Semen Testing -is it a scam?

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

So, the year before last in the fall, I bought a two year old Simm-Angus bull from the neighbor. In the spring, I had him semen tested by the local vet before I put him out with the cows. He tested at 68% normal but had a lot of dead semen. He wrote the result as being inconclusive, charged me $90 and told me to run him with the cows and test him again in three weeks. He said he might be okay. Well, 'might be okay' wasn't cutting it for me as I only had the one bull so I went to the bull sale, laid down my $3000 and bought a new bull. I ran the two year old with my heifers as he was a light birthweight. At the end of the year, I ended up selling the two year old bull and all of my heifers except the one who calved this spring. No problem. So, this spring, I had the other bull tested. He came out at 80% normal but with alot of dead semen. The vet said he 'might be okay' but I should run him with the cows for three weeks and test him again. Charged me another $90. He's been out there for just over a month and I haven't seen him chasing anything for the last week and a half so I'm guessing he was doing his job. I think this whole recommended 2nd test thing is a scam. Not to mention that I didn't get anything conclusive out of the first test. I would think that when the bull hasn't been with the cows for over 6 months that there would be alot of dead semsn. Am I wrong? Anyway, I'd have to think twice about paying for that vet to semen test my bulls again.

 

[Angus Guy]

If you bulls haven't been with any ladies for a few months you might to put him with some culls for a week or two. Then sell the culls and wait a week before testing bull. This should give you a pretty good test.

 

[Tod Dague]

Semen test is $35 here. Sometimes those bulls need to clean out some.

 

[bigbull338]

id say anything under a 70 an the bull is a cull.i bought a coming 3yr old bull in feb an he tested in the high 80s.an he had been up in the pen for close to a month.an hadnt bred any cows.vet said he would probly test higher when his pipes get cleaned out.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I was actually thinking I may throw my heifers in with him next year for a couple of weeks just to clean him out a bit before he gets into the rest of the herd.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Find another vet...have the bull tested before each breeding season. ;-) :cboy:

 

[alabama]

A semen test can also be called a breding soundness exam. It should only cost $50. You will find that as many as 1/3 of the bulls wull fail the test at any one time but most of those failing the first time will test good in a few weeks.

 

[randiliana]

My theory on Semen testing is that you can spend the money on finding out if he is good or not, or you can save the money and find out the hard way, when the 20-40 cows he was in with come in dry. We haven't had any bulls that we have needed to retest, but to me it is saved money, even if I had to do it again.

And, I wouldn't go by last year's test, or how many calves are on the ground either, we had a bull that settled 29/30 heifers that we were planning on buying (the next spring), but when he was tested he was nearly 0% live, not even worth retesting. THAT would have been an expensive purchase without the test.

 

[msscamp]

I would have to agree with Springer Farms about finding a new vet. We've had many virgin bulls (usually yearlings, but sometimes older) semen tested and have yet to receive an inconclusive result. Maybe I'm wrong here, but that would appear to rule out 'rusty pipes' as a cause for the inconclusive results.

 

[gertfan]

We have our bulls tested every year, as it turned out it was a good thing this year. One of our best bulls that threw fantastic calves in the past turned out to have nothing swimming. We would have had 35 open cows, not a good thing at all.
I'm not sure what our vet charges but it is worth it.

 

[SaskHerf]

i AGREE WITH TESTING... WE TEST BETWEEN 10 AND 15 HERD BULLS EVERY YEAR, AND IT IS ONE BILL I AM GLAD TO PAY. tHE ONLY TIME WE RUN INTO RETESTS IS IF THE BULL HAS SOME INFECTION OR SOMETING LIKE THAT..... OUR BULLS ARE NEVER WITH COWS BEFORE SEMEN TESTING AND ALL IS GOOD. I ALSO AGREE ABOUT $90 BEING TO MUCH. I THINK I PAY ABOUT 50 OR 55, TO HAVE THEM TESTED AT THE FARM. WHICH LEADS ME TO A WHOLE DIFFERENT THING, ABOUT TESTING BULLS ON THE FARM IN THEIR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. WE ALWAYS HAVE BETTER LUCK WITH CATTLE TESTED ON FARM THAN AT THE VETS.

 

[Herefordcross]

I agree with the above several posts, it's worth it but, you have to let them get things off of their mind a few times before you test 'em.

 

[George Monk]

We just tested three bulls today. Two were great but one was only soso good enough I guess but I will be able to be straight up with the buyer now rather than later. I can also advise him not to expect this bull to breed a bunch of synchronized cows on the first heat. Our cost is $38 at the clinic. Sound like you need a new vet.

 

[jersey lilly]

We just had two tested. One 6 year old, that was "sold" if tested good, he tested out at 85%, vet said that's about as high as you get in most cases.

The other one tested 60% and has been away from cows since April. He said the one's swimming were strong, but to have him tested again about 2 to 3 weeks after turned out with cows. Said same thing, when they aren't with cows, there will be alot of dead semen, plus with the heat right now that can make a difference too. I looked at them myself under the scope and he was right on with the numbers and the quality of what was there. I'm very confident in my vet, see no reason to change, always has been honest with me 100%. So we'll test again at a later date.
Cost was $33 each and that was haulin em in, with a $10 chute fee.

 

[denoginnizer]

How much does an electro-ejaculator cost?

 

[alabama]

How much does an electro-ejaculator cost?

I don't know and i don't want to know. That is one job better left to the pros.

 

[certherfbeef]

Round here semen tests are $35 if you are a Cattleman's member and $45 if you are not.
Vet does it at the local sale barn every spring for folks.

 

[docgraybull]

He tested at 68% normal but had a lot of dead semen. He wrote the result as being inconclusive, charged me $90 and told me to run him with the cows and test him again in three weeks. He said he might be okay. Well, 'might be okay' wasn't cutting it for me as I only had the one bull so I went to the bull sale, laid down my $3000 and bought a new bull. So, this spring, I had the other bull tested. He came out at 80% normal but with alot of dead semen. The vet said he 'might be okay' but I should run him with the cows for three weeks and test him again. Charged me another $90. I think this whole recommended 2nd test thing is a scam. Not to mention that I didn't get anything conclusive out of the first test. I would think that when the bull hasn't been with the cows for over 6 months that there would be alot of dead semsn. Am I wrong? Anyway, I'd have to think twice about paying for that vet to semen test my bulls again.

I agree that $90 is quite a bit for a BSE, but the recommended second $90 would have given you assurance and been less than $3000 for a new bull. If you don't trust your vet, then you should use a different one - if that is an option. Or you could collect the bull's semen yourself and examine and evaluate the semen using your own microscope. If you trust your vet, then understand that he is waffling a bit due to the probability of dead semen due to inactivity, and trying to give you a decent chance to prove or disprove your stud bull, using his simple recommendation.

Or wait until the next breeding season, turn the bull out with the cows for 3 weeks, then take him in for his BSE. If the answer is the same (turn him out with the cows, etc...) then he is a scammer. But if he is honest, then he should be able to give you a definitive answer.