Thawing semen
- Thread starter MR3
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The only ice water thaw we ever did was with semen in ampules. In the past each stud used a slightly different extender and has different thawing requirements. Talk to the people that put the semen up and they will be able to tell you which thaw method works best with their product. When all else fails, the old standby of 98 degrees for 1 minute works ok with all of the semen we've used. I wish more studs would go to the extender that Genex uses so it could be pocket thawed. I bred a bunch of Holsteins with Genex semen and we didn;t thaw it at all. Just loaded the gun, put it in the cow and deposited it. With a bunch of synched cows I still ran around 75% doing it that way.
dun
dun
I agree with Dun - the only cold thaw was with ampules - never heard of anyone using it on straws.
Hubby pocket thaws all studs semen. Works for us.
Hubby pocket thaws all studs semen. Works for us.
OP
OP
MR3
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I was talking with the tech that was here to collect semen. He was telling me that one of his clients uses the ice water thaw on their straws and felt conception had improved allot. I thought the theory might be less shock to the semen, plus the temp would be on a constant upward rise and not get bounced say from 98 to a few degrees less by the time it got to the cow then back up a few degrees in the cow. Good idea Dun, I will ask the folks at the lab about it. You would think they would be the ones to have tried different thaw techniques out looking to improve on viability. I will let you guys know if I find out anything of use. Thanks
Rod
Rod
El_Putzo
Well-known member
The instructor of our AI class this weekend told us that there have been many studies done on this and that the most efficient way of thawing to keep the most live sperm is to thaw in warm water. He talked about the use of ice water to thaw as in the old days, or using the pocket thaw method. His reasoning for not using those methods was that if the straw is not thawed out quickly enough, some of the sperm will start to move about before the straw is totally thawed and they will break there tails. I don't know that this is 100% correct, but it seemed logical to me considering I only had biology classes in HS.
El_Putzo
Well-known member
I believe as long as the temp of the semen remains at approx. 98 degrees, the sperm usually average a life of around 24 hours. Our instructor also mentioned something about keeping the straws out of direct sunlight as well, not sure on this one though.
Don;t know how long it's goodfor. I would suppose a lot has to do with the quality of the semen and how well the temperature is maintained after thawing. With the cows I usually have it in by 15-30 minutes. In the dairy goat days we would thaw it and wrap it up stick it in an inside pocket and drive to wherever we would inseminate for soeone else. Sometimes an hour or more. Never noticed a difference in conception either way
dun
dun
Just as important as thawing is the freezing procedure. My stud always collects some and checks it the next day after freezing to check for broken tails, etc. Some bulls' semen just won't freeze even though it's perfectly good as fresh.
The antibiotics and extenders, glycerol etc. are important towards motility and thawing procedures.
The antibiotics and extenders, glycerol etc. are important towards motility and thawing procedures.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
MikeC":k7mgesge said:
Mike my question is how you got that bulls nuts froze in the first place.
OP
OP
MR3
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Talking with the semen-freezing technician today. He said thawing straws out, it’s best to thaw them out fast. I keep my cito thaw at 95 degrees, but contrary to what I thought, he said 90 was better and that 98 was to warm. I didn’t ask him about the extenders and what if any affect that might have on the temp. When I asked about the ice water thaw he asked how old I was. :lol: he said, As Dun and Jeanne stated that goes back to thawing ampules. Not sure I am reedy to change the temp in my thaw yet, for this years conception rate was the best ever.
Rod
Rod
