottom of the tank. Mystery solved. The SS Representative missed it. However, he was concerned that the cane may have been thawed during his search. As a compromise, SS is paying for half the cost of the cane. I paid for the other half - My fish; I clean it.
BTW: I stuck Hope on that service.
So Ken, I feel your pain when you are performing at someone else's facility and cannot follow your personal protocols.