AI success rates

It really took me a few years to get into the swing of it. You just have to do as many of them as you can. I have been 100% the last couple of years.

First thing is to be patient and take the time you need to get into the cervix. Second thing is not to panic if you can't get ALL the way through -- as long as it doesn't come back at you - it's good.
Third thing is not to AI too early in the cycle -- Jonathan and I go round and round about this ;-) He AIs way earlier than I do. I don't even attempt an breeding until I have seen them in heat 12 hours. And sometimes I wait even later according to mucous.

Tracy

 

Hi,
I am interested in this as well. I was told that there is only a 15 minute window in which you can do it. Is this true. Wouldn't the semen stay alive in there a bit longer than that?

Just trying to learn about this too!

Christina

 

:yeahthat
The only thing that I would add to Tracy's post....
1. Please become familiar with reproductive tracts. Look at a cervix before the doe comes into heat, so at least you know WHAT to look for, before you get ready to breed. Have a good teacher with a respectable settle rate.
2. Know your does cycle!! I can't stress this enough...Track their heats. Time in and Time out. Especially in the early fall. Easiest to tell. Later in the year, the cycles are shorter.
3. Always check your semen, with a microscope, on the 1st straw you use of a buck. Up to you if you check every straw, but I at least check the 1st straw I use out of a goblet. THEN you KNOW if it's your technique or the does fault if she doesn't settle. Lots of processors are blamed for no settles ~when people don't check semen, usually it's the person inseminating or doe's fault. When you buy semen 2nd hand, especially older semen, it may have changed ownership several times~handled inappropriately, even been thawed and refrozen when a tank goes bad.
4. USE THAT SEMEN! So many people buy semen and just let it sit in the tank...Why? You'll never know what you will get until you try it.

Christine F....it depends on how you protect the semen between thaw and insemination. If you keep it at a constant 94-98 degree temp.(I put my loaded gun under my armpit,wrapped in a papertowel and shirt material between it and my bare skin-YUCK) to transport to the barn) until you get it into the doe 101-102. The semen needs to gradually climb until you put it in the doe. No drops in temp. to cause chill. As to how long it will be viable semen...no clue. I've put drops on a slide to check motility before inseminating a doe, done the deed, and came back an hr. later and SOME of the semen still be alive on the slide. The heat from the light source and platform is all I can guess. But, to inseminate with the semen...probably not.
Kaye

 

I would agree with everything in Kaye and Tracy's posts. We are 100% for this year as well with 7 bred AI. We had 8 but she lost the pregnancy at 7 weeks. We don't expect 100% though. We often list a back up live mating and if it is difficult to get into the cervix will not AI and opt to the live mating instead of waiting 3 weeks to see if a poor attempt at AI sticks. I will always try to get in with the sheath in the cervix first and if successful load the straw into the waiting sheath still in the cervix. We AI at 12 hours from signs of screaming heat instead of the mucous inspection, I just don't like entering the doe so often waiting for the magical time. I think that is a good way to introduce too many bacteria so opt to do it like cattle people do. We will put a second stray in at 18-24 hours if still in heat.
Start early in the year, don't wait for later, shorter less productive heats. I had someone contact me that was trying for the first time this past weekend. IMO this is not the time of year to be AI'ing as your success rate will be less, needless to say for your first time.
As for the 15 minutes question, they must be refering to the time from thaw to placement in the doe. Yes, it is alive and moving towards the eggs for much longer than that. With the way I put my sheath in before I thaw the straw, I can go from thaw to insemination in less than two minutes.
Tim

 

Angela,
That is a good question and every time I ask I get a different answer. In my case all of my does settled on the first heat I bred them on, I did however use two straws on 3-4 of them mainly because it was semen I had collected and I wanted to increase my odds of settling. In one case it was because I didn't feel I was in as far as I should be, the others were where I saw them still in heat the next morning and put another straw in.
Tim

 

Same here. If a doe recycles, it's considered as a miss. % goes down.

I don't really think a % number is as important as getting a settle to the best possible buck you can find semen on. %'s sometimes prohibits people from trying again. Practice is the best way to learn.
Believe me when I say Tim & Mary use the best possible bucks they can find. Beautiful Toggs, and <gasp> this from a fellow Togg breeder!
Kaye