Thawing semen

[wbvs58]

How diligent is everyone about thawing semen? I use a styrene flask and have hotwater in a thermos and keeping the water pretty accurately at 35C. I know of some pretty good inseminators who get excellent results by thawing by thawing it in the cow. One fellow I have seen at work uses his fingers to grab the straw from the goblet, can't be good for contact to other straws, then he wipes the frost off it with his fingers loads it into the gun and away he goes, his results are first class. I imagine his technique evolved by having to do cows at the end of the day and in a hurry with not all the gear at hand and has found he can get away with it.

I would be interested to hear comments from others especially the likes of CP who has been inseminating in busy situations. I don't intend changing my ways but just interested.

Ken

 

[Ebenezer]

Follow protocol. Recheck thermometer each season with a digital thermometer. Too expensive and too much effort to be silly.

 

[Bright Raven]

Ken:

I am strictly by the book. I thaw at exactly 95 to 96 degrees. I don't use electric. I have my semen tank in the house. I use tap water and when I achieve the correct temperature, I remove the straw, ONLY with a forceps.

PS: I conduct my AI like I was doing a Doctorate Dissertation. :lol:

No kidding. I figure there is research to support the technique so I try to follow it.

 

[wbvs58]

Ken:

I am strictly by the book. I thaw at exactly 95 to 96 degrees. I don't use electric. I have my semen tank in the house. I use tap water and when I achieve the correct temperature, I remove the straw, ONLY with a forceps.

PS: I conduct my AI like I was doing a Doctorate Dissertation. :lol:

No kidding. I figure there is research to support the technique so I try to follow it.

I agree Ron but I do not criticise if results are there. My jaw dropped when I first saw it happening but then came to terms with that is how they do it.

Ken

 

[cow pollinater]

I'm really picky. I want it thawed enough so that the straw doesn't crack when I whack the end off of twenty straws at a time with a pair of kitchen scissors. :lol:
I think you get more benefit by handling it fast than you do by being exact. I've pocket thawed lots of semen and it still works. I've thawed it in cold water and it still works. I've thawed half of it and left half frozen when my thaw box was running low and it still works. In fact my biggest pet pieve with new relief breeders was when they crack out the forceps and start tinkering with a straw at a time. Just grab what you need and get the rest back in the tank.

 

[dun]

I stay true to the directions. But the pocket thaw stuff (Genex) I have thawed in the cow and haven;t seen any difference in conceptions.

 

[wbvs58]

Old John who is in his 80's and been an AI tech all his life though he is just a semen reseller now and is one of the guilty ones of thawing it in the cow, he maintains that the most important thing is that the semen is not exposed to variations in temperature as in heating it up then letting it cool down again, it doesn't like change. I wear one of those pouches around my neck and inside my shirt to keep the unloaded and loaded gun in rather than between my teeth so hopefully I am minimising variations in temp it is exposed to.

Ken

 

[Bright Raven]

Old John who is in his 80's and been an AI tech all his life though he is just a semen reseller now and is one of the guilty ones of thawing it in the cow, he maintains that the most important thing is that the semen is not exposed to variations in temperature as in heating it up then letting it cool down again, it doesn't like change. I wear one of those pouches around my neck and inside my shirt to keep the unloaded and loaded gun in rather than between my teeth so hopefully I am minimising variations in temp it is exposed to.

Ken

I put the loaded semen gun down inside shirt, sweat-shirt (I like to wear a pull-over), and coat over that. I have a coat with the left sleeve cut off.

BTW: I also pre-warm the sheath and semen gun before loading. So I doubt I get any variations in temperature. Everything is going to stay about 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[dun]

Old John who is in his 80's and been an AI tech all his life though he is just a semen reseller now and is one of the guilty ones of thawing it in the cow, he maintains that the most important thing is that the semen is not exposed to variations in temperature as in heating it up then letting it cool down again, it doesn't like change. I wear one of those pouches around my neck and inside my shirt to keep the unloaded and loaded gun in rather than between my teeth so hopefully I am minimising variations in temp it is exposed to.

