Chilled Semen - must be same day??

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I am not very experienced at breeding and have come up against an issue I hadn't expected and wondered if anyone would be kind enough as to give me their opinion. The vet wants to do the first insemination for my mare tomorrow, we duly contacted the stud of the chosen stallion and was expecting to have semen collected late today posted overnight for arrival tomorrow AM. However the stud are saying that with this stallion the semen has to be collected the same day it is inseminated!?

Having got some delivery quotes the cheapest we could find was £240 to bring the semen the £200 miles!!

The vet was quite horrified that we were having to do this and it is ringing alarm bells that maybe the semen is not very good quality.

I just wondered if this was common practice?? I am really hoping she takes 1st time as this will soon mount up to as much as the stud fee!!

Thanks for any advice!
 
I have known chilled still be usable after 3 days if you go by whats under the microscope so if it needs using the same day I would also be questioning the quality. its normal to send it overnight and when its sent from abroad its often in transit longer and I suspevt collected early in the day as you normally have to order by 9am for next day dalivery. lets hope she takes first time for you
 
I would be questioning the quality of the semen. When we had semen from Germany we ordered it and it was collected from the stallion for next day delivery.
 
Normal protocol for fresh semen is to inseminate the first dose one day and the second dose the following day. I've had semen on the same day it's been collected but I only do that for a mare who has leapt forward unexpectedly, normally I order the semen, it arrives the following morning and is inseminated. The second dose is inseminated the next day. Semen should last 3 - 4 days and I would seriously be questioning the quality of the semen if it is no good after the day it has been collected.
 
Some semen just doesn't like being chilled for shipping overnight.
Anything upto 6 hours is fine unchilled so it may be that rather than the quality.
 
Thanks all for your help. Sallyf that's interesting about chilling. I think we are too far down the line to change stallions so we'll just have to cross fingers and hope for the best with not too many delivery charges!
 
I'd be questioning the quality. I'd also want to know why I wasn't told this when I first enquiried about the stallion.
 
Vet did insemination today. He was going to look at it under microscope when he got back to surgery and again tomorrow AM to see how it had fared. He is due back tomorrow so I will know more then. But I do feel that we have been slightly mislead, looking back in the email from the stud they say 'same day deliveries are much more expensive on weekends and bank holidays so need to bear that in mind'. I read the point of that sentence being yes weekends and bank hold are a problem and I know that - but missed the same day reference that was in there. It was not actually directly made aware to me until ordering the semen at which point we needed it the next day and didn't have a back up stallion!
 
You have been misled. I'm sorry you found yourself in this situation. No normal mare owner would expect to have to put the semen in the day it was collected so the stallion owner should really say this on their website/breeding contract, as this won't work for many mare owners. I'd be irked tbh if this happened to me.
 
They really should have said that the semen from that stallion must be used the same day as collection as that wording would normally be taken as meaning that if a mare owner called (as many do!) wanting semen for that day then weekend same day delivery would be extra. i have used semen from a stallion that is advertised as no overnight shipping and have found it very good quality but they are playing safe knowing that it may deteriorate overnight so I feel thats very fair. shame the people with the boy you have used don't do the same
 
I've had a few that are only good with fresh, as Sally says some just don't do chilling! But I agree stallion owner should have said.

I would also add that the best place for ANY semen to live is in the mare, so all semen from a consignment should be Inseminated ASAP, not split in half.
 
shirleyno2 said:
I would also add that the best place for ANY semen to live is in the mare, so all semen from a consignment should be Inseminated ASAP, not split in half.
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You don't surely put two doses in your mares at the same time do you? I may or may not use the second dose the following day, that totally depends on what the mare does but I definitely would not put two doses of semen into the mare in under 24 hours. Or are you talking about using one dose of fresh chilled split into two? If so I know no-one who would do that.
 
Spring Feather said:
You don't surely put two doses in your mares at the same time do you? I may or may not use the second dose the following day, that totally depends on what the mare does but I definitely would not put two doses of semen into the mare in under 24 hours. Or are you talking about using one dose of fresh chilled split into two? If so I know no-one who would do that.
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I usually send out 2 syringes in one dose, but all semen should be AI'd asap after receiving it. If mare has not ovulated then I would ship another dose or if mare at stud just go again with fresh semen!!
 
shirleyno2 said:
I usually send out 2 syringes in one dose, but all semen should be AI'd asap after receiving it. If mare has not ovulated then I would ship another dose or if mare at stud just go again with fresh semen!!
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Ah I see so you aren't putting two doses in the mare, I did wonder lol, that would not be good for the mare. It seems we do it differently over here then. Here it's usual for one syringe to be one dose, and all of the stallion owners I have ever dealt with always send two doses of semen. Protocol here is to ai first dose when semen arrives and second dose goes in following day. If mare hangs on longer than expected then 2 more doses are sent by the stallion owner. Yeah our mares on the east coast are about 4,000 miles away from the stallions on the west coast so none of us mare owners can just zip on over there with our mares :)
 
I would be tempted to ask for help towards cost of shipping, if nothing stated on website they have been misleading. what stallion did you use?
 
Does the stud give you a time by which you have to order the semen? It is common especially on the continent to have to order the semen by 9am for delivery the next day. If you were late maybe you missed your chance of sharing today's collection?? And perhaps the only way to receive the semen tomorrow is to share tomorrow's colection and it be sent out same day delivery??

I feel for you, its always stressful ordering the semen and then waiting for it to be delivered...
 
Koeffee have PMd you as wasn't sure whether I should broadcast the name?
Vet said semen was fine last night but not this morning so I guess stud were right - this would be fine I think if it was clear in details and you had choice. I now know thanks to you lot that this isn't normal so at some point will let stud know my view, will wait and see if mare in foal 1st before deciding approach to take!
 
Whether your mare is in foal or not (fingers crossed she is) you have been misled and incurred extra costs and stress.
I would be complaining and asking them to make this fact VERY clear on the stallions details.

I get really fed up with people in all walks of life taking the money and giving poor service.

I run a business (not equine) and am so confident of our service I offer a rock solid guarantee.
If something was wrong for our customer, our fault or not, we put it right.

I heard something the other day that sounded about right a lot of the time.

You can buy anything in this
country except good service.

Why do we put up with it.
 
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