Ken

I put the loaded semen gun down inside shirt, sweat-shirt (I like to wear a pull-over), and coat over that. I have a coat with the left sleeve cut off.

BTW: I also pre-warm the sheath and semen gun before loading. So I doubt I get any variations in temperature. Everything is going to stay about 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

I do the same, or if my wife is helping she'll keep it inside her bra until I'm ready.

 

[farmboy80]

[/quote]
I do the same, or if my wife is helping she'll keep it inside her bra until I'm ready.[/quote]


I bet that keeps it nice and warm. Glad to hear wives helping out.

 

[dun]

I have noticed that after a few years of AIing, the first thing that starts to slip is the care in semen thawing. Then they start to complain about the semen companys shipping bad semen

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I don't AI - my husband Ken did all our AI for 40 years. He ALWAYS pocket thawed, or mostly "cow thawed". Our tank is about 6 feet away from the chute, so he would draw it, put in paper towel, in pocket, walk over by the chute, already have the gun & sheath warming inside shirt, put everything together & breed cow. We had a clock in eye view, so he always checked and made sure he was in the cow at least 1 full minute, before plunging.
We also use a 2nd sheath, with a closed cap on the end. After you are IN the cow, you push the gun/reg. sheath thru the cap. This way NO contaminants enter the cow's cervix. ABS carries them. Cheap insurance.
My nephew, Phil has learned how to AI. He has great technique. Very detailed. But, no conception rate at all - terrible. I have watched thousands of cows bred, and I tell when he is able to pass the rings. He plunges slowly.
The guy that taught him, said he may be going TOO far. He tried a few again this season. Waiting for pass-overs ----- or not.
He loves doing it and it is SOOOO much more convenient than waiting for a tech, but semen is tooo expensive & we are on a short time period - 100% AI. Can't afford the time or money wasted. Any suggestions?

 

[dun]

I don't AI - my husband Ken did all our AI for 40 years. He ALWAYS pocket thawed, or mostly "cow thawed". Our tank is about 6 feet away from the chute, so he would draw it, put in paper towel, in pocket, walk over by the chute, already have the gun & sheath warming inside shirt, put everything together & breed cow. We had a clock in eye view, so he always checked and made sure he was in the cow at least 1 full minute, before plunging.
We also use a 2nd sheath, with a closed cap on the end. After you are IN the cow, you push the gun/reg. sheath thru the cap. This way NO contaminants enter the cow's cervix. ABS carries them. Cheap insurance.
My nephew, Phil has learned how to AI. He has great technique. Very detailed. But, no conception rate at all - terrible. I have watched thousands of cows bred, and I tell when he is able to pass the rings. He plunges slowly.
The guy that taught him, said he may be going TOO far. He tried a few again this season. Waiting for pass-overs ----- or not.
He loves doing it and it is SOOOO much more convenient than waiting for a tech, but semen is tooo expensive & we are on a short time period - 100% AI. Can't afford the time or money wasted. Any suggestions?

Tell him when he has a hold of the cervix to put his finger over the far end of it. When he feels the sheath touch his finger to deposit the semen.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I don't AI - my husband Ken did all our AI for 40 years. He ALWAYS pocket thawed, or mostly "cow thawed". Our tank is about 6 feet away from the chute, so he would draw it, put in paper towel, in pocket, walk over by the chute, already have the gun & sheath warming inside shirt, put everything together & breed cow. We had a clock in eye view, so he always checked and made sure he was in the cow at least 1 full minute, before plunging.
We also use a 2nd sheath, with a closed cap on the end. After you are IN the cow, you push the gun/reg. sheath thru the cap. This way NO contaminants enter the cow's cervix. ABS carries them. Cheap insurance.
My nephew, Phil has learned how to AI. He has great technique. Very detailed. But, no conception rate at all - terrible. I have watched thousands of cows bred, and I tell when he is able to pass the rings. He plunges slowly.
The guy that taught him, said he may be going TOO far. He tried a few again this season. Waiting for pass-overs ----- or not.
He loves doing it and it is SOOOO much more convenient than waiting for a tech, but semen is tooo expensive & we are on a short time period - 100% AI. Can't afford the time or money wasted. Any suggestions?

Tell him when he has a hold of the cervix to put his finger over the far end of it. When he feels the sheath touch his finger to deposit the semen.

Depositing the semen in the right spot is the easiest part of the whole AI deal. Getting the tip of the gun to the right spot can be a little tricky, but it's a no brainer when your in the sweet spot. If you go to far I was told your odds go down by 50%, I don't know this to be true?

 

[Bright Raven]

I don't AI - my husband Ken did all our AI for 40 years. He ALWAYS pocket thawed, or mostly "cow thawed". Our tank is about 6 feet away from the chute, so he would draw it, put in paper towel, in pocket, walk over by the chute, already have the gun & sheath warming inside shirt, put everything together & breed cow. We had a clock in eye view, so he always checked and made sure he was in the cow at least 1 full minute, before plunging.
We also use a 2nd sheath, with a closed cap on the end. After you are IN the cow, you push the gun/reg. sheath thru the cap. This way NO contaminants enter the cow's cervix. ABS carries them. Cheap insurance.
My nephew, Phil has learned how to AI. He has great technique. Very detailed. But, no conception rate at all - terrible. I have watched thousands of cows bred, and I tell when he is able to pass the rings. He plunges slowly.
The guy that taught him, said he may be going TOO far. He tried a few again this season. Waiting for pass-overs ----- or not.
He loves doing it and it is SOOOO much more convenient than waiting for a tech, but semen is tooo expensive & we are on a short time period - 100% AI. Can't afford the time or money wasted. Any suggestions?

Tell him when he has a hold of the cervix to put his finger over the far end of it. When he feels the sheath touch his finger to deposit the semen.

Depositing the semen in the right spot is the easiest part of the whole AI deal. Getting the tip of the gun to the right spot can be a little tricky, but it's a no brainer when your in the sweet spot. If you go to far I was told your odds go down by 50%, I don't know this to be true?

I agree! But I better not give a name but a guy who knows AI as well as anyone can, told me that going too far which means horn breeding essentially, does not significantly reduce conception. He pointed to recent studies that used radioisotope imaging that showed in less than 2 hours the spermatozoa can move from one horn to the other. He said they don't say that in class but the recent studies indicate, the spermatozoa will occupy both horns regardless of deposition as long as it is on the uterine side of the cervix.

PS: the reason I don't provide a name is because this person teaches AI, they want students of the art to make an effort to deposit in the body of the uterus, not the horns.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Yeah, it seems to me that even if you were deaf, dumb or blind - you should get 50% conception - but that won't work.
It is really frustrating, because, like I said, he is extremely detailed. Super frustrating.

 

[Bright Raven]

Yeah, it seems to me that even if you were deaf, dumb or blind - you should get 50% conception - but that won't work.
It is really frustrating, because, like I said, he is extremely detailed. Super frustrating.

I don't know. I think sometimes people think they are through the cervix but are in the fornix. Don't be too hard on Phil.

 

[TexasBred]

Wife has always bred the cattle on our places. She will thaw in warm water as taught but once she has the semen loaded, she it into her bra....Yep.....bra as in cleavage...until she's ready to insert in cow...Guess by the time she inserts it the semen is perfect based on her conception rates.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

No No - I'm not upset with Phil at all. I think his technique is really good. I just know he REALLY REALLY wants to do it but knows that we can't afford the time for him practicing.

 

[True Grit Farms]

No No - I'm not upset with Phil at all. I think his technique is really good. I just know he REALLY REALLY wants to do it but knows that we can't afford the time for him practicing.

Do you know anyone that does AI for dairies? A friend that does dairies would let me position the gun in as many cows that I felt up to. I couldn't deposit the semen but the practice got me to where I know when the tip is in the uterine body